Good morning, colleagues. Colleagues, I’d like to draw your attention to the presence of the Honourary Clerk, former Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. David Hamilton.
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For over two decades he guided the Assembly through many of its most important changes including division of the territory in 1999. He was the Clerk who oversaw the building of the House where we are sitting here today. I don’t know if any of us can imagine what a huge task it would have been. It’s very fitting that he’s here to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We welcome you back to the Chamber, Mr. Hamilton. Thank you for your long service to the institution and thank you for being here today.
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Mr. Speaker, the health and safety of our employees is of utmost importance in ensuring we have a strong workforce, able to provide services to residents of the NWT. We have been working aggressively to uphold and enhance occupational health and safety across all Government of the Northwest Territories worksites.
To this end, we are pleased to confirm the launch of the GNWT’s corporate Occupational Health and Safety Training Program. OHS training helps all employees understand the value of health and safety to reduce workplace injuries. There are two streams. One focuses on training for all staff, including specialized training that addresses risks in certain occupations or worksites. The second focuses on training for OHS committee
representatives to ensure they have the knowledge and tools to manage OHS effectively in their workplace. Courses will be available on the GNWT training calendar by the end of this calendar year.
Mr. Speaker, the training for all staff is being delivered in partnership with the Northern Safety Association. This association, formed in 2007 and funded by the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, is mandated to work with partners to reduce human, social and economic losses as a result of workplace accidents and injuries. The goals of the Northern Safety Association are to foster a commitment to workplace health and safety workers and employers; to save lives and reduce workplace accidents, injuries and illnesses; to reduce all costs associated with workplace accidents; and to strive to provide proactive programs and services that will contribute to creating a sound foundation for a safer, healthier and more profitable future for workers and employers.
Mr. Speaker, among the many services offered by the Northern Safety Association to workers and employers is the delivery of quality safety training.
The association has access to specialized occupational health and safety training through its provincial and territorial partners and offers a combination of on-line and in-person training opportunities. We are pleased to advise that the Northern Safety Association and the Department of Human Resources are partnering on elements of the corporate Occupational Health and Safety Training Program to make occupational health and safety training available to all GNWT employees.
Departments and agencies are actively working to manage injury claim costs, apply health and safety practices and ensure their workplaces comply with health and safety standards. The Department of Human Resources continues to develop guidelines to support implementation of our Occupational Health and Safety Policy, approved and implemented earlier this year. There is a web page dedicated to the GNWT’s Occupational Health and Safety Program and its requirements to provide employees information and tools. Quarterly OHS coordinators meetings are held to develop skills, hear from safety experts and share best practices.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is a safe employer when one examines occupational health and safety-related metrics such as time loss claims and number of workplace safety and health accidents across the GNWT.
Mr. Speaker, it’s clear: Better safety means healthier employees, which in turn means more effective programs and services.
We are committed to ensuring that the Department of Human Resources continues its work to lead the corporate framework that supports departments and agencies as they implement the GNWT’s Occupational Health and Safety Program within their respective mandates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to rise today to say what a pleasure it is to have Mr. David Hamilton back in the Chamber today. I was elected, as Mr. Miltenberger was, in 1995, and was greeted by a bigger than life personality that was around this institution at that time and certainly I don’t think you could describe his influence and his work in this Assembly simply as Clerk. Mr. Speaker, I just jotted down a few things. Today in P and P we talked about the team that worked on the building. I think the team was actually a team of one. I think that this building was, in fact, a vision and a dream, and Mr. Hamilton’s influence was greatly brought to bear on what this building looks like today.
Mr. Speaker, he was an event planner, he was a guidance counsellor, ambassador for the North and often a peacemaker in times as often can happen in political settings like this, things were rocky. I’d just like to say that I have very fond memories of those years. When Mr. Hamilton was here, he set a high standard for those who would follow him and it is a pleasure to have him in our Chamber today. Thank you.
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Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in February 2012 I shared findings with this House, followed with a press conference that clearly demonstrated we were not collecting our fair share of taxes on tobacco products.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations was also interested in these findings, as was the Auditor General of Canada. Since then, the Department of Finance undertook a feasibility study to investigate such findings, with the hopes of better clarity on the collections and establishing some sort of tobacco commission in the Northwest Territories.
Now, unfortunately, I will not be able to discuss the findings of the study as it belongs to the Department of Finance and is currently under committee review. All I can say at this point is the Department of Finance continues to support a process whereby we are relying on out-of-territory wholesalers to self-report on tobacco sold from their facilities to retailers in the Northwest Territories.
This self-reporting I referred then as the perfect loophole in our tobacco tax collection. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, this has not changed.
We have a serious flaw in our system of tobacco tax collection which has been going on for years, yet after every measurable attempt to persuade the department to retool their program, we are no further ahead than we were 20 months ago. This is shameful, Mr. Speaker.
The public deserves the utmost confidence that our tax collection system is foolproof and without the potential doorway of exploitation.
I was elected to this position to scrutinize every dollar spent by this government and maximize the same in revenue collection. Accountability, transparency and protecting the public purse is not just a slogan I casually throw around and I take it with extreme prejudice when, for the second time this week, I have to publicly remind the Minister of Finance that money is being left on the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the building. I think we need to take the time to thank the Premiers, Speakers, Ministers and MLAs that came before us that had to make the difficult decisions to build this building. Today we have the opportunity.
We also need to thank the former staff, like my colleague had mentioned, Mr. Hamilton, and some of the other staff that have been before that had to make the tough decisions on how we build this building. We need to thank the Building Society for their strong efforts and vision to finance and complete the construction of this building.
Two years ago when I started here in this position, it was very intimidating to get up and speak in this House. It’s a very majestic building. Members of the public often come to the building. We are very proud to show the building off to them. We have people from around the country of Canada who come here and we show off our building. It’s one of the nicest Legislative Assembly buildings in Canada.
We just had some foreign dignitaries come here. We’re very proud to show the building, show some of the attributes that are here, talk about how much light is in the building and how well designed it is.
On this date today, we have to thank those people who came before us who had the vision and had to make the tough decisions. I know we didn’t have the money at the time and we probably wouldn’t do something like this today just because of the fiscal restraint that we have. I’d like to thank those Members who came today and all those Members that had vision. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Colleagues, before we move on this morning, I’d like to welcome back to the House former Premier Floyd Roland and Angela.
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It’s good to see you back. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Movember is an annual month-long event including the growing of mustaches during the month of November to raise awareness about prostate cancer as well as other male cancer. The goal of Movember is to change the face of men’s health by encouraging men to get involved. Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and, certainly, effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths.
Besides getting annual checkups, the Movember Foundation encourages men to be aware of any family history of cancer and to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has run Movember events to raise awareness and funds across the world. In 2007 many events were launched and it then included Canada, and I’m certainly proud to say that Canadians have been some of the largest contributors to the charity through Movember to help men’s health.
James MacKenzie and Sugan Mannavarajan have been leaders in this initiative to bring it here to Yellowknife. Last year they were key to ensuring that it got off the ground. This year was no different. Those two individuals are bringing this campaign to life.
This evening there will be an event at The Cellar, where men are encouraged to come on down and shave their mustache. There will be an inaugural shave by Jimmy the barber, and many of us know him from Ragged Ass Barber Shop. He’s a fantastic guy, and he’s been a leader and, certainly, a pillar to this event. Other folks in this Assembly are joining on this Movember campaign. We have Mr. Dolynny on this side here. We also have Mr. Moses who will be joining. I even heard, as of this morning, that Mr. Dennis Bevington, our MP, shaved his 40-year-old mustache off in support of the Movember campaign.
The last person I need to say is maybe we should encourage Mr. Bromley, who’s got his Back to the Future beard here, and with a little political pressure, maybe we can get him to join in on the fun of the campaign.
Not everyone will be able to make it down to The Cellar this evening. With that, I’d say please contact myself, Mr. Dolynny, or even Mr. Moses if you want to know more. Furthermore, if you need to know even more, go to Movember.com and I’m sure it will lead you in the right direction.
The last thing I want to say is the intent of this year’s campaign was to make an NWT-wide team. As such, feel free, everyone from the Northwest Territories, to join Team Primo here and we will do it together in men’s health. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over two years ago, as Members reviewed the 2012-13 capital budget, we debated a $1 million infrastructure contribution to an NGO. As part of the capital budget, Cabinet had proposed this considerable contribution to the Children First Society in Inuvik for a new early childhood care centre. I opposed that project, not because I did not see value in the project, and not because I disagreed with the intent of the building. No, I opposed approving the funding because it was a one-of-a-kind budget item and there was no government policy to guide how this type of contribution should be made. On what grounds and under what circumstances would it be made?
The government had never before made a cash contribution to a non-government construction project. I want to make it very clear that I have no problem with this NGO receiving these funds. In my mind, this is exactly the kind of project that deserves funding from our government. The Children First Centre had the support of the entire community. Both financial and personal resources were put behind this project. The society had already raised over 80 percent of the funds needed for construction, proving what a viable project this was.
Where I had problems was with the process, or rather, lack of process. There was no call for proposals for this million dollars. The decision to include it in the capital budget was made by Cabinet alone. There was no policy in place to guide the awarding of funds to an NGO construction project.
There are a great many NGOs in our territory who would love to get a million dollars to help them build their infrastructure, but since last year, the Standing Committee on Social Programs has tried several times to get the government to develop and put in place a policy to govern infrastructure contributions to NGOs. To date, there’s been no commitment from government. We’ve heard a number of reasons why it can’t be done, why it’s been sloughed off: my department doesn’t need one; that was a unique project, one-time request; it won’t happen again. Those reasons are invalid, but precedent has now been set. As it stands right now, any NWT NGO with a construction project can apply to the government for a bunch of cash through their MLA. We need to develop a policy for use for the next request. Government is accountable to the public for the effective management of all public resources including that provided to NGOs.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
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We need to not only be fair but be seen to be fair. Cabinet must develop a policy and criteria for that policy. In order to qualify for funding, organizations must meet that criteria. Right now, in the absence of any policy and criteria, decisions to fund or not to fund are highly subjective and politically influenced. That is not fair to our hard working NGOs, nor is it fair to our residents who benefit from the NGO’s hard work.
I will have questions for the Premier at a later time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tabled a document in the House, entitled Education Renewal and Innovation Framework: Directions for Change for our education system here in the North. I appreciate and recognize the hard work and efforts that went into this document by the Minister’s office, also by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I also acknowledge the hard work that the Standing Committee on Social Programs put into this document by providing their input and recommendations, as well as any other Members that came to those meetings.
However, there are still some concerns and questions that I have as a Member who has a special and a strong interest in the education of people of the Northwest Territories, specifically our youth in our small communities. When we are going through the process of developing this document, what input did the district education authorities, the NWT Teachers’ Association, the Aboriginal student achievement committees, what kind of input did they have into this document and whether or not the time to give input was sufficient to get quality feedback on this important document? It is a document that is going to be affecting our residents for the next 10 years.
I know with the Standing Committee on Social Programs, in the short time that it was provided to us, we actually sat down, went line by line of the document in the short amount of time to get all the recommendations and feedback into it. It was a lot of work and I commend the committee for doing the hard work they did in such a short period of time.
Other concerns I have is with the ERI initiatives. There are 53 recommendations coming out of this. Actually, they are potential initiatives. Why, in this document, is it not hard commitment from the Education department on these initiatives to get them done? As I said, it’s going to be a document that is going to serve our people of the Northwest Territories for the next 10 years. We want to make sure that there are not potential initiatives, but hard commitments from his department and this government. With these 53 potential initiatives, there are going to be costs and I want to know what some of those costs are.
Like I said, I do appreciate the hard work that went into this document, but as Members on this side have said before, you have to have something that’s going to work for the people and that we do it right. If this is a document that we’re going to move forward, you have to make sure it’s the right document.
I have questions for the Minister later on today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure tabled a report by the Pembina Institute, entitled Responsible Extraction. As we heard, the report was commissioned because there were substantive concerns that the industry panel report towards the GNWT Mineral Development Strategy seemed to be not only far from public interest policy, but leaning towards an industry wish list of support and public expense. I mean no disrespect to the authors of that report, but I think that their terms of reference and their composition did not foster public benefit approach.
In contrast, the responsible extraction report is a thoughtful analysis focused on public benefit. I encourage you to read the review in full for points in common, disagreement, and new points offered. The list of industry subsidies critiqued is too long to be detailed here but, in brief, report conclusions include:
Total revenues from royalties collected on northern mines from 1956 to 2011 was less than $1 billion, or considerably less than the $3.5 billion currently being spent on northern contaminated sites.
Mining jobs with a rotational schedule are unsuitable for a significant portion of the labour supplied, so it is unlikely that further training and recruitment efforts will succeed in significantly enlarging the mining industry’s northern workforce.
It is not economically or socially sustainable for the GNWT to be so dependent on volatile mineral industry revenues. Diversify.
Mining has significant environmental impacts on ecosystems across the Northwest Territories, particularly with regard to toxic waste and habitat disturbance. The industry also has significant environmental impacts related to climate change.
Neither the GNWT nor any regulatory board or agency in the NWT has formally recognized or created any policies that would ensure mining respects the principles of environmental sustainability by staying within specific ecological limits.
Most importantly, the report recommends that the GNWT undertake a more balanced and open public consultation process as it drafts its response to the panel’s recommendations.
I encourage all members of the public and this House to read this well-researched report and give their feedback to the committee as per the chair’s invitation. Most of all, I encourage the Minister himself to read the report and give his feedback, something he has not yet done despite being in possession of this taxpayer-funded report. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was thinking last night about today’s significant celebration. Hearing some of the Members this morning, I’m not going to do a song this morning. There are some songs I’d like to do. For example, If These Walls Could Talk, or Mansion on the Hill. There are lots of songs. Anyway, I’m going to skip over that.
I want to say, in all seriousness, I want to give recognition to all who made it possible so that we are standing here today, when we look at the significant changes that we made as a government or as a people of the Northwest Territories from living in the bush on the land to our small communities, to having people in Ottawa at one time make decisions for us in the Northwest Territories and actually having an Assembly in the Northwest Territories in Ottawa, and slowly, over time, evolving to the pioneers of our first MLAs and Ministers, to bring it into the Yellowknife Inn and having sessions there. Then somebody said no, we have to have our own Assembly, we need our own building, bring some legitimacy and some credibility, so we, today, can enjoy this.
We’re at a point now where we’re into talking about devolution. We have evolved over time. I want to give recognition to the people, because I’ve been here and there’s Members who have been here longer than me that have the privilege of serving our people 365 days a year. I’ve been here for 10 years, but there are Members who have been here longer that really, really know the essence of what it means to be a legislator. There are good times and there’s not so good times, but there’s also past Members who were also in our shoes, past staff members, and we’ve got current Members who are also experiencing it with us, everybody.
Somebody had the idea and the fortitude to tell everybody this is what we’ve got to do, just like we’re moving through the phase of devolution.
So, I want to say congratulations on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories, especially the Sahtu; and people from the Northwest Territories, come out and celebrate what is yours. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Colleagues, before we go on to the next statement, I’d like to welcome back to the House Mr. Henry Zoe, former Member of the Assembly. Thank you.
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Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Time and time again we repeat our own words about the importance of our students staying in school, attending regularly and completing high school. Education is one of our main focuses in this Assembly. We can boast that we have the best schools in all of Canada and employ top notch teachers. Our students are privileged to have such fine education, but this is only possible with good teachers.
My concern today is housing, housing for our teachers. We are faced with this issue every summer. We hire the best teachers, and in the end, we have no place for them to stay.
My community of Aklavik suffers with the lack of adequate housing for temporary residents and housing for staff. There are at least 15 teaching positions in Aklavik and many of them are filled with people to come here, eager for the opportunity to work in the North. Inadequate and unaffordable housing makes their jobs less attractive and their lives much more difficult.
Leadership in Aklavik is concerned about our teachers. The community wants to make housing available to them and it’s willing to partner with government to build houses and provide quality housing, especially if there’s a commitment that someone will live there every year.
Aklavik and all of the Mackenzie Delta communities need school professionals. Let’s give them a place to call home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fort Providence is a community geographically situated in the centre of the Deh Cho and the Northwest Territories, with the Deh Cho Bridge, our major highway north and south of Yellowknife, now we have cellular communications and, of course, it is also the first community of many communities along the Deh Cho.
The community has a tradition of boat captains and operators. Their knowledge of the river helps navigate boats up and down the Mackenzie. At the same time we have the present team of highway operators that make the maintenance camp for the highway and the Deh Cho Bridge. Sadly, our winter road crews who have built the ice bridge for many years have moved on and are hopefully still building other bridges. Similarly, the crew of the Merv Hardie ferry have also sailed on.
Building upon these realities, I believe we need to capitalize on our strength and challenge our thinking of helping communities such as Fort Providence, and decentralization.
The biggest natural strength that we have in Fort Providence in our favour is the spring breakup that happens in the early period of mid-May, long before the Great Slave Lake begins to clear in June. Therefore, I will be interested in knowing, from the Department of Transportation, the possibilities of considering creative opportunities with the community of Fort Providence. Decentralization of positions, a regional centre, a marine division, a marine museum, a bison interpretative centre, a highway ambulance responder team are a few ideas that are recommended to the Department of Transportation. I look forward to renewed discussions with the community of Fort Providence.
I will be asking questions in this regard later. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a former colleague and good friend, Floyd Roland, former Premier. With Floyd is Angela Young, who has worked as an educator in Inuvik for the past 12 years. I’d also like to recognize former colleague Mr. Henry Zoe. Welcome to the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of people I’d like to recognize today. I want to start with a constituent, Chris Johnston. He’s with the Northern Safety Association. If anybody can keep bees safe this winter, it will be Chris. So, welcome, Chris.
Also Sarah Johnson, and Chris Robb with UNICO Contractors, a good Kam Lake business. Welcome.
Welcome to former Premier Mr. Roland. It’s good to see you back in the House. Mr. Zoe, welcome. Also, Mr. Hamilton, a special welcome back to David. I know I came into the House in 2003 and David was just on his way out. I didn’t get a chance to work with you, David, but welcome back. It’s good to see you here again.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I would like to recognize Mr. Henry Zoe, who is a past MLA. I want to have him recognized. And also Floyd Roland, who is the former Premier. I would like to have him recognized. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to start with first and most important visitor to recognize, and I’m going to start with David Hamilton, the first Clerk here. I’ve known David so long. I remember when we were both the same height and we both had lots of hair. It’s been a long time from those days in Fort Simpson. I’ve known him a long time, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with him at the old Ledge many years ago in many capacities. To him, I’m very grateful for always being a mentor to me.
In the gallery we have many people. They’ve already been mentioned, but I think they certainly deserve further mention, Christopher Robb of UNICO Contracting, Sarah Johnson in the middle there, and Chris Johnston with the Northern Safety Association.
As Mr. Ramsay had mentioned, I too wish to recognize Henry Zoe and also former Premier Floyd Roland. The last thing I’d like to say is former Premier Roland does not get enough credit for the bold action he took by signing that original AIP that is helping bring the devolution train home, and I never miss the chance to remind people it was that bold signature that got it finally going. Although Premier McLeod will get the credit of seeing the train come home, I will say Floyd Roland deserves a lot of credit.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to recognize the former Premier, Premier Floyd Roland. It’s good to see you back in the House here. Also, to Mr. Zoe. Mr. Zoe was the MLA for Monfwi and also a Minister. He was also a Clerk in the House here at one time. I want to recognize him. Also, to Mr. Hamilton. As Mr. Ramsay has said, when we were coming into the House he was leaving, but I also want to say Mr. Hamilton left a piece of advice that I hung on my wall in regard to my new job as the MLA.
I also want to recognize, if I may, your family. It’s good to see Jenny and the kids here to the Assembly. It’s good to have family here.
Last, but not least, I want to recognize my old schoolmate and good friend, Samuel Lennie. He comes from Tsiigehtchic. It’s good to see you. We haven’t aged one bit.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize one of my constituents and brother-in-law Mr. Samuel Lennie. Also, if I may, I’d like to welcome your family, as well, Jenny and your children. Welcome to the House.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize and welcome to the House former Premier and current mayor of Inuvik, Mr. Floyd Roland, as well as Ms. Angela Young, who is one of our hardworking educators at the East Three School.
