Good morning, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Sorry, Mr. Miltenberger.
---Laughter
Happy Halloween.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past July and August, a total of 22 youth from the Deh Cho participated in an on-the-land pilot program that could serve as a territorial model for early intervention of alcohol and drug use among the youth. This program was delivered in two sessions. The first two weeks were geared towards youth aged 12 to 15 and the next two weeks were for youth aged 16 to 19. The camp was held at Six Mile, approximately six miles up the river from Fort Simpson. The historic site was inhabited for hundreds of years.
The pilot program was designed to build youth culture and individual identity; increase physical activity and bush skills; provide life skills, including healthy lifestyles and emotion management and self-control; foster well-being, healthy relationships and a cultural sense of self; create enjoyable community-minded atmosphere in a wilderness environment; identify and work with future leaders or community cornerstones, youth who might be able to work at camp in the future; and engage the entire community through participation and volunteering in support of the camp.
Daily activities blended traditional on-the-land skills, and therapeutic sessions focused on achieving these goals. Eighteen youth received certificates of completion and were congratulated on their achievement at ceremonies held in Fort Simpson
and Wrigley at the end of each intake. Three youth participated in both intakes and spent a total of four weeks on the land, Mr. Speaker.
This project was made possible through the collaboration of Health and Social Services, the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority, community stakeholders and Shakes the Dust Hope Consulting. I would especially like to recognize the local program support staff that helped deliver the program. The department is currently evaluating the lessons learned from camp this year and the results will form the development of future land-based healing programs for the youth in our territory.
That’s what I especially look forward to, Mr. Speaker, that this pilot project can branch out throughout the whole Northwest Territories and help our youth in their time of need and teach them these life skills that we certainly need in our territory. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate ECE’s plan to slow down the revised rollout of the Junior Kindergarten program. This will give all of the stakeholders, education authorities, early childhood workers, families and other early childhood care providers a chance to take stock, learn from experience and adjust the program as needed going forward.
Examples of areas needing adjustment that I hear include one-teacher classrooms overburdened by 11 four-year-olds and 12 five-year-olds, tension between existing local programs and ECE’s, lack of appropriate supervision for four-year-olds, loss of early childhood programs and jobs, and the list goes on.
What would a well-thought-out Junior Kindergarten program look like? Such a program would be embedded within a comprehensive Early Childhood Development Strategy which would give first and highest priority to the critical first three years of life, including a healthy pregnancy. This is when the most important brain development processes occur. Early Development Index scores from testing in NWT kindergartens indicate clearly that this crucial opportunity for preparing our children for a productive life is being missed.
Secondly, we would recognize that professionals trained in early care and education are a prerequisite for quality program delivery. Without them, research says we cannot avoid unintended consequences.
We also recognize that we should not be viewing early childhood programs through the lens of schools. We know that ECD programs – early childhood development programs – are best delivered in a quieter environment than our schools typically provide. Relying on our teachers, though capable and professional, would be unfair to both them and preschool children.
Development of our JK program would draw heavily upon the best practices and lessons learned from each community, where valuable experience has been gained through the delivery of age-four programs. Hay River is blessed with six different organizations with a varying approach. Aboriginal Head Start has been active in eight communities. Pilot studies would be assessed and reported on to draw on lessons learned. These organizations must be given a leadership role in the development of community JK programs.
Lastly, the resources required for success must be in place, as those with age-four programs proclaim based on their experience. New responsibilities without new resources are a recipe for failure.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, new responsibilities without new resources are a recipe for failure. The proposed review of JK should, therefore, focus on all of these aspects. Specifically, evaluation and subsequent planning should recognize the need for small group sizes, qualified and well-compensated early care and education personnel, development of warm and caring relationships, achievement of a language-rich environment, developmentally appropriate programs and safe physical settings. With this focus and all parties working together in true partnership, we can provide the best future for all children of the NWT. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t often get to do this, but as I said yesterday, I want to congratulate the Premier on the content of his statement on Junior Kindergarten yesterday.
As you will have guessed from the applause, we found it gratifying to know that the executive does actually listen to Members periodically, does actually listen to us periodically when we give voice to our constituents’ concerns, and they took action to do the right thing.
But, as pointed out by Mr. Dolynny yesterday, there is still the issue of funding for the Junior Kindergarten program. Apparently there will be no change to the funding model. Education authorities will continue to have to provide a new grade in their schools without any new funding. As has been said, the funding design is flawed, very flawed.
That funding model, put in place by ECE, targets regional centres and YK schools. Why do I say that? Well, first of all, there are no reductions to board budgets for schools which have less than 120 students.
Secondly, it’s the stated view of the Premier and Education, Culture and Employment Minister that education authority surpluses are to be used up, to make up for the dollars clawed back by ECE to finance Junior Kindergarten.
Thirdly, the only boards that had budget reductions imposed in the ’14-15 school year were the boards that did not have Junior Kindergarten programs this year.
Fourth, the Minister and Premier regularly state, as justification for the clawbacks, that authorities are over-funded, that schools are funded well beyond what legislation requires. The law requires 16 kids to one staff, a 16 to 1 PTR, as we say. In reality, the schools which are over-funded are our smallest schools. Out of our 49 NWT schools, we have nine schools which are funded at less than nine students to one staff. A couple of schools are less than 4 to 1 PTR, and we have 19 schools which are funded at less than 13 to 1 PTR. It is the schools in the regional centres and Yellowknife which are close to or at the 16 to 1 PTR. Yet reductions are applied across the board, except for schools of 120 students or less.
If the Minister and Premier intend to fund at 16 to 1 to meet our legislative requirement and if they plan to make the application of that standard fair, our smallest schools and our smallest communities will be devastated, they will be inoperable.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Stress to small schools is not what I want, and I’m sure it’s not what the Ministers want, but to do otherwise is unfair to the larger education authorities and that unfairness is being categorically ignored. The justification seems to be that the larger authorities can handle it, so let’s take advantage of them. The fairest solution is to provide new JK funding for the new JK program. That way all schools will be able to keep the staff they currently have and maintain delivery of the excellent programs they provide.
If, as stated yesterday, the regional centres and YK board budgets are reduced next year for a second year in a row with no implementation of phase two of JK, it can only be considered robbery, and for that I say, shame on you, Ministers. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the week I’ve made comments and Member’s statements and asked questions regarding such things as the coroner’s report and the Forfeiture Act. Today I’d like to take a moment and talk about the victim services that we currently provide in the Northwest Territories and take another stance on how we provide services and support to people that are victims of crime.
Specifically, for victim service coordinators in the Northwest Territories, the mandate of victim services is to provide information, assistance, referrals and support to victims of crimes or tragedy in the Northwest Territories. Some things our victims might be struggling with are sudden death, suicide, disasters such as house fires, floods, motor vehicle accidents, and most prevalent in the Northwest Territories is violence and assault.
I looked at some statistics from the NWT family violence report card, and from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, victim services has provided services to many victims in the NWT. For instance, brief service contacts, there was 537 cases; for new clients, 563 new client cases – and this is a big one – for continuing cases in the Northwest Territories in that short amount of time there were 842 cases that were continuing. In that sense, that makes me think that these victims are afraid to stand up or afraid to go before the courts to see through with charges. That is a total of 1,942 cases of family violence in the Northwest Territories.
The victim service coordinators provide a great service to our victims in the Northwest Territories, not only to victims but their families and their relatives. They provide services such as emotional support, dealing with the aftermath of serious crime, even accompanying victims to go talk to the police to make impact statements, visits to the hospital, referrals to appropriate community agencies and services such as counselling, which I must say there’s still waiting times for people to go to counselling.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
Like I said, there is a lot of waiting time for counselling, so even if the victim coordinators can get our victims to counselling, they still have to wait to go and see them, and even treatment.
They also provide information on the criminal justice system, the court processes and notifications on the status of their cases. They also help victims fill out court-related documents and, as I said earlier, victim impact statements.
Today I want to recognize all our victim services coordinators in the Northwest Territories and the great work that they do.
I will be asking questions later to the Minister of Justice on how we are continuing to support these victim services and how we can do a better job of helping those that really need the help. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a message from concerned constituents of mine.
I have been approached to deliver a message on behalf of a group of concerned constituents who live in my riding and some of my colleagues’ ridings too.
Here is what they want to say: We are small but not insignificant. We are not known for our beauty, but we have great taste. We are probably the only constituents in the NWT that are happy we had an epic fire season. We may be just a bunch of fungi living in the forest, but we have a message that is deadly serious. Okay, well, maybe not as deadly as amanita, but you get the point.
Have you figured out who we are yet? We are few, the proud, the Morels! There are some things that you might not know about us. We belong to a genus of edible mushrooms with a distinctive honeycomb-like appearance. We have been called by many different names, depending on where we grow. Some call us dry land fish because, when sliced lengthwise, we’re breaded and fried and we just look like the shape of a fish. In Kentucky, they call us hickory chickens and merkels, meaning miracles, because we once saved a mountain family from starvation.
In West Virginia we are known as molly moochers. Don’t ask us why. That one makes us laugh. We are also known as sponge mushrooms. If you know what we look like, that one makes sense. In fact, the word “morel” itself is derived from the Latin word for maurus, meaning brown.
Okay, now for the serious part. We are prized by gourmet cooks, especially for French cuisine. We are hunted by thousands of people every year for our great taste and the joy of the hunt. We know we have commercial value, and even though we are just a bunch of fungi living in the forest, we like to be good neighbours, so we need your help.
Mr. Nadli tells us that you are the people that make the laws. So get busy, make a law to protect us from the greedy scavengers who travel great distances to find us where we grow. They will come and pick us, and even though we are growing on your land, you will get no benefits from us being here.
Come on, people! You scratch our backs. No way, that won’t work because we don’t have backs. But you know what we mean, just do it. How hard can it be? Pass a law and make sure that we stay strong, growing, and you get some benefit from us growing on your land. Thanks to Mr. Nadli for writing this down. We don’t have hands.
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A big mahsi for the morels. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you see the ghost of the family past or just a portrait of past Premiers on your way to the Chamber? On this Halloween I wish to go over some spooky details. Well, they’re not that scary. No Grudges or Annabelles here, just some cold hard facts.
Right now we have 79 students attending Aurora College or are enrolled in courses at the community learning centres. After reviewing the Sahtu oil and gas needs assessment like a treasure map, 68 percent of those positions for this industry are tied to some form of transportation work. Either heavy equipment or truck driving, the big wheels are moving.
Another financial figure that the count on Sesame Street would have fun counting, one, two, three, ninety-seven thousand, ha, ha, ha. That comes from the ConecoPhillips partnerships with this government portraying environment monitors in our region. Considering the magnifying glasses government is using for the environmental baseline studies, Mr. Miltenberger is no scrooge but, rather, a maverick with $4 million. What a treat.
We’re at the crossroads, Mr. Speaker, but with your steering the wheel of our session, and our Premier, Bob the Builder, hoping we’ll pile through the stormy seas with Polar Eggs from Roger Rabbit in Hay River and more mushrooms than Mario and Luigi. They’re fungi. Perhaps we should embrace this time of change sort of like a baby when it needs a clean diaper. No, Mr. Speaker, I won’t go there. Let’s get back on track.
Where is Minister Ramsay, the explorer, and his oil and gas maps and the regs to guide us there? Here is the truth: The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim put our region in the driver’s seat. It’s given us a seat at the table, not the table of the last supper, because we know that we want to teach our people to fish rather than to bribe them with fish.
I hope we get a treat from this government, a technical institute for the Sahtu, and not a trick, because that would be cruel.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
It’s not the time to be mad hatters, but rather a time to look down the rabbit hole and build up our youth’s potential with a trade school so we can sustainably be masters and commanders of our own destiny.
Remember, Mr. Speaker and colleagues, all those little ones going out tonight, and the young, have a spooky and safe Halloween. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. “Buyer beware” seems to be the prevailing mantra for home buyers in the NWT. I find that disturbing, given that a home is the largest and most important purchase most families will ever make.
There is very little emphasis on protecting NWT home buyers from hidden defects of the property they purchase. As usual, we are behind other jurisdictions on both protective measures and basic public education.
NWT home buyers have little protection beyond the common law and that is minimal at best, because if the law is ignored by the seller, the remedy for the buyer is often more hassle, more expensive and more risky than it is worth.
Yes, an experienced realtor and diligent realtor can help protect a home buyer by encouraging sellers to be upfront on the condition of their property, but remember, the realtors work primarily for the seller and we know it’s always a delicate dance. Yes, we have a few good professional home inspectors who are generally hired by potential buyers to make sure you get what you pay for.
Government can, and in some places does, help improve the transparency and safety of purchasing a home. Mandatory disclosure of problems with a home for sale is common in the United States and it seems to work fairly well for all parties. Here in Canada, voluntary disclosure is encouraged in numerous provinces. Manitoba, for example, has a form that sellers can fill out and is widely used, and many realtors now have voluntary extra insurance, such as error and omission insurance, that is gaining popularity and more specific to the industry.
Public education is another area that could be much improved in the Northwest Territories, and our government should take a look at best practices in other provinces. Training for home inspectors is yet another initiative we could look at. But I want government to do more than just take a look. I am asking for reform, where we can, and should, do a lot better than “buyer beware” for our northern families who want to purchase a home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Hawkins, Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the years on Halloween, I’ve been trying to give some interesting statements. One year I gave my version of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” and last year I tried to do a theme statement behind the Adam’s Family and I called it the Cat in the Cloud Cabinet Family. So in trying to keep with this theme, this year I’ve used the theme of Monster Mash, so please bear with me.
While I was working in the Ledge late one night, my eye beheld an eerie site. It was the McLeod government’s policies that caused such fright: a tax on schools, taxes with their might.
Suddenly, to my eyes, I was surprised to see, the McLeod government did the mash. They did the Cabinet mash, the Cabinet mash. It was a majority government Regular Member MLA smash. The McLeod government’s Cabinet mash.
From their ivory tower way above, the Cabinet dazzled with their prime rib grub. While the groveling of Members kept far below, pleading for help through those Cabinet’s no, no, no. So the McLeod government did the mash, they did the Cabinet mash, the Cabinet mash. It was like a majority government Regular Member smash. The McLeod government Cabinet mash.
The zombie Ministers were just as stunned. The party politics had just begun. While the Cabinet stuffed their ridings with trinkets and toys, the Members like us sturdy our poise. ITH, cost of living, and kids, we will never give up nor waver or fizz, because we believe in the people, they’re worth the fight.
While the McLeod government does the mash, they did the Cabinet mash, the Cabinet mash. It was like a majority government Regular Member smash.
As we close, I want to thank the government’s patience and time. May everyone be safe on this special day for children. Drive safe, everyone, and enjoy the evening as it’s intended.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is always a pleasure to see one of our northern residents succeed in their career and showcase their talents in competition. Today I’d like to recognize a Yellowknife resident who has excelled to a level of award-winning performance.
Nadya Debogorski is an exceptional young actress who was born and raised here in Yellowknife. She was recently presented the 2014 Phrike Filmfest Award for best female actress in a competition of short screen plays.
The Phrike Filmfest competition was conceived and put together by New Image Entertainment and New Image College of Fine Arts in Vancouver. This film competition was a thrilling no-holds-barred race. Filmmakers, actors and makeup artists competed to see who could make the best horror film within 72 hours and take home cash prizes, scholarships and the Grand Goblin Award.
This competition was held on Thanksgiving weekend. It challenged novice and professional filmmakers to bring their unique horror-themed short films from script to screen in less than three days. Each four-person team was supplied with a secret package containing a prop, a screen shot and a dialogue line. Of the 38 teams entered into the competition, 13 qualifying films were premiered for the public and judged by their peers, celebrities and industry professionals in the inaugural Halloween parade and expo at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver.
Nadya was named and awarded best female actor for her performance in the short film 13 Cell Phones, created by her team, Ignis Fatuus. Nadya attended Sir John Franklin High School here in Yellowknife and graduated in June of 2012. She has since completed her studies at New Image College of Fine Arts, graduating this past June, and now does some instructing in their fine arts program.
Although Nadya is living in Vancouver at this time, her parents, Greg and Laurette Debogorski, are still in Yellowknife, and I am very pleased to congratulate them on their daughter’s achievements and welcome them here to our proceedings today.
I’m sure, as parents, they have provided encouragement and support to their daughter, and have obviously done a great job at that, and they should be very proud of her achievements.
Yellowknife has produced some serious film talent over the years, going all the way back to Margot Kidder, Toby Mehler and Dustin Milligan. In receiving this award of national recognition, it is evident that Nadya is a talented and ambitious young star who we are very fortunate to say hails from the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife.
Today I’d like to say congratulations to Nadya on her accomplishments and I wish her every continued success and a very bright future ahead of her.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to welcome two constituents, Greg and Laurette Debogorski. I just talked about Nadya and all of her accomplishments. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly this morning, and I wish you a happy Halloween. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to acknowledge several Weledeh constituents who received Medals of Bravery from the Governor General of Canada on October 21st of this year.
On September 22, 2011, my constituents Kent David Bissell, Matthew Lewin Grogono, Mike Joseph Murphy and Allan Randal Shortt played a vital role in the evacuation of several passengers from a Twin Otter that tragically crashed in the Old Town, here in Yellowknife, claiming two lives.
Despite heavy smoke coming from the engine, leaking fuel and the risk of explosion, these brave citizens managed to bring several survivors to safety. Without their quick thinking and selflessness, the results of this tragedy could have been much, much worse. For this brave act, they were awarded a Medal of Bravery by the Governor General of Canada, the Right Honourable David Johnston.
I would like to thank these Medal of Bravery recipients for their actions and courage, and I would invite all you here in this House and throughout the Northwest Territories to do the same.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I talked about what kind of support we have for our victim service coordinators in the Northwest Territories. As I said earlier, I stated that 1,942 cases go to victim service coordinators throughout the NWT, and those are the only ones that need services. There might even be more victims out there that don’t speak up, don’t stand up.
I would like to ask the Minister of Justice, how many victim service coordinators do we currently have in the Northwest Territories address all these cases? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have some full-time workers in the area of victim service. We also have a number of part-time persons who deliver this much needed responsibility to our residents. I’d have to get the Member the exact figure, and I can get him the figure by community on who’s where and what positions are full time and what are part time. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, from the family violence report card that I most recently went through, I think there’s about seven victim service coordinators. I could be wrong, though. But I know the community of Inuvik, we do have an issue in terms of keeping that position staffed because it’s only a half-time position and the responsibilities, the work and the effort that these victim service coordinators go through to get victims to the courts to jail or even the hospital or counselling, it goes above and beyond their scope of work and practice, and sometimes beyond the work hours that they’re actually given.
I’d like to ask the Minister, is he willing to look at revising some of these half-time positions, especially in the regional centres where caseloads are very high, to turn it from a half-time position into a full-time position? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, like coroners – I know we talked about coroners earlier in this session – victim services workers do have a very tough job. They’re dealing with some very stressful situations, and it’s important, from the Department of Justice perspective, that we provide them with the support that they need.
On a case-by-case basis if there’s a workload there that would warrant a full-time position, that certainly is something that the department would entertain and we’d take a look at that. Thank you.
In terms of providing services to our victim service coordinators, what type of training is available for them to deal with some of these very highly stressful situations that they find themselves? Not only training for them, but what about counselling services for victim service coordinators that, on a daily basis in some cases, see the harshness of our residents of the Northwest Territories who are going through some type of family violence, or after a specific tragedy, what kind of counselling services and training is provided to these victim service coordinators? Thank you.
There’s ongoing training and support for our victim services workers across the NWT. I understand they will be in Yellowknife next week. I believe I’ll be speaking to the group next week here in Yellowknife. If the Member is available – I know MLA Moses came to the coroners’ event last week – and certainly if he has some time and he’s in town, I’d encourage him to attend that, as well, to learn more about victim services and the support that we provide through the Department of Justice.
I think having the group get together to share experiences and touch base with each other about issues and problems, it always is good to talk about your work with your peers. So it’s a great opportunity and I’ll be there to lend my support to the work that they do on behalf of residents here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that invitation and hopefully I can make it. It depends on our committee schedule for next week. However, sometimes to get the best results and hear what’s really happening is to talk to people on the ground level.
Is the Minister willing to sit down with the victim service coordinators next week and just have a general talk on what their needs are to help them do their job better for residents of the Northwest Territories? Is he willing to make the time next week to sit down and listen to what they really need? They’re the ones who are dealing with the victims and seeing what’s happening on the front line. Thank you.
Thank you. I hadn’t been requested to do that, but by all regards, I’d be happy to do that if they wanted to have a bit of a roundtable with me. What I normally do, if I speak to the group, I stay and answer questions if people have questions.
Yes, we can look at having something like that happen when they’re here in town next week, an opportunity for them to ask me questions and a bit of a dialogue with them. That sounds like a very good idea. Thank you.
