Mr. Speaker, with increased legislative and regulatory authorities, the Government of the Northwest Territories is positioning itself to take a more proactive and direct approach to expanding the territorial economy and to providing long-term and lasting economic growth and opportunities for the people of the NWT.
Last year this government released the Economic Opportunities Strategy and the Mineral Development Strategy. We could not have completed these strategies without our partners in industry, business and community associations, and the federal government. I want to acknowledge the valuable input we received through our engagement with local and Aboriginal governments as well as residents and business owners from across the NWT. I also want to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure for your input and guidance on both of these strategies.
Mr. Speaker, we are aiming to release the implementation plans for both the Economic Opportunities Strategy the Mineral Development Strategy by June 30.
The Economic Opportunities Strategy Implementation Plan will map out the priorities, approaches and resources that the GNWT will be undertaking to address the 117 recommended actions outlined in the strategy, led by Industry, Tourism and Investment. It is focused on four key areas: supporting the territory’s small business community; growing a stable and attractive entrepreneurial environment; pursuing major
investment projects; and attracting, retaining and preparing residents to be active participants in the prosperous and sustainable new economic environment that we are building.
The Mineral Development Strategy Implementation Plan will provide a blueprint to achieve specific goals outlined in the strategy. These include growing a sustainable mining sector, encouraging responsible mineral development and exploration, improving geoscience information and research, enhancing Aboriginal capacity and creating a Mining Incentive Program.
We will continue to collaborate with our partners who helped to develop these strategies, and work together to promote the Northwest Territories as a place to invest, work and live.
Mr. Speaker, a key element of devolution was that this government and this Assembly would gain the tools to shape and direct the economy of this territory for the long term. Capitalizing on our full potential takes the kind of strategic thought and planning reflected in these strategies and implementation plans. I look forward to working with Members to advance both of these strategies and ultimately to achieve our vision of a prosperous territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, every day, seniors across the NWT make important contributions to their families, their friends and their communities.
We don’t always give them the credit they deserve, but recognizing June as Seniors Month in the Northwest Territories and June 15th as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is one way to show our appreciation to NWT seniors.
Today we are wearing purple boutonnieres to raise awareness about elder abuse and its many forms, financial, emotional and physical. I would like to welcome and recognize members of the NWT Seniors’ Society and the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society present in the gallery today.
Seniors and elders are important keepers of traditions and culture. They are a valued source of wisdom and guidance and are role models and mentors for younger generations.
Elders and seniors should be given the best care possible, and our government is committed to meeting their health care and social needs. Partnerships with seniors’ groups help to ensure seniors receive the support they need.
Mr. Speaker, seniors are the fastest growing population in the NWT. In the past decade the seniors demographic has grown at a rate of more than 5 percent per year.
A goal of the Department of Health and Social Services is to enhance the continuum of care to ensure seniors remain independent and in their own homes and their own communities for as long as possible. We know that providing home and community care services for seniors reduces the demand for long-term and acute care and helps seniors maintain their quality of life. We all benefit when our elders are able to remain active and independent members of community life.
The GNWT already offers a range of programs and services that help seniors live independently, including home care, seniors housing, and the Extended Health Benefits Program for seniors. Home support is already available in every NWT community, and home nursing is available in communities with nursing staff. The department is also working with the NWT Housing Corporation to address independent housing needs in NWT communities.
However, Mr. Speaker, we know that as this segment of the population grows, we will need to change the way we offer services. After an extensive review of continuing care services in the NWT which helped identify needs, best practices and system gaps, we have developed a strategic framework which outlines the broad principles that will guide how we design and deliver programs and services in the future. The framework document Our Elders: Our Communities outlines seven priorities for healthy and active aging. These priorities include:
ensuring that we continue to deliver home and community care services that meet the needs of elders and communities;
making sure that services are integrated and coordinated;
recognizing that we need to support caregivers;
working with our communities to ensure that they are responsive to the needs of their elders and seniors;
providing accessible and current information to seniors and their families; and
continuing to explore and implement sustainable best practices.
Encouraging healthy and active aging promotes independent living and allows elders to contribute their knowledge and wisdom within their community. This benefits everyone.
This approach also supports a sustainable health system by increasing community supports, which reduces the need for acute care services and long-term care beds, and it helps to achieve our vision of ensuring the best health, best care and a better future for our residents.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be tabling the document Our Elders: Our Communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, making sure our children inherit a healthy environment that supports traditional lifestyles in a modern economy through the wise use and protection of our natural resources is one of the main goals of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
As you are aware, as of April 1, 2014, ENR took over responsibility for managing water resources in the Mackenzie Valley and inland waters in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region through the administration of the Waters Act and Regulations.
This new legislation gives the Government of the Northwest Territories the authority to make sure water is used in a sustainable manner and is protected and conserved for future generations.
With Rivers to Oceans Day coming up the week of June 9th, it is timely to provide Members with an update on water management in the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, the principles and vision of the Northwest Territories Water Stewardship Strategy continue to guide our actions post-devolution and ensure conservation of this valuable resource. We continue to build awareness of water stewardship among youth, with activities planned with Grade 3 students on Rivers to Oceans Day.
We are fulfilling our enhanced responsibility for water resource management, guided by the goals of the Water Stewardship Strategy. Through monitoring and assessment, research partnerships and advisory roles, the spirit and intent of the strategy is followed and applied.
There are many important programs and activities we carry out with our increased water management responsibilities. For example, in the fall of 2014 we will finalize a new Canada-NWT Memorandum of Agreement on Hydrometric Monitoring for the NWT, for continued baseline monitoring of water quantity at key sites across the territory.
We continue to regularly sample water quality in major transboundary rivers as well as through a network of special interest sites.
We are working with NWT communities and other partners to build upon, and support, the NWT-wide Community-Based Water Quality Monitoring Program in the Mackenzie River Basin to help answer community questions about water. Monitoring results have been shared with involved communities and other water partners through regional meetings, workshops and the 2014 water calendar.
A booklet outlining monitoring results for 2012 is now available. Results for 2013 will be communicated in upcoming months.
In late October 2013, following the Obed Mountain Coal Mine spill near Hinton, Alberta, ENR worked with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada to quickly mobilize and get water sampling equipment in place to address residents’ concerns about downstream waters in the NWT. ENR provided sampling equipment and gave ongoing updates about the spill to the public. Spring sampling is now underway and results of the monitoring will be released later this spring.
I am happy to report we expect there will be little or no impact on NWT waters.
ENR recently supported the Town of Hay River’s emergency measures office during breakup of the Hay River by producing daily breakup reports for the director of protective services and testing an ice jam flood risk model developed by the University of Alberta.
The ENR network of climate monitoring and snow survey sites across the NWT provides valuable information to a broad range of clients and researchers.
Mr. Speaker, we will be relying on the continued support and involvement of Aboriginal governments and other partners as we build capacity and undertake northern-focused research with a greater emphasis on the biological aspect of water monitoring.
ENR continues to support NWT communities in developing source water protection plans. ENR developed a community source water protection guidance document that has been distributed to NWT communities and water partners.
Collaborative partnerships are being established between ENR, other GNWT departments, Aboriginal groups, environmental non-government organizations, community representatives, federal government departments and academic institutions in efforts to establish community-based monitoring initiatives related to source water protection.
Significant progress has been made on negotiations of bilateral water management agreements with Alberta and British Columbia. An intentions document is being developed for each to serve as a basis for the NWT to negotiate final bilateral agreements. Aboriginal consultation and public engagement regarding negotiations of these agreements are ongoing. We continue to pursue transboundary water management agreements with Saskatchewan and the Yukon.
Along with the regulatory responsibilities of reviewing water licence applications, providing technical advice to NWT regulatory boards and inspecting and enforcing water licences, ENR is now responsible for approving Type A water licences. Since April 1, we have approved two amended Type A water licences, CanTung and Con Mine, in a thorough and timely manner
Mr. Speaker, ENR is stepping up and successfully meeting the challenges of our new water management responsibilities post-devolution.
We remain committed to our vision of keeping the water of the NWT clean, abundant and productive for all time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, I rise before the House today to inform you that Cabinet has agreed to begin developing regulations under the NWT Oil and Gas Operations Act that will set out filing requirements for projects involving hydraulic fracturing.
The Northwest Territories has significant natural resource potential that could help create prosperity, jobs and economic opportunities for Northerners and the whole country. Devolution has given the Government of the Northwest Territories new powers to manage resource development. We are committed to using those new powers to ensure that the development of Northwest Territories petroleum resources proceeds in a responsible, sustainable way that creates prosperity for our residents, while protecting the environment and human health and safety.
As you are aware, Mr. Speaker, the GNWT mirrored the federal legislation that was in place prior to April 1, 2014. Our government assumed responsibilities for an already well-developed environmental protection and regulatory system as part of devolution. It is the same system that has overseen the development of diamond mining and other projects in the Northwest Territories. That system already allows hydraulic fracturing under guidelines established by the National Energy Board prior to devolution.
Our strategy was to devolve and then evolve. Developing a made-in-the-North regulatory system that promotes responsible, sustainable management of our natural resources and protection of the land and environment is an ongoing process. That work is aimed at refining the current system to better reflect northern priorities and values. Developing regulations for hydraulic fracturing filing requirements is part of that process.
This is an important issue and we are putting together a plan for how we will proceed. We will not develop regulations without consulting Members, the public, Aboriginal governments, industry, NGOs and other stakeholders. Any regulations we do develop will be based on current science, recognized best practices and will consider all the views presented during consultations.
The GNWT has been working on this issue since early 2012 and has already undertaken research into environmental best practices used by industry and regulators in other jurisdictions. Standing committee has been involved in this process and I want to recognize their contributions. We will benefit from the significant work that the GNWT has already done and will also draw heavily from the good work that the National Energy Board had done in developing its hydraulic fracturing filing requirements. This will be an opportunity to strengthen those requirements and ensure they align with northern priorities and values.
Mr. Speaker, it is also important to remember that decision-making around resource development, including hydraulic fracturing, is shared among several Ministers at both the federal and territorial level and boards established under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. Proponents must also have a land use permit and a water licence, issued by regulators other than the regulator for oil and gas operations. These decisions are guided by an established legislative and policy framework that includes the MVRMA, territorial legislation, the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, Sustainable Development Policy, Water Strategy, Economic Opportunities Strategy and commitments under settled claims.
New hydraulic fracturing regulations would complement the integrated, already well-developed environmental protection and regulatory systems in the Northwest Territories. They would apply to any hydraulic fracturing projects in the NWT, in both the Mackenzie Valley, regulated by the NWT oil and gas regulator, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, regulated by the National Energy Board. New regulations would provide clarity to decision-makers, industry and the public around filing requirements, ensuring proponents understood NWT expectations before they prepared their applications.
Mr. Speaker, the Canol shale holds an estimated two to three billion barrels of oil which, if developed, would create prosperity for the residents of the Sahtu and provide for royalties to the GNWT that could support investment in NWT priorities. We are all aware of the proposed hydraulic fracturing activities in the Canol shale and the often heated and polarized debate around the use of hydraulic fracturing as a technique to extract petroleum from certain kinds of rock formations.
Our government is committed to protecting the health of our people and environment and creating prosperity for our residents by responsibly and sustainably developing our natural resource potential. We will continue to work with the people of the NWT, industry, the Sahtu, Aboriginal governments and Members to identify and adopt best practices on hydraulic fracturing that will allow us to balance our commitment to protecting the environment with efforts to create prosperity for NWT residents. We will provide more details on how we will proceed with the development of regulations and the timelines for consultation in late June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a little story I want to tell today and it ends with a question. What are we supposed to tell them?
For many, many years, Hay River has had an electrical inspector who works under the Department of Public Works and Services. Most of you will know that that was Stanley Norn. Stanley Norn recently retired, and congratulations to him on his retirement.
Now, the job was out for competition and candidates applied. This is a position that we have to fight to keep in Hay River. If a candidate who applies for the job lives in a different community, they can’t then just say, can you move that position to my community so I can stay home and do the job?
Mr. Speaker, we not only have to fight for decentralization to get new positions into our communities but it looks like we have to fight to keep the ones we’ve already got and have had for many, many years. It’s not just a political decision. It comes down to issues like where are the majority of the electrical permit applications made? Where are the majority of electrical contractors? Where is the majority of the work that this electrical inspector would be doing? Where is it located? If it’s located in Hay River, the job has to be kept in Hay River.
So, Mr. Bouchard and I have both received communication from several electrical contractors in Hay River who are extremely concerned that they will not have ready access to an electrical inspector to process their applications when they need to pull a permit to do work in Hay River.
So, in response to that, we need to get some answers on what’s happening here. If we can apply for government jobs in a different location and then say can you just move the job to where I live, then I think everybody in Hay River should apply for a job with the government in Yellowknife, and when they are the successful candidate, they can just ask the staff, can we just stay in Hay River and do that job that’s actually a job in Yellowknife?
I think that we owe these folks in Hay River some answers. I don’t know if decisions have been made, but I had to bring it up here publicly today. We have not named any name of the candidates or potential candidates or where they live, but it’s a pressing issue for us as MLAs for Hay River.
Later today I will have a question for the Minister of Public Works and Services: What do we tell our concerned citizens about the position of the electrical inspector for Hay River? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we witnessed earlier today in the Great Hall with the education presentations, we have many great teachers throughout the Northwest Territories. There are those in our education system that are here to teach and those who serve to inspire their students to great heights.
Keeping on this theme, I’d like to dedicate my Member’s statement today to a group of inspiring Yellowknife teachers at St. Pat’s High School for going above and beyond what is expected as an educator.
Of course, I’m referring to the special St. Pat’s Scuba/Marine Biology 2013-2014 Club Administration Team comprising of Mr. Brent Simmons who is a PADI rescue diver, Mr. Todd Stewart, who is a PADI advanced open water diver and the driving force behind the program, Ms. Michelle Thoms, the main course and scuba instructor.
The St. Pat’s Scuba/Marine Biology Class is a club that was started in 2000. During the past eight years, the club has taken five trips to British Columbia and as of this past May, three trips to Cozumel, Mexico.
The club’s main objective is to educate youth about marine environment, using safe and environmentally friendly techniques, the completion of a scuba certification and collection of data from a marine biology project.
Students receive credits for the marine biology course, learn First Aid and CPR and graduate with a PADI diver certification, which is also a high school credit course.
The students worked very hard at fundraising leading up to this trip and must maintain school-based academic and attendance requirements. Like any adventurous activity, there are always potential risks; however, I can assure you that these teachers supervised all the training, all PADI guidelines and provided a safe diving experience for their students.
I have great faith in our education system, knowing that we have teachers like Mr. Simmons, Mr. Stewart and Ms. Thoms going that extra mile to inspire our youth in lifelong learning.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all Members of the Legislative Assembly, join me in appreciation for their efforts. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to discuss an issue that I’ve brought up in the House before. It’s a priority of the Assembly to do decentralization, to put jobs out in the regions from a priority of this Assembly when we started. Now I’m going to be questioning Cabinet and the Premier today about how and the timing of this.
Mr. Speaker, you well know that this session is very short before we go into the summer break, but then when we come back in September we’ll be looking at business plans of departments of how these departments are going to be run and operate over the next year. In that planning session I would hope to see some of the discussion on how we’re decentralizing some of the activities that these departments are doing.
The question that I have today, and I’ve asked in this House before, is there must be a big plan. I’ve heard, and it has been indicated by some of the Ministers, that there is a plan, we kind of have an idea, you may get this, you may get some other positions, but we’ve never ever seen a plan here on this side of this is how it’s going to be laid out.
We’ve talked about devolution and the positions there, and we were held up by the federal government on some of the work that can be done. We have plans out there from the department side of we’re going to build these types of houses in this type of locations. The thing is, have we incorporated those construction plans along with a plan to decentralize the government?
I will have questions later for the Premier of the Northwest Territories on decentralization and when is the big plan coming out to the general public and to this side of the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The cost of fuel is hurting homeowners in small communities across the NWT. Seniors and those on a fixed income are especially vulnerable to increased fuel prices.
Since 1999, heating oil and propane prices have increased over 200 percent in many places. Last week Petro Canada rack rates in Hay River price diesel and furnace fuel oil at $1.01 per litre. Global demand and prices for fossil fuels continue to rise.
Government needs to look at ways to standardize fuel prices like other provinces have done. We could establish rates for private, commercial and industry customers, first in areas served by the petroleum products division and then consider ways to broaden support to the whole NWT.
We know that our years of subsidizing energy prices are dwindling. Fuel prices are among the greatest cost to individuals, communities, corporate taxpayers and the environment. We need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Not only is it draining our bank accounts, it costs the planet and people more than we can afford.
Consider the changes to our culture alone due to dependence on fuel. Fossil fuel production threatens water supplies and air quality. It compromises cultural traditions and alters our relationship to the natural world.
Advances in technology have generally made our lives easier and longer, but we also rely less on each other. People feel like they have to spend all their time working to have money and things. For the most part, modern lifestyles depend on machines and the ability to travel long distance in a short time. That isn’t all bad, but we need to remember we’re in a balance with nature.
We’re making some positive changes in promoting biomass heating systems in homes and public buildings. We need to make sure private homeowners and eligible public housing tenants can take full advantage of more stable prices of biomass energy. The government has launched a Solar Energy Strategy, and the Diavik Mine is powering some of its own operations with wind.
We need to help Northerners manage the price of fuel while working on longer term solutions to reduce our reliance on expensive energy. I look forward to more discussion on energy solutions for the NWT over the next few days.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, housing conditions in remote communities matter to all Members of this House regardless of what constituency you represent. I want to talk about some of the public housing conditions in Paulatuk here today.
I’ve been reading some of the condition ratings provided in detail by the Housing Corporation, and I am quite concerned, and I think we need to discuss them today. Now, if you have visited or perhaps been in contact with any of the families there recently, you would hear one point of view, and of course, if you have asked for information such as I have, the Housing Corporation would have provided a briefing note which says one thing, which is a different view, and furthermore, they provided stats to back that up which, oddly enough, is something else.
Take, for example, that the Housing Corporation says that there are five units that fall under the condition rating of liveable. But, you know, when you go through their stats, they don’t actually line up. When you ask them how many units are available for families out there, they’ll tell you that there are three under one condition and two under another, and that adds up to five. But if you talk to people in the community, there are actually nine units sitting there unavailable for people to live in. It causes people to wonder, or at least it causes me to wonder: who is doing some of these condition ratings, who is counting houses, how do you lose houses, what is their ability to do condition ratings, do they actually have competencies to do these types of things, and how do we allow this to happen?
Frankly, in talking to the people in the community, they feel that these conditions that they’re living under are bleak without any hope. I hear stories that the houses there are fraught with mould, the inspections are not being done, the repair and maintenance is non-existent, and as everybody knows, most certainly people like yourself, when it costs $7 or more a pound to fly up anything, if you shipped up one sheet of drywall, which could weigh 40 pounds, you’re paying $280 just to get that one sheet of drywall to Paulatuk, for goodness sakes. The question is: Do we have the money and are we doing what we should be obliged to, to help the people there?
I have a lengthy Member’s statement, and I don’t know where to begin. There is just so much to say about the mould there and the conditions people are living under, the fact is, are we being fair and honest with the folks there? Clearly, there is a significant need there, and I would definitely say that the responsibility of our government needs to listen clearly to this point. When we own 75 percent of the housing in Paulatuk, 60 out of 80 units, it doesn’t leave you a lot of options on where to go, so people learned that they cannot complain or they’ll be shunned. That has to end. We need something done.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May was Speech and Hearing Month, and many of us take our ability to communicate for granted, but the ability to speak, hear and be heard is far more vital to our everyday lives than most of us realize. One in six Canadians has a speech, language or hearing problem.
Each year Speech-Language and Audiology Canada dedicates the month of May to raising public awareness about communication disorders. This year in the month of May, speech-language pathologists, audiologists and supportive personnel joined forces to highlight the importance of early detection and intervention in the treatment of communication disorders. Whether working with a child with autism, an adult with impaired hearing or an elderly person recovering from a stroke, their goal is this: to help people speak well, hear well, live well.
We have many chronic health conditions in the North, and hearing loss is one of them. Canada wide, hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic condition behind arthritis and hypertension, and half of all cases of hearing loss are preventable.
Hearing loss is one of the most common major conditions that is present at birth. Approximately three to five babies per 1,000 born each year have some degree of hearing loss. It’s a condition that affects a child’s understanding and use of language, and it’s one that can be easily screened for in newborns. It’s a condition that can affect a child’s cognitive, social, emotional, academic and communication development, and the sooner the hearing problem is detected the better the chances for improvement and future success of the child.
That said, historically, hospitals only screen high-risk babies for hearing loss, but studies show that nearly half of all babies with hearing loss have no high-risk factors, so they don’t get screened. All newborns should be screened. Early identification allows for earlier intervention, which can enhance a hearing-impaired child’s development. An accurate and objective hearing screening test on a newborn can be completed in less than five minutes. The typical quoted cost is about $35. On the flipside, every case of unidentified hearing loss has been estimated to cost taxpayers $1 million.
We do have a hearing screening program in the NWT for newborns.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thanks to my colleagues. Our hearing screening program is sponsored by the Stanton Territorial Health Authority and the Department of Health and Social Services, and it’s delivered at every birthing centre in the NWT. However, it is a voluntary service for parents.
All children in the NWT deserve access to proper hearing screening to help them reach their full potential. Newborn and infant hearing screening programs must be mandated for all NWT newborns, no matter where they are born. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a government, sometimes we do face challenges with a lack of resources to provide certain programs and services in the Northwest Territories. As a result, we often have to partner up with organizations from the South, and a particular organization is the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
Although it’s June, I’d like to take time to reflect that the month of May was, and is, Vision Health Month, and actually the Senate of Canada officially declared May as Vision Health Month.
As the primary provider of vision rehabilitation programs and services to Northwest Territories residents with vision loss, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind Alberta and Northwest Territories Division knows first-hand the importance of vision health.
At this time I would like Members and residents of the Northwest Territories to consider some of the following facts about vision health and vision loss. Seventy-five percent of vision loss is avoidable through prevention or treatment. Many serious eye conditions have no symptoms and can only be detected through a comprehensive eye exam. Even someone with 20/20 vision may be at risk, and those working with vision loss face additional health risks such as clinical depression, increased risk of falls and increased admittance rates into nursing homes.
In the Northwest Territories there are more than 1,000 residents living with vision loss. This number is expected to grow exponentially with an aging population. As you heard hear earlier today, the seniors demographic has been growing at a rate of more than 5 percent a year, as the Minister of Health alluded to a little earlier today.
The first step towards avoiding vision loss is to visit a vision health professional to receive a comprehensive eye exam. For more information, members of the public, health professionals, Members of the Legislative Assembly can actually find more information by visiting the CNIB website, cnib.ca.
At this time I would like to thank Mr. John J. McDonald, the executive director and regional vice-president of the CNIB Alberta/Northwest Territories Division for contacting all Members of the Legislative Assembly to recognize the important work that they are doing for residents of the Northwest Territories in bringing this important matter to the table for all Members of the Legislative Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We hear increasing concerns from parents, teachers and education professionals regarding ECE’s plan to implement a free kindergarten curriculum that many feel is inappropriate for the NWT. The curriculum, apparently a blend of kindergarten, pre-kindergarten and early grades, not only lacks benefits for four-year-olds, it may even be harmful to some aspects of child development.
The fact that our smaller communities recognize that go slow approach is required, means that we have some opportunity to get it right before irreversible damage is done. We must get professional early childhood educators in place from Junior Kindergarten suitably and ensure the development of appropriate northern JK curriculum.
Fortunately, a substantial body of work is available, a made-in-the-North program developed over the past 17 years by the Aboriginal Head Start program. For example, Aboriginal Head Start staff found that the conventional early development indicator currently in use by ECE is not appropriate for Aboriginal students in our small northern communities. Through intensive focus and expert consultations, AHS derived an alternative assessment through which they enabled steady improvements in program performance. It is well documented and included in their rigorous evaluation reports and has been ignored by ECE in ECE’s blind rush to implement their latest edict. No attempt has been made to use the wealth of northern and Aboriginal knowledge that the AHS Council has put at the government’s disposal.
All available studies point out that in order to be effective, early childhood education programs must be of the highest quality and delivered by qualified child development professionals to be successful. Hybrid programs don’t work and are, in fact, harmful. Four-year-old children have much different needs than five and six-year-olds. People who are qualified to deliver early childhood education programs have completely different qualifications from kindergarten and early grade teachers. To ask staff to work with children that they are not qualified to teach is unfair to both the staff and the children.
Success hangs in the balance. To date, the Minister has refused to meet with AHS leaders and his staff have ignored their input. Will the Minister commit to integrating the experience and knowledge available through the Aboriginal Head Start program experience, and will he guarantee qualified professional early childhood educators to deliver an appropriately northern pre-kindergarten, not hybrid, program for every JK group?
I will have questions for the Minister. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over 100 years ago, Aboriginal children in Canada were sent to Indian residential schools funded by the federal government and run by Christian churches. Children were stripped of their language and cultural identity. Many were abused and neglected. Traditional practices that once bonded families together were damaged.
Canada’s attempt to wipe out the Aboriginal cultures failed, yet we’re still reeling from the effects. There’s an urgent need for reconciliation for the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. May 26th is the National Day of Reconciliation and Healing declared by our government, so it’s a good time to talk about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or the TRC as it’s commonly known.
The TRC emerged out of a $5 billion settlement in 2007 between the federal government, Canadian churches and the Aboriginal people. Through the TRC independent assessment process, nearly 40,000 claims have been made. Over four million government and church documents have been collected. The testimony and the evidence has been described as devastating, incredible, beyond belief and out of this world.
In March 2014 I was fortunate enough to attend the TRC national event in Edmonton. Thousands of survivors, including myself, gave witness statements. Dozens of church representatives were also on hand to offer personal apologies.
During the event, the Alberta Aboriginal Relations Minister announced that K to 12 curriculum will include contents on the history of the residential schools.
In a similar move, the mayor of Edmonton unveiled plans to educate all city municipal workers. Edmonton has one of the largest urban populations in the country. The goal is to provide services in a more sensitive and compassionate manner
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has shed light on the shameful past as part of our past. It has accomplished a great deal. Now we need to keep the momentum going. One way to do this is to recognize how the legacy of residential schools affects Aboriginal families today. Thousands of NWT residents are dealing with this legacy. It is called intergenerational trauma. This trauma is one of the root causes of child maltreatment. It also contributes to alcohol and drug abuse, mental health issues, domestic violence and poverty.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
In fact, in a recent report in the House, the Auditor General said that child and family services are failing Aboriginal families in the Northwest Territories, so the government has a major task ahead to change the welfare system.
During oral questions I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Summer has begun and the ferries across the NWT are starting their engines. At a constituency meeting in Fort Simpson last fall, the people in my riding raised the possibility of running the daily ferry at the Liard crossing from 7 a.m. until midnight. It currently runs from 8 a.m. until midnight, and people are often in a rush to attend business in Hay River or Yellowknife or make other travel connections. This spring I had initial discussions with the Department of Transportation to propose operating the ferry between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. They suggested there would be no added cost, but to constituents there is a lost benefit if we travel to Hay River for an early appointment but still have to rush to make it back for an 11 p.m. closing.
I recently took it upon myself to survey the community on this issue. The majority of the people I spoke with prefer a 7 a.m. start. There were several that wanted a 6 a.m. start, but the consensus among residents and businesses is to keep the ferry open until midnight and not close an hour earlier. I support serious consideration of a 7 a.m. until 12 a.m. operating hours. Over the last two years I have seen increased demand for the ferry services, especially at the earlier hour.
The potential operation of the Prairie Creek Mine will bring more travel between Fort Simpson and other regional centres. The government is also trying to promote tourism and road travel throughout the Northwest Territories. These economic reasons alone support extending ferry operations by just one hour. Residents of Fort Liard will also benefit when travelling down Highway No. 7. They can arrive in Fort Simpson sooner and/or business travellers can depart down Highway No. 7 by 7 a.m.
I am sure Members of this House are familiar with the frustration road travellers experience and sometimes bring to MLAs when they miss the ferry crossing and have to sleep in their vehicles, or their travel plans are upset by inconvenient operating hours.
We can improve things by running the ferry on a more convenient timetable, and also extending the Lafferty ferry service by one hour is a reasonable request. It’s a small thing that can make a big difference.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to address Junior Kindergarten that the Minister has approved for our school in the fall.
The Minister has approved this with no further funding and lack of adequate space for the new program. How does the Minister expect to have our teachers instruct the students and teach them in a learning environment with no money, no space and no plan? Our communities throughout the North have commented in-depth regarding the Junior Kindergarten Program. We need an extra $40,000 to $50,000 to help implement the program, similar to the communities that have taken on the pilot project this past year. We need to have the proper resources to carry out Junior Kindergarten, but we need funding in order to help that happen.
Education is high on our priority list. One of our goals for this Assembly is healthy, educated people free from poverty. Our priority states: ensure a fair and sustainable health care system by investing in prevention, education and awareness and early childhood development. How can we, as a government, make these priorities happen without adequate funding? Our children need us to be their voice. Yes, we want them in school. Yes, we want them to learn. The most important time for these children to learn is in the early stages of their lives. I urge the Minister to please give us the funds and help us to implement Junior Kindergarten in our schools.
Order! The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
