Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has committed to building a strong, prosperous territory and ensuring its benefits are shared in all communities and regions. Strategic investments in transportation infrastructure will help support the long-term growth of our economy and provide jobs and opportunities to our people. The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway is one of these projects, and I am pleased to report on the success of the first winter of construction.
The highway is one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken by the GNWT and is significant as the first leg of the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway that will continue south to Wrigley to connect the entire NWT.
Mr. Speaker, the project is progressing according to the Department of Transportation’s estimates. Operations ran smoothly and efficiently this winter to make the most of the construction season.
Work began this winter following the procurement and delivery of new equipment. Seventy-five percent of the major equipment on site is either new or near new. This allowed work to continue without delay as breakdowns were minimized, safety was increased and the carbon footprint of operations was reduced.
Seventy-two days of construction took place on the north end of the project near Tuktoyaktuk, lasting from mid-February to the end of April. During this time, crews made progress on the construction of 16 kilometres of embankment, one bridge and six large diameter culverts. On the south end by Inuvik, there were 58 days of construction from
March 3 to the end of April, resulting in progress on the construction of 13 kilometres of embankment, two bridges and seven large diameter culverts.
Over one million cubic metres of embankment material was moved during this time.
Mr. Speaker, this success should be attributed to the effort of crew members who worked days and nights during some of the coldest and darkest part of winter. The resiliency and determination of these men and women is essential to the project’s success. At the peak of construction, 425 individuals were employed by EGT Northwind, of which approximately 10 percent were female employees who were involved in all aspects of the construction project from environmental monitoring to operating 40-tonne rock trucks.
Mr. Speaker, Northerners are already benefitting from this highway construction project. Over 18,000 person days of employment were created during winter construction, including almost 15,000 person days for NWT and Inuvik region residents. This does not include employees working for the 41 subcontractors hired by EGT Northwind to provide a range of services from wildlife monitoring to medical services. In addition, 83 percent of these subcontracts were awarded to northern companies.
The project company used simulators to train more than 70 individuals on different types of rock truck and excavator equipment during the first construction season. Training activity is expected to increase during the next construction season that is anticipated to last up to six months.
While most construction activities occur during the winter, shaping, grading and compacting activities will resume at the end of June until fall. During this time no movement of material from the borrow pits will take place. This plan is developed to protect the permafrost underneath the highway.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP enjoys a long and important history in the NWT, going all the way back to its original creation as a force established to police what was then a much larger Northwest Territories. Today the RCMP continues to be valued for the policing services they provide and the contributions individual members make in our communities.
Within our government and throughout the North, we are working collaboratively to address social issues more effectively. The local policing plans we have developed in partnership with the RCMP and communities demonstrate how effective this approach can be.
This process started two years ago, when the Minister's policing priorities focused on objectives such as building public trust and confidence in RCMP services. From this came a series of conversations that were held between community members and the RCMP with the goal to develop plans setting out policing priorities for every community. As a result, each of our 33 communities has had the opportunity to work closely with the RCMP to determine what matters to them most.
In keeping with these priorities, community leadership and the Department of Justice receive a monthly report from the RCMP detailing progress on the agreed issues. This process is building trust as well as accountability and contributes to an increased satisfaction with policing services.
Communities are now better informed about the work of the RCMP, and the Department of Justice can identify common issues and priorities Northerners share. The valuable community-based information collected in reports will be used by the department and our partners to guide policies, programs and services. The ultimate result will be an increasingly effective and efficient use of limited financial and human resources.
As part of the evolution of this work, I have asked the RCMP to go further in working with the communities by developing joint policing action plans. These are intended to complement and work hand in hand with the priorities set by each community. The community and the RCMP will work together to decide how to address the priority issues within existing resources. While many of these will be coming directly from the RCMP, this process also gives communities the opportunity to contribute their own strengths and resources. These action plans will help to demonstrate progress and outline timelines for results. Again, we are finding ways to be accountable to those we serve.
Mr. Ron Smith, the new commanding officer of the RCMP at "G" Division, is known to many of us. He is here with us today and I will be acknowledging him at the appropriate time. Prior to assuming the commanding officer position in May, Chief Superintendent Ron Smith was the officer in charge of criminal operations here in the Northwest Territories. He has served in other northern jurisdictions, including Nunavut and Labrador. We are all looking forward to working with him.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Wade Blake for his contribution to policing services as chief superintendent of “G” Division. Mr. Blake was instrumental in rolling out our new approach to the policing priorities from the beginning. It is his good work that we are now able to build upon, and we are very pleased that he will continue to work with us in his new position as director of community justice and community policing.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard the concerns of Members about the 12 communities that do not have detachments. In consultation with Chief Superintendent Smith, we will be recommending that these communities be the first to benefit from this enhanced policing plan process.
Achieving sustainable, vibrant and safe communities is one of the goals of this Assembly, and we are committed to making it a reality in partnership with communities. The RCMP and the GNWT recognize the importance of collaboration to ensure we are properly targeting and allocating resources to meet the needs and priorities of the people we serve. We believe in the people of the NWT, the history, the strength and the abilities we have to make our communities safer together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, June 1st is National Cancer Survivors Day. This day is an annual celebration of life and loved ones. Each year it reminds us of the importance of speaking openly about cancer and supporting one another in the face of such a serious disease.
On average, 111 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the NWT every year. There is life after diagnosis. The NWT residents I know who have cancer have shown courage and strength in their individual cancer journeys.
Too often we think that the diagnosis of cancer is a reason for despair, but more people are surviving and going on to live full lives during and after treatment. These people are survivors.
I encourage everyone to look at every cancer patient as a survivor, not a victim. NWT residents who have experienced cancer may choose to self-identify in different ways, but there is no reason to view someone living with cancer as a victim.
In March the department launched a project funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer to improve the cancer journeys of NWT residents. The Continuity of Care Project focuses on supporting cancer patients and survivors along the full continuum of care, particularly in the post-treatment phase. This project will help us to enhance after-care and services by reinforcing community-level capacity and improving coordination and communication.
We must continue to raise awareness of cancer so that people get screened earlier. I encourage everyone to join the fight against cancer. Residents can talk to the NWT Canadian Cancer Society to find out what awareness-raising events are taking place in their communities, like the Relay for Life. In past years as many as 30 NWT residents who openly identify themselves as cancer survivors have participated. This government is in full support of this event and all others which raise awareness and funding for cancer prevention, and I encourage others across the NWT to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, we understand our communities’ concerns about cancer. This demands that we talk frankly, work collaboratively and continue to support one another. On National Cancer Survivors Day, please join me in taking a moment to celebrate the resilience and strength of all NWT residents who have bravely faced this disease. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I read in a newspaper ad, “To be proud of your history, you must know it. Education builds roots to the past that will open pathways to the future.” I thought about this quote because I want to talk about the graduates from Aurora College 2014, students that have undergone extreme conditions of hardship, sacrifice, but with the passion and enthusiasm to get an education for themselves and for their families; students who made the sacrifice to be away from home, away from family for a year, two years, three years, four years; students who know what it means to pack up their house, move it to a new location and having housing issues, having housing for their family; students who know that there is funding, but there is limited funding, not enough; students who take on extra jobs; students who ask the land corps, the band, the Metis organizations for funding; families who have been separated because the father or mother has to stay home and work to support their family going to school.
I know a student in Fort Smith. The father is working in Colville Lake and the mother is raising five children and taking a bachelor of education degree. Students who yet make these sacrifices, knowing that something good will come out of these sacrifices. Those are the words that the elders have taught us. You make a sacrifice into something good.
Education is our tool that will keep us alive today, just as the ones we once used on the land to survive. We are changing over time and adapting so that we can use the value of learning that remains the core of who we are.
Today I want to acknowledge our Aurora College graduates, Aurora College itself and the staff, to say how proud we are to see our students in colleges and to see the completion of their studies.
I want to name the 10 students. From the Sahtu at the North Slave campus: Cheryl Kelly from Deline, Helen Menaco from Deline, Helen Batelle from Deline, and our own Miss Lovely, Cheryl Yakeleya from Tulita. At Thebacha Campus: Violet Edgi from Fort Good Hope, Janelle Perriot from Fort Good Hope, Martha Stewart from Fort Good Hope, Sylvia Clement from Norman Wells, Robin Tagisou from Deline, and my niece Laura Krutko from Deline. These graduates have made a contribution to the people in the communities and for themselves.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge, Mr. Speaker, and I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I want to acknowledge the families, their communities and the students themselves for a job well done. Graduates are role models. We need to look at how we can continue to support them.
Lastly, I want to thank the campuses of the communities of Fort Smith, Yellowknife and Inuvik and all the Aurora College centres in the Northwest Territories that support these students. Mahsi cho from the MLA for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to commend our high school graduates in Nahendeh. It’s that happy time of year when the days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer and proud parents and families are celebrating with their offspring one of the most important milestones in the life of a child or young adult: high school graduation day.
I want to congratulate each and every graduate in the Northwest Territories for the achievement they are celebrating this year, and I also commend the parents, families, teachers and communities for the support that has helped their students succeed.
As indicated, I especially want to acknowledge the graduates of the communities of Fort Simpson and Fort Liard that I represent in Nahendeh. It can be especially hard for students from small communities to get a good education. I’m so proud that our small communities and small schools can do this for our students. I offer my thanks and greatest compliments to our teachers and the teaching support staff for their dedication to our children’s success. They all get a pat on the back from me.
To those of you who are hoping to graduate, take a look at your older brothers, sisters, cousins and friends. Just like them, you also have what it takes to succeed and you can be a graduate too one day. Just keep working hard and dreaming big.
To all our graduates, I want to give a special message: Enjoy your graduation ceremony. It is an appreciation and recognition of your hard work and achievement. You each have a great deal to be proud of. You have shown us that you’ve got what it takes to be successful. Keep working towards your dreams. With continued dedication we know you’ll be successful in your education and career goals. The doors of opportunity open to welcome you. As you step through those doors, be bold and fearless. Just keep calm and move on. The whole world is waiting for you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about support for grandparents who are caring for their grandchildren. I’m a grandmother and I know that if I had to go to sleep at night or for one minute had to wonder whether my grandchildren were being properly cared for, I would necessarily have to rearrange my life and make sure that I stepped in and became involved in that. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed with daughters-in-law and sons that are probably better parents than their parents were, but I understand the heart of grandparents who do step in and raise their grandchildren.
This issue has been raised to me by constituents recently and also by aunties and uncles that step in, also thinking of the couple that went to the media that are from Ndilo that were raising four of their grandchildren and without financial support from our government. When asked about this recently, the Minister of Health and Social Services confirmed that in cases where children are apprehended through the system and placed with grandparents, grandparents are eligible for remuneration at the exact same rate as regular foster parents, but when grandparents foster their grandkids informally, they don’t qualify for remuneration, and this is because it’s happening outside of the formal child and family services system. In these cases, the Minister stated that income support is an appropriate avenue for help. But what if the grandparents caring for these grandchildren aren’t eligible for income support? Then what is their recourse?
I have reviewed the department’s pamphlet on voluntary support service agreements. These agreements come into play when parents can’t take proper care of their children and when “there’s no other available help from family, friends or other community services.” What does no other help available mean? Does it mean grandparents have already stepped in with their own resources? Some grandparents are penalized because they have had the compassion and the sense of duty to step in before their grandchildren are formally apprehended by the system. Then they are expected to go to income support, and if they don’t qualify they’re expected to provide for their grandchildren from their own resources.
It seems that there may be a way to improve the system here and there may be a break in the system here. I would rather that we could come up with a way of recognizing those situations and work collaboratively with the social services to determine…
May I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement, please?
---Unanimous consent granted
We all know that for children who are apprehended by the system it is a very big upheaval in their life, and ultimately, they may end up with family members or grandparents, but if there was a way to avert that apprehension process, and if it were possible for family members to work collaboratively with a social worker to ensure the best course and plan of care for the children in question, I think it would be a better system. No doubt, homes do need to have to be qualified regardless of whether they’re relatives or not, because we’ve heard the stories from southern Canada where grandparents have sometimes been looking after children and weren’t really qualified to be doing so.
I’d just like to further ask the Minister of Health and Social Services questions about this later today in question period to find out if there’s a missing piece here that we need to think about and address.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I voiced the concern of Yellowknife residents who have expressed their views to their MLAs about the implementation of Junior Kindergarten. Today I want to delve deeper into the dollars and cents aspects of their concerns.
The Education Renewal and Innovation Project is an ambitious one. It’s looking at a renewal or restructuring of our whole NWT education system. To date, the Minister and the department have announced, or is it decreed, that Junior Kindergarten will start in September 2014 in 29, or 22 now of our 33 communities, but with no new money. A very strongly expressed view in the e-mails and letters received is that new programs should not be put in place without accompanying new money to fund the new program. I cannot disagree with that view.
The current funding levels provided by ECE to school boards and councils allow for a certain excellent quality of education. Introducing a new cohort, a whole new grade level into the school system without any new dollars effectively forces the boards to provide more schooling for less money. It’s the old do more with less mantra.
I asked the Minister yesterday, how can that let the boards continue to provide quality education that they do now. Although the Minister didn’t answer the question, I can. It can’t do that. The only choice left for the boards if they want to preserve the excellent system that they now have is to use their contingency funds – the Minister would say their surplus – to make up the shortfall. If there is no surplus, well, it means staff reductions and a corresponding increase in the number of students in each class. The end result: a reduction in the quality of education.
Yellowknife school districts have had their budgets reduced so Junior Kindergarten can be instituted, but they’ve also had their requests for adequate funding for teachers’ pensions denied by the department. The Minister contends it’s not a matter for the GNWT, leaving the YK boards twisting in the wind. If the pension expense for any other board, one with GNWT employees, was to increase, what would the Minister’s response to a request for additional funding be? The same? I doubt it.
It is a matter of fairness, and the Minister and the department are not treating all NWT school boards fairly. If Education, Culture and Employment funds YK boards at approximately 80 percent of their budget, why will ECE not fund 80 percent of the increased pension costs?
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Why are we seeing the outright denial of any assistance to cover the extra pension costs? Don’t all NWT teachers deserve the same standard of pension benefits? Apparently not, according to the Minister.
Yellowknife school boards are being unfairly targeted by Education, Culture and Employment through funding cuts and denials of applications for extraordinary funding. Just because they have taxation capability is no reason not to treat them equitably with all other NWT school authorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program has been a hot button topic for Northerners and Canadians for the past month. This program is delivered in the NWT by the Department of ECE and ITI as the NWT Nominee Program.
This program of last and limited resort is designed to be accessed by employers facing genuine acute labour shortages and only after Canadians are not available to fill the job. Admittedly, opponents of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program argue it takes jobs away and drives down wages. Proponents argue that not enough Canadians are willing to work in certain jobs or relocate to certain communities. To be honest, both sides have valid claims.
I myself, as a past owner in the service industry for over 20 years, employed over 15,000 employees, yet I did not use one foreign worker. However, I have many business colleagues who have and I definitely understand their positions.
Some say the recent federal freeze on the TFWP was a mere over-reaction and that select responsible employers are being targeted. Given the state of NWT of having never received a report of abuse, according to the GNWT employment standards office, tends to lend argument that responsible NWT employers who hire temporary foreign workers are being unfairly punished. I tend to agree.
The TFWP may be the right model in some instances in the NWT, but our real target should be permanent immigration solutions. In essence, what we really need in the NWT is more foreign workers to become citizens. We know that the Canadian government is catching on to this opportunity as it recently announced a new express entry program for 2015. Let’s hope the GNWT through its skilled worker and critical impact worker programs and our entrepreneur and self-employed business programs we’ll be able to harness our government’s aggressive 2,000 population increase during the life of the 17th Assembly.
Let’s face it, adding more taxpayers is a much better solution than a mere temporary band-aid. I will have questions later today for the Minister responsible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On February 25, 2013, I asked questions to the then Minister of Health and Social Services regarding BiliBlankets for babies and the lack and shortage of BiliBlankets that we have throughout the Northwest Territories. The questions came because we had a medevac in Inuvik at the time, and the family was concerned that if another baby had come while they were using the BiliBlanket, what would have happened to the other baby.
BiliBlankets are used when a baby is born and has yellow jaundice. For those of you who don’t know what jaundice is, jaundice occurs when there’s a buildup of naturally occurring substance in the blood, called bilirubin. Bilirubin is produced by the breakdown of red blood cells, and red blood cells are very important because they carry oxygen to all tissues within the body. As bilirubin begins to build up, it causes the baby’s skin and the whites of the baby’s eyes to turn yellow.
Just recently we had another medevac in Inuvik with a baby that had jaundice and there was another serious concern. When we did our initial research, there was one blanket in the Inuvik regional health authority. It also brings concerns about what are we doing for the small communities and regional centres. If we don’t have this type of equipment available, what happens when we have weather situations where we can’t get a medevac out to get medevaced either to Yellowknife or down to Edmonton? I can only understand the stress that this causes the parents of the baby that might have jaundice, or the stress that it has on the family and community, especially in a really small community.
I want to get an update to questions that were asked on February 25, 2013. What kind of updates are we getting on this and if any action has been done to get the proper equipment that we need in our health centres and our hospitals to help these families out that do have these kinds of issues and are facing these kinds of challenges?
I will have questions later on for the Minister of Health and Social Services to get an update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you as well as most of the Members here know, there’s an exciting project going on in Hay River right now: the building of the new health centre there. This exciting new facility will be up and running next fall. They indicate they’re on budget and on schedule, and the community is abuzz with some of the activity of that construction. There are many people in the community and some specialized workers coming into town.
Obviously, some of these big projects cause other issues and bring concerns. Some of our local businesses would like more activity and more opportunity to bid on some of these projects. These big projects, sometimes with big dollars, sometimes have demands from other people.
The other issue that has come forward, and as Members know, when this facility was scheduled to be built, it didn’t have 10 long-term beds. After last year’s capital budget, along with the support of all the Members here, we got those long-term beds placed and they will be on the capital budget here coming forward.
This new facility has also brought up other issues. One of the rumours is that Public Works and Services would like to take over the maintenance of the facility, where we already have a maintenance crew at our current facility that we’re basically pleased with. They are, obviously, part of our community. They have families that we need to keep in our community and keep them employed.
The other question that has been brought up is: What happens to the old hospital? We’ve been asking the departments of Health and Public Works to get together, find out what the plan is going forward with the old facility. Is there a possibility? Mr. Yakeleya has mentioned a diabetes centre. What are the opportunities that we can use this old facility?
The final issue that I wanted to talk to you about today is the current facility doesn’t have enough office space in it. We basically have questions of what’s going to happen to the office space for social services and health services in the community of Hay River.
I will have questions for the Department of Public Works and Services to see what is going to happen in the future about the office space for the new health centre.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Children have been described as the ultimate resource for a society’s long-term development and well-being. Nowhere is this more true than in the NWT where the proportion of our population under 24 years of age is almost 8 percent greater than for Canada as a whole. Last week I had the opportunity to participate with an esteemed group of northern leaders in hosting a youth forum in Fort Providence. I was joined by Mr. Joachim Bonnetrouge, chief of the Deh Gah Got’ie First Nation; Mr. Sam Gargan, former grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations and MLA; Mr. Steven Vandell, deputy mayor of Fort Providence; and Dene councillor Xavier Canadien, along with a group of dedicated teachers, community health and social service workers, recreational workers and the RCMP.
We met with a group of bright, ambitious young people to talk about their fears and concerns, their goals and hopes for their future, and their suggestions for community improvement. I’d like to thank Chris Carson and Lois Phillip for helping us out.
Our discussion was the beginning of a dialogue which highlighted the importance of involving our youth in decision-making at the earliest possible opportunity. After all, everything that we do is ultimately for the benefit of our young people. Youth today are growing up in a fast-paced, technological world. They have big problems such as addictions, suicide, teen pregnancy and violence which can derail young lives and steal bright futures. How do we prepare young people to be competitive in society while still embracing the culture and traditions of their ancestors that will ground them and give them strength and perspective?
The high school graduation rate for non-Aboriginal students in the NWT in 2011-12 was 78 percent, which is consistent with the national average. However, the graduation rate for Aboriginal students was only 44 percent. We are failing our Aboriginal youth. They cannot get jobs or be qualified for future employment if they are only educated to a Grade 9 level. Our kids need to know how the doors of the world will open to them with the right education. They need to know what it takes to succeed and to believe that they can do it.
Our young people need a variety of educational opportunities. They need youth workers, parent volunteers and interagency committees to help them set up access resources. They need jobs in their home communities. Most of all, they need the love, support and encouragement of healthy families and communities to give them the best possible chance in order to become productive adults. We must remember the youth that we raise today are tomorrow’s northern leaders.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the new bypass around Giant Mine has opened, there are now barriers and gates across the old highway that passes through the contaminated mine site. The public no longer has access to the site but they still have questions.
When the City of Yellowknife referred the stabilization plan for an environmental assessment, the federal proponents complained that this would result in long delays. They said that any delay would be dangerous. Yet their recommendations were released almost a year ago and we are still waiting for the responsible Ministers to complete the process. Six months ago, in December, the Minister stated that they accept the recommendations, but we have heard little since.
What is the plan for operations at Giant Mine this summer? Are they following the old plan that was largely rejected or the new one based on the environmental assessment that is sitting on the responsible Ministers’ desks? Both Minister Valcourt, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, and our own Minister Miltenberger are responsible for approving the environmental assessment. While Ministers delay responsible oversight, work is proceeding without a clear and transparent plan. Also, it’s proceeding without any inspectors in Yellowknife to monitor what is going on.
Now that devolution is in place, all the former government inspectors work for the GNWT. The nearest federal inspector is based in Whitehorse. We’ve just come through another spring thaw and are getting reports of arsenic-contaminated dust from the tailings and spills of arsenic-contaminated water on site blowing into town at off-the-chart levels of contamination. Meanwhile, and despite an offer of GNWT inspectors, there have been no inspections for months now.
The Giant site is closed off from the public, and that is probably good for public safety. It doesn’t mean that we should relax our vigilance. We need to keep a closer eye than ever on activity at Giant, particularly because the work team regulators and inspectors are all working for the federal government. The environmental assessment clearly lays out a plan for stabilizing Giant Mine and providing independent oversight. We need to get the plan off the Ministers’ desks and implemented. What will it take? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use today’s opportunity to return to one of my favorite subjects, which happens to be the consumer affairs protection division, or lack thereof, Mr. Speaker.
Many Northerners continue to wait for any action from this division and certainly by the Minister and for years have been continuing to raise issues about the restrictiveness and confusing concerns around cell phone contracts, problems around homeownership purchasing, protection, the fact that homes don’t require full disclosure under protection rules, and payday loans continue to hold people at risk, at prey and vulnerable.
I’ve gone on relentlessly about the high cost of gasoline and how they affect the cost of living. There are so many other issues when it comes to collection agencies and certainly home renovation repairs.
Municipal and Community Affairs seems to not be interested in this issue. While I sit and watch, it certainly pales in comparison to the action taken across Canada by other governments. Why won’t this government budge? It appears this Minister is either not interested in these issues or, as constituents ask me, does he just not care about consumer protection or does he not understand consumer protection? People want to know, does he just believe everything’s fine or is he stubborn? We just don’t know.
The constituents ask me how do we know he even appreciates the issue. I just don’t have an answer for them. I’ve been asking for years. When you pay some of the highest gas prices in the land in our remote, northern communities, you often wonder if you are being taken advantage of and you don’t know where to go. When our phone bills hold you over a barrel, people want to know how to access services to find out if they are being treated fairly.
Many services go on and on and on, but people don’t know what their full rights and disclosure and protections are. That’s why we need a consumer affairs division that is public and not anonymous.
Speaking of that, many months ago, if not a good year and a half ago, I asked the Minister of MACA to make this public, not anonymous. This office continues to hide behind I don’t know what, some web page.
I went to the web page because I actually know where to go. There is very little information on how to contact this particular office, so when the Minister says it’s a very busy office, perhaps not from complaints. I’m not sure what they do.
The bottom line is we need a public office that helps citizens know their rights, understand their rights and so they know where to go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Dolynny on March 4, 2014, regarding tobacco tax collection and reporting.
Statistics Canada conducts the Canadian Community Health Survey on an annual basis in the Northwest Territories. This survey collects self-reported cigarette consumption and is publically available from a variety of sources, including the Statistics Canada website.
In the Department of Finance, the tax administration section collects tobacco product data as part of the tax collection process. Wholesalers of tobacco products sold to retailers in the NWT report their sales and remit the taxes on these sales monthly to tax administration. This data is released annually to the public in the public accounts as the tobacco tax revenue for the year.
The tax audit and investigations section has standing procedures to perform compliance audits on tobacco wholesalers and retailers. Retailers are also inspected on a regular basis. All complaints of non-compliance with tobacco tax legislation and possible non-compliance issues are fully investigated. The section keeps detailed statistics on its activities, which are not publically available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned in my Minister’s statement earlier, but I want to recognize two individuals with us today. First if all, Mr. Wade Blake. I’d like to welcome him today and thank him very much for his work here in the Northwest Territories. I wish him well in his new capacity as director of community justice and policing with the Department of Justice.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize Mr. Ron Smith, the new commanding officer with “G” Division here in the Northwest Territories. Ron is from my hometown, St. John, New Brunswick. It’s nice to see another fellow from St. John making it to the top. Congratulations, and I look forward to working with Ron in his new capacity as commanding officer. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce to you and through you, again we’ve heard from the Minister of Justice, but I, too, would like to thank the new commanding officer of “G” Division, Mr. Ron Smith, for being here. I’m looking forward to working with you.
Of course, without due cause, Mr. Wade Blake, the retiring chief superintendent of “G” Division, it was a pleasure working with you over the years. You are well deserved in your retirement. I hope your golf game goes very well.
We also have a number of Pages with us who have been working very hard all week. We’ve had Pages from all over the Northwest Territories, but more importantly we have one Page from Range Lake. I’d like to thank Sommer Snow for working very hard this week. Thank you.
