Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that our future prosperity is heavily dependent on the responsible development of our abundant natural resources. On April 1, 2014, our government will be assuming new responsibilities for the administration of public lands, resources and rights in respect of waters. This means changes for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, which will now administer mineral exploration and development activities and regulate onshore petroleum activities in the Northwest Territories, except in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.
Having the authority to make decisions related to mineral and petroleum resource exploration and development on public lands will ensure the Government of the Northwest Territories can manage these non-renewable resources effectively and efficiently to the benefit of all residents of our territory. These new responsibilities will allow us to decide just how our future will play out, on our terms.
Our government is committed to the responsible management and development of Northwest Territories mineral and petroleum resources to create sustainable benefits for our people and fuel economic diversification and foster more robust growth over the long term. Our decisions will be guided by a legislative and policy framework that includes the federal legislation and regulations we have agreed to mirror in the Devolution Agreement
and existing Government of the Northwest Territories policies and strategies.
Responsibilities for mineral development will include planning and policy development as well as issuing the licences and permits required for prospecting and mining and recording mineral claims. The administrative authority that will allow us to further develop our onshore oil and gas resources also includes the regulatory responsibilities of ensuring public health and safety, conserving petroleum resources and protecting the environment.
As Premier McLeod announced earlier this week, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been designated by Executive Council as the regulator of oil and gas activities for Northwest Territories onshore areas, outside of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, effective on the devolution implementation date of April 1, 2014. I will be guided in this role by an integrated resource management approach to ensure fair and equitable decision-making. It should be noted that many decisions of the regulator will not be taken directly by the Minister. Where it makes sense, responsibility for decision-making will be delegated to independent, expert staff in the Department of ITI. This is consistent with the conventions supporting ministerial governance applicable in the Northwest Territories, in Canada generally, and in the family of nations descended from the British parliamentary tradition.
Oil and gas regulation in the Northwest Territories was previously carried out by the National Energy Board, an independent federal agency. The National Energy Board will remain the regulator in the NWT’s offshore areas, which remains Canada’s jurisdiction, and in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, but under territorial legislation. This will ensure the consistent regulation of resources that straddle the onshore/offshore.
In all other regions of the Mackenzie Valley, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment will serve as the regulator. Initially the regulator will apply the policies and practices inherited from the National Energy Board, but it will be open to the Northwest Territories to make prudent adjustments to those policies and practices as we move forward, consistent with the “devolve and then evolve strategy” we have adopted.
Oil and gas regulation are serious responsibilities. Cabinet carefully reviewed and considered a number of possible options. This approach to regulation is similar to that of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which have successfully regulated oil and gas activity for years, and in Yukon, which received its own devolution of oil and gas regulatory authority in 1998.
Our government considers this model to be the most economical, efficient and accountable way to ensure that regulatory practices reflect NWT priorities, ensure public health and safety, protect the environment and also meet the needs of industry. Our government is committed to ensuring the northern environment will sustain present and future generations, and to diversifying our economy to increase employment opportunities where they are most needed.
To provide support, a new office of the regulator of oil and gas operations is being integrated into the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. This office will include the roles of chief conservation officer and chief safety officer, as established under the proposed mirror Oil and Gas Operation Act, which applies to the exploration and drilling for, and the production, conservation, processing and transportation of oil and gas within the NWT. Funding for this office will be drawn from the reserve fund established for unanticipated devolution-related costs. The decision to establish this office was not made in time to include it in the 2014-15 Main Estimates, but any future year funding will be requested through the regular business planning process.
The chief conservation officer will be responsible for environmental and conservation monitoring compliance and the chief safety officer is empowered to order a stop of operations for safety reasons.
Post-devolution organizational design was guided by the idea that regulatory functions should reside with the department with the legislative responsibility. This is the model currently employed in other departments. For example, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is responsible for both the approval of licences and permits and inspecting for compliance with the conditions applicable to those same licences or permits.
Decisions related to oil and gas regulation, such as approvals to drill a well or operations’ authorizations, require in-depth technical analysis. To assist during the transition period, and to ensure that decisions related to health, safety and conservation requirements are informed ones, our government is establishing two-year service agreements with experienced regulators for other jurisdictions – the National Energy Board and the Alberta Energy Regulator – to provide advisory and technical services.
The agreement with the National Energy Board establishes a framework for collaboration as neighbouring regulators that will ensure business continuity following the transfer. The Alberta Energy Regulator, which will provide technical advisory services, is a 75-year-old organization with extensive experience in onshore drilling.
These technical services will assist with the decision-making process, but ultimately, the decision will be made by the NWT regulator, consistent with NWT legislation and regulations and guided by an Integrated Resource Management Framework built on existing policies, strategies and frameworks such as the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, Water Stewardship Strategy and Sustainable Development Policy.
As is currently the NEB’s practice, many regulatory functions will be delegated to the chief conservation officer and chief safety officer, who will be responsible for ensuring that regulatory activities and decisions reflect and advance NWT priorities.
These agreements with established regulators will also help us achieve our long-term goal, which is to recruit and develop expertise in the territory. Collaboration with established regulators will help the Government of the Northwest Territories to build capacity in this area as we begin to exercise our new authorities following transfer.
Mr. Speaker, we are committed to the sustainable development of the territory’s resources. Responsible development will provide important job and business opportunities and generate significant revenues that can improve quality of life for our residents. We are equally committed to upholding the highest standards of public health and safety and will uphold our commitment to protect the environment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable R.C. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today on the Department of Lands’ role in the new regulatory regime in the Northwest Territories post-devolution. The NWT Devolution of Lands and Resources Agreement will bring significant changes to the Northwest Territories. The Department of Lands has a key role in ensuring that the sustainable use of public land reflects the priorities and values of Northerners.
The Department of Lands will support, manage, protect and administer the sustainable use of public land in the Northwest Territories. It will assume land management responsibilities being transferred from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
Legislation called for in the Devolution Agreement, which the department will administer, has already been introduced in the Assembly and is a major step in the final preparations to assume new responsibilities for public land on April 1st.
The proposed Northwest Territories Lands Act is a mirror of the federal Territorial Lands Act, which will no longer apply to Territorial lands on April 1, 2014. The Northwest Territories Lands Act is intended to provide the GNWT with the authority to manage all surface lands dispositions, such as sales and leasing, on Territorial lands.
The Department of Lands will also be responsible for inspections, enforcement and policy development for these lands.
The Department of Lands will also be responsible for administering the Government of the Northwest Territories’ new authorities under the proposed Surface Rights Board Act. This act will establish a Surface Rights Board that will resolve disputes related to land access and related compensation when a negotiated agreement cannot be reached.
The Northwest Territories Lands Act and the Surface Rights Board Act will form part of an integrated regulatory system in the Northwest Territories along with the delegations in the federal Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. Delegated authorities under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act will include designation of inspectors, and managing, administering and holding securities related to land use permits in the Mackenzie Valley as well as powers, duties, functions and coordination of project assessment.
The Department of Lands will be responsible for coordinating and conducting project assessments on public lands in the Northwest Territories, functioning as a “single window” for development applications.
As the Government of the Northwest Territories assumes its land management responsibilities after devolution, we will be guided by a critical policy foundation: the GNWT Land Use and Sustainability Framework. Mr. Speaker, as Members heard when the Land Use and Sustainability Framework was tabled on Monday, February 24th, the principles set out in the framework will guide this government in making responsible and responsive decisions about land use and land management. Our decisions will be balanced and sustainable, considering ecological, social, cultural and economic values.
The framework recognizes that the GNWT is only one partner in an integrated land management system and provides for decision-making that is respectful of Aboriginal and treaty rights as well as third-party land interests and legal rights.
The Land Use and Sustainability Framework is one part of a broader legislative and policy framework to ensure that we are ready to manage our new authorities and responsibilities.
We are undergoing final preparations to assume new responsibilities for public lands on April 1st. This is an exciting time, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to working together to manage the lands in the Northwest Territories for the benefit of current and future generations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, as of April 1st we are finally going to have legislative authority over water, excluding the offshore, in our territory.
This is major step forward for the people of the Northwest Territories as water binds us together. We share with all NWT residents the desire to safeguard our water resources for current and future generations.
New responsibilities assumed by Environment and Natural Resources under the new NWT Waters Act will enable us to do this.
ENR will approve water licences prepared by the land and water boards and will be responsible for inspections and enforcement of those licences as well as regulating deposit of wastes from activities and developments on, or which impact, public land and waters.
The department will also conduct the analysis to enable boards to set securities for water licences and will then hold those securities.
The Minister of ENR will continue to be the Minister responsible under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and will exercise this authority along with other responsible Ministers from the new Department of Lands and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
A one-window approach will be implemented to ensure that decision-making and regulation of activities involving public land, water and non-renewable resources is coordinated across government.
ENR will continue to provide technical input and advice on water, forests, wildlife and the environment through the environmental impact and assessment process.
The department will also provide technical and expert advice on guidelines and regulation changes needed for the management of development activities in the NWT.
This includes working cooperatively with other departments and regulatory bodies to further develop a made-in-the-NWT policy framework to help manage and protect the environmental interests of residents while providing economic opportunities, jobs and training for Northerners.
Mr. Speaker, in May 2010, ENR and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada released a Northwest Territories Water Stewardship Strategy for the NWT.
This strategy will continue to guide our actions in conserving this valuable resource.
Progress continues to be made in many areas. This includes maintaining the network of water quality and quantity monitoring sites established by AANDC, increasing and supporting community-based monitoring programs in the Mackenzie River Basin and developing source water protection plans for our communities.
We continue to pursue transboundary water management agreements with Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Yukon.
Mr. Speaker, we will be relying on the continued support and involvement of Aboriginal governments and our partners as we move forward in building capacity and undertaking northern-focused research with a greater emphasis on the biological aspect of water monitoring.
Devolution will expand the role of ENR in cumulative impacts assessment, monitoring and management. The Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program along with ENR’s work on a Cumulative Effects Assessment and Management Response Framework will improve the way cumulative impacts are assessed, monitored, managed and considered in land and water management decisions.
Mr. Speaker, we also recognize a network of protected and conservation areas has yet to be completed in the NWT.
We are committed to completing this network through the Land Use and Sustainability Framework and the development of an Ecological Representative Network Plan.
Land use and ecological representation planning combined with the use and development of northern tools are key to finishing a protected and conservation areas network.
Mr. Speaker, our unique context and values are rooted in working together with Aboriginal governments for the betterment of our communities and our shared vision of a healthy and prosperous territory.
We will continue to work cooperatively and collaboratively with Aboriginal governments, communities and our partners on the stewardship and management of our forests, wildlife, water and environment.
This will allow us to examine issues from all perspectives – scientific, traditional and local knowledge – in our decision-making.
Mr. Speaker, this approach will help us meet the challenges and opportunities of devolution and set the agenda for our development in the next decade. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, retirement planning is key to all of our residents’ personal financial health. Our government is committed to helping them make the choices that are right for them to build their own strong, sustainable future.
About 1,000 Northwest Territories residents are members of the Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan. This is a defined-benefit pension plan, similar to the one Government of the Northwest Territories employees have, but for public sector and non-profit employees working throughout the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. There are 38 NWT employers now active in the plan, supporting their staff to make retirement plans that will meet their needs.
These NWT residents deserve to have a modern, viable and financially stable pension plan capable of meeting their retirement needs.
Later today I will introduce legislation to establish this pension plan in NWT law, giving it certainty and permanence. The board of directors and pension committee will have a sound regulatory framework that will guide the administration of the pension plan for many years to come.
This legislation is the result of a unique collaboration between officials from this government, the Government of Nunavut and the Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan. It represents the latest developments in pension plan design and administration and it sets the standard for other jurisdictions to follow. The Nunavut government intends to pass mirror legislation that will provide the same degree of certainty in that jurisdiction.
At this time I wanted to acknowledge and thank my Nunavut counterpart, the Honourable Tom Sammurtok, Minister of Community and Government Services, for the excellent contribution that his staff made to this project. I also wish to recognize that the development of this legislation could not have been accomplished without timely input and sound practical advice received from the plan’s officials.
The pension plan, supported by this new legislation, will continue to provide many of our constituents with increased comfort and financial security for their retirement planning. As legislators, we will be proud to say that the 17th Legislative Assembly was able to make a contribution towards those important goals by supporting and enacting this pension legislation. At the appropriate time today, I will introduce Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. February 26th is Pink Shirt Day. It’s a day when we take a stand against bullying by wearing a pink shirt or a pink scarf or a pink flower.
This annual day has unlikely beginnings. It started with a simple protest in 2007 following a bullying incident at a rural Nova Scotia high school. A ninth grade male student had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt, and in a gesture of solidarity, two senior high school boys purchased and distributed 50 pink shirts. To the organizers’ surprise, the protest made national headlines. Shortly after, several provincial Premiers designated Pink Shirt Day an official day against bullying.
What’s the symbolism behind a pink shirt? Well, pink is usually associated with femininity and boys who wear it could be in danger of being perceived as weak. On the occasion I just described, two older, stronger boys deliberately broke with convention by wearing pink themselves and getting other boys to do it too. It was an ingenious way of taking a stand with their younger schoolmate and simultaneously shaming the bullies.
Bullying goes beyond this type of gender-based intimidation. It includes any act of aggression, whether it’s swearing, shouting, spreading rumours, engaging in nasty practical jokes, or invading someone’s privacy. The effects of bullying are devastating and can last a lifetime and, in extreme cases, can lead to incidents of suicide.
Through the 2010 Minister’s Forum on Aboriginal Student Achievement and the National Health Survey on School Age Children, we know that NWT students have been severely affected by bullying as well. There is an urgent need for action. Thankfully, bullying has climbed to a higher place of prominence on the government’s agenda. New territorial legislation was passed in 2013 and a campaign is underway to combat bullying and develop resources for victims, teachers, parents and bystanders.
Bullying can’t be wiped out by a single government, agency or a community group. A collective effort is required. I challenge Members of the Legislative Assembly and residents of the Northwest Territories to wear pink on February 26th and commit to a compassionate way of life and kind way of interacting with others. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Mrs. Groenewegen has mentioned, there’s a bit of a pink glow in the Chamber today and that’s because it is Pink Shirt Day. It’s Pink Shirt Day here and across Canada. For the third year in a row, NWT MLAs are acknowledging the importance of this initiative to combat bullying, and for the third year in a row we are not alone.
In the last two years, the Anti-Bullying Campaign has gathered momentum across North America and across the NWT. NWT students, educators and education authorities have developed and implemented strategies, awareness and resources to deal with the issue of bullying in our schools. It has become a front of mind issue for both the students and educators.
It’s tempting to put all the responsibility for addressing bullying onto the school and educators, but we must accept that bullying takes place in all kinds of environments and situations, not just schools. Bullying has to be considered in the larger context, the bigger picture. We cannot ignore the importance of addressing bullying in our society as a whole.
As I did last year, I wish to again highlight bullying in the workplace. Four out of 10 employees are affected by workplace bullying. According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, “Many places of work, consciously or unconsciously, endorse, perhaps even encourage, bullying behaviour. In fact, workplace bullies frequently get promoted or they are often not dealt with directly as the workplace culture does not know how to address such behaviour.”
We’ve managed to bring bullying to the fore in the education system. We now have to do the same for the workplace and there are three key actions we can take: recognize bullying behaviour; speak out at the time that you encounter bullying; and stand by those who are being bullied and support them.
The GNWT needs to take the lead, work with industry partners and develop some strategies to highlight, educate and profile bullying in the workplace. I was really pleased to see the GNWT messenger service on Monday highlight Pink Shirt Day and the GNWT Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy. The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission has a lovely, very pink ad in today’s Yellowknifer. Both of these actions show a start towards highlighting bullying in the workplace. If we continue with these actions, the GNWT can lead by example and in doing so we will improve not only our own GNWT workplace but all workplaces in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a perfect world there would be no bullying. Unfortunately, we see it all too often in our schools, in our communities and even in the workplace. However, there is some good news. The good news is that we have a lot of anti-bullying advocates here in the North. For example, today we just had a group of youth in the Great Hall to draw attention to this serious issue with the support of their educators, but it’s not only the youth who are our strongest advocates, we have groups and organizations across this great territory. We have strong advocates in the schools, the youth centres, friendship centres and in all of our communities, even here at the NWT Legislative Assembly.
Today Members are showing their support by wearing pink, as well as these boutonnieres. We’ve even gone as far as making an amendment to the Education Act to address the anti-bullying issue, and also taking the necessary steps towards legislation of the Safe Disclosure Act to protect our employees.
Today I’d like to recognize, acknowledge, continue to support and say thank you to all those across the NWT in our communities how have intervened at one time or another or have spoken up. Your help makes the North a better place to live and your actions not only stop bullying but help empower others, increase others’ self-esteem and show respect and demonstrate the openness about bullying that our society now accepts.
Although bullying continues across some of our communities in the Northwest Territories and it is continuing to be an issue, I would like to say thank you to all those who are advocates for anti-bullying, whether it’s in the schools, in the workplace and in the Legislature here I recognize all Members for standing up today and showing their support by wearing pink. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to join my colleagues on Anti-Bullying Day today, the theme day. A lot of great practices by our territory today on anti-bullying. A lot of the schools are getting involved. For example, Fort McPherson yesterday celebrated this Anti-Bullying Day by showing their support for children who are being bullied. The reason they celebrated yesterday was because there is no school in the Mackenzie Delta for the next three days. So they were doing their part yesterday in their fight against bullying. I’d like to share my support with them and that is why I also wore pink yesterday. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Anti-bullying is incredibly important to us today, just as important as the initiative against drunk driving, which is my Member’s statement today.
Today I want to praise the immense contributions of a Fort Simpson resident, Ms. Sharon Allen, who is a dedicated campaigner for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the national organization best known as MADD Canada.
Sharon has been personally affected by impaired driving. In 2008 Sharon and her husband, Kevin, lost their daughter, Keisha Trudel. Keisha was only 16 at the time. Keisha’s memory has been kept alive by Sharon’s effort to spread awareness about drinking and driving. In the House today I’d like to describe some of her efforts.
Last fall Sharon and other MADD volunteers arranged for 40 RTL Westcan tanker trailers to display a large decal with Keisha’s photo. The idea was to remind drivers and observers that Keisha’s death was completely preventable. During the 2013 Christmas season, the Fort Simpson chapter of MADD Canada initiated the project Red Ribbon Campaign. The RCMP, village bylaw officers of Fort Simpson and local volunteers banded together to generate awareness about drinking and driving. Later this year the same contingent will head up a campaign encouraging citizens to report suspected impaired drivers to the police.
Sharon has also been instrumental in developing a program called Shattered, a multimedia assembly program geared to NWT students in Grade 7 and up.
Since the early days of the anti-drinking and driving movement, people just like Sharon have been educating the public about the human tragedies caused by impaired drivers. The exact number of lives saved as a result of the work done by MADD Canada can’t be known with certainty, but estimates suggest that the number is upwards of 40,000. That’s equivalent to the entire population of the Northwest Territories.
Impaired driving is the leading criminal cause of death in this country. On a per capita basis, the NWT has the highest rate anywhere. Fort Simpson alone had 135 impaired charges last year. For these reasons, Sharon’s tireless efforts deserve to be recognized.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today’s Member’s statement will be about bullying, and the speech I will be reading today has been penned from the eyes of a 12 year old, who is my son, McKinley, who is in the gallery here today. He has a way of not mixing words, and he has a particular way of being direct, so as such, I will read the speech he gave to his class a few days ago.
One in four teachers see nothing wrong with bullying. This is bad because teachers, the adults, are supposed to give students a proper education and prevent bullying, not sit around and not doing nothing about it.
My name is McKinley Hawkins, and I am here to tell all schools the negative effects of bullying and how it affects many students. Hopefully, this speech can change bullies and schools, because bullying is not right, it is wrong, so now I will talk about the facts on bullying.
One in seven students are bullied or a victim of bullying. I am here to drop that number, and I am here to speak up for all victims because all students deserve a good education. About 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. That is a lot of teens that miss out on learning. Over two-thirds of students think that teachers and schools respond poorly to bullying, with a high percentage thinking that adult help is ineffective. This is hard to believe, but schools do not care about bullying. This is the reason why many students drop out from schools.
Bullying can be a problem, but if it continues or gets really bad and violent, it can lead to possibly suicide, which was what happened to Amanda Todd. Suicide is something that a victim of bullying may think solves their problems, but it does not, it makes it worse for other people. Nearly 4,000 Canadians commit suicide, with an average of 10 suicides per day. That is bad, because a high percent of causes are bullying.
Bullying victims are two to nine times more highly to consider suicide than normal victims, and with girls aged 10 to 14, they are even at a higher risk of suicide. Bullying-related suicides could be connected to any other type of bullying, like cyberbullying, physical bullying, verbal bullying, emotional bullying and texting bullying.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
These are the warning signs of suicide sometimes: showing deep depression, ongoing sadness, showing interest in dying, engaging in dangerous activities and saying things like they can’t handle things anymore. If you know anyone with these signs, get them help, because suicide never makes things better. Schools can prevent bullying, like encouraging students to stand up for them when bullied. Other ways that students can prevent bullying is having school-wide events to prevent bullying.
Now is the time to prevent bullying because it is now clearly becoming an illegal offence. So I encourage schools to stop bullying and take action now because if everyone works together, everyone will have a good education and a good life.”
In closing, he says, “I hope this speech will help many, and many schools stop bullying, because bullying is bad and can affect many, many lives. If you were bullied, I want you to look at the outcome of other victims and how he or she feels because if it gets bad it can lead to suicide. This can happen to anyone, so please help stop bullying.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for hearing me. These were his own words he gave to his class the other day. I tried to read them exactly how he wrote them, and they were his. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Good job, McKinley, and keep doing what you’re doing, young man. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wanted to talk about the people who bring the inspiration of art into our world, from the people in Yellowknife, to Ulukhaktok, to Sahtu, to Deh Cho, Lutselk’e, right down the Mackenzie Valley and in all the Northwest Territories. I want to thank them for putting in the work that they do to make buckskin vests or jackets or painting or carving or something. It takes a real talent and patience and it takes a lot of love.
This jacket here was made by my mother and my aunties, when my mother was alive. In order to get this jacket, for example, and what my mom taught me was that you had to get your own moose before she would make a moosehide jacket. She said that’s what I want you to do. So I was lucky and got a moose and brought the hide back to her and she did the tanning and she sewed the beads, along with my aunties, and put the jacket together. It took her a long time. When she gave it to me, my mother said, here’s your moosehide jacket and this is the only one I’m going to make for you. I asked why the beads are sewn in the design. They put their own unique talent in their arts and crafts, our artists in the Northwest Territories, and that’s what’s so unique and special. Really, we cannot sometimes put a dollar to this type of work; it’s priceless.
When I asked my mother why this type of beadwork and that, basically she said it’s because the aunties and myself put our love into the work. That’s what it demonstrates.
I know people who do the artwork, painting, carving, fish scale and birchbark making, really love it. Sometimes we take that love and we wear it, and sometimes it makes us feel good and sometimes it makes us feel somewhat homesick.
So I want to say to the artists that sometimes recognition is given to you enough. Keep up the good work. Keep up the tradition. Keep what you’ve been taught by your parents and pass on this tradition.
Hopefully, if we continue this, we will stop the bullying in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our children are our future. The way we care for them in their earliest years will have impacts that will last for the rest of their lives.
Education, Culture and Employment is proposing implementation of junior kindergarten, taught by elementary school teachers who will be encouraged to take course work in early childhood education. But the literature on early childhood education emphatically demonstrates that the success of junior kindergarten depends upon high quality programs delivered by fully trained early childhood education workers.
Kerry McCuaig, Fellow at the Atkinson Institute, and the junior kindergarten implementation consultant for the Minister of ECE, has written that the requirement for high quality programs is “non-negotiable.” She summarizes evidence that show the higher the quality of the program, the better the outcomes for children, and the quality of the program depends on the quality of the workforce. Research also shows that low quality programming could have a detrimental effect and actually delay the healthy development of our children.
Early childhood programs need to be provided by early childhood educators who have a solid understanding of the developmental considerations and needs of children under five and who are trained to work with these young children and their families. Education, Culture and Employment must ensure that there is at least one fully trained early childhood education worker for every community junior kindergarten group or class.
Early childhood education is a profession. If we are putting our precious young children – our future – into their care, we must give these educators the full recognition, wages and professional development that we give to teachers in our schools.
Aurora College should immediately implement a training program that graduates fully qualified early childhood education workers that meets federal standards. Our children, families and communities need them.
If quality of junior kindergarten programs is an essential condition for success and fully trained early childhood education workers are a requirement to meet that condition, then no junior kindergarten group or class should go ahead without at least one qualified early childhood education worker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize some folks that are tied in with the NEBS legislation that are putting a lot of time in this particular bill: Shawn Maley, Nicole Pintkowsky, Bev Walker, Cassandra Cassaway, Rebecca Masongsong, and Ken Burns from Lawson Lundell. Thank you for being here today.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. R.C. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Damon Crossman who works for our sport and recreation division and a man that can find you anything when you go to the Arctic Winter Games. I’d also like to recognize and wish good luck to Jamie Koe, who is going off to the Brier, I believe it’s this weekend, and if you need someone to pack your brooms, I’m available. Thank you.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to take a second to recognize a few folks in the gallery today. Superintendent of YCS Ms. Claudia Parker and also assistant superintendent, Mr. John Bowden, a former teacher of mine at St. Patrick’s, welcome to the House today. I also wanted to recognize and wish good luck to Jamie Koe, Team NWT at the Brier that’s coming up at Kamloops. Good luck to Team NWT. I also wanted to wish good luck to Damon Crossman. I know he does a lot of great work at MACA with sport and rec. I know the team is on the way to Fairbanks in a few weeks. Good luck to Team NWT in Fairbanks, as well, and good luck, Mr. Crossman.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize Anti-Bullying Day today. In the gallery I would like to recognize two people who wrote the lyrics and produced the song “Think Pink,” the anti-bullying theme song that was performed at the Pink Shirt Day today in the Great Hall. They are here with us today, Teaya Crossman, a Grade 3 student from Weledeh Catholic School, and also David Dowe, a classroom assistant from Weledeh. Also joining them is Damon Crossman, Teaya’s father. Of course, I’d like to recognize the superintendent, as well, Claudia Parker, and Assistant Superintendent Johnny Bowden.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I want to recognize my son McKinley Hawkins, who wrote the speech I had the pleasure of reading today and I want to thank him for allowing me to read his words on his perspective of bullying. That said, I’d like to thank all of my colleagues for sharing the time and allowing me to do as such. I must finish by saying, now I have to get him back to Weledeh. So, thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to introduce to you and through you, a number of residents here from Range Lake. Of course you heard already Mr. Damon Crossman who is here, who is a resident of Range Lake, and his daughter Teaya with her song. I guess it was played this morning on CBC, so now you’ve got a hit soundtrack out there, so I’ll get your autograph later for that. Also in the crowd, as we heard earlier, Team NWT representing the Northwest Territories, Mr. Koe, who is also from Range lake. Good luck, my friend. Of course, we were all inspired by the young Mr. McKinley Hawkins, who writes just as good as his dad, I think, in the House. Better. We’ll leave that up to the jury.
