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Speaker: I will now call the House to order. We will proceed at this t=
ime
with prayers.
Prayers
DAILY ROUTINE
Speaker: We will proceed at this time with the Order Paper.
Tributes.
TRIBUTES
In recognition of Administrative Profession= als Week
Hon. Ms. Taylor: Mr. Speaker, as the minister respon= sible for the Public Service Commission, I rise today in recognition of Administrative Professionals Week and to pay tribute to the men and women w= ho make offices work.
Administrative Professionals Week, =
which
has been observed in
In the
Administrative professionals also p= lay a central role within the office environment. They are a hub of information a= nd activity, the glue that holds the office together. By organizing and managing informa= tion, schedules, and budgets in a professional manner, they help bring a sense of order to our busy working world.
I am very proud of the contribution=
s made
by administrative professionals to the
Ms.
Hanson:&=
#8195; I rise on behal=
f of the
Official Opposition and the Third Party to pay tribute on this week and day=
for
administrative professionals.
Although this day began as National Professional Secretaries Day a long time ago — almost 61 years ago — in recognition of the importance and value of the administrative support provided by secretaries, organizations have evolved and so too has = the role of the person many of us refer to as “the person who does everyt= hing in the office”. In 2000, the name was changed to Administrative Professionals Day to reflect this complexity. The administrative professional’s work touches on technology, finance, customer services, vendors, the law, health care, human resources, and taxes — in some cases, all in one day. This year, the theme is “Honoring the office professionals who make offices work”. We tend to think of administrat= ive professionals sometimes as support or secondary staff. In some offices, they are relegated to second-class status because they are just the administrati= ve assistant or office manager. However, Mr. Speaker, anyone who has worked in= any office environment for any length of time knows that these people are the o= nes who make our offices function.
Administrative professionals don=
217;t
just work behind the scenes. Whose face do people see when they walk through
the door? It’s not the Premier, not the leader; not likely to be the =
MLA.
The administrative professional represents our organization and sets the to=
ne
for each person who visits the office. They are an integral part of our
workplaces and deserve recognition for their often unsung contributions.
As my colleague, the MLA for Riverd= ale South, said this morning, “If you want to know how important your adm= in professional is, have them disappear for a month after falling off a snow b= erm at the start of the legislative sitting.”
Administrative professionals often = believe their role is to help the office come together as a team. Denise Leschart, = the administrative professional for the Yukon NDP, makes the comparison to a wa= gon or bicycle wheel. Everyone on the team must work together like the spokes o= n a wheel. “For the wheel to work,” she says, “every spoke ha= s to be there, including the administrative professional; one can’t be mis= sing.”
Mr. Speaker, behind — and lit= erally behind those walls — every member of this Legislative Assembly, there= is a dedicated crew of administrative professionals, without whom the day-to-d= ay business of legislators would be infinitely more difficult. I’m refer= ring to the Legislative Assembly team led by all MLAs’ guardian angel, Hel= en Fitzsimmons. Their experience working with MLAs of all stripes, over many y= ears and many governments, has served all of us incredibly well.
So this week it is our turn to offi= cially recognize the administrative professionals in our workplace. So what can we= do to recognize the administrative personnel who work among and with us? A bet= ter question might be: Why haven’t we done anything yet? I know that there are some in this room, perhaps, who would suggest that flowers would be the best bet. You know, I think that flowers are a good thing, but the administ= rative professionals need more than that — they need recognition from us more than once a year.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Offic= ial Opposition and the Third Party, I encourage people to recognize and celebra= te the contributions of the administrative professionals in their workplaces, = and I hope they have an administrator as skilled and as dedicated as the Offici= al Opposition is privileged to have working with us. In closing, perhaps the simplest advice for us all is to recall the most effective words in our day= -to-day relationships: “please” and “thank you”.
Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; I’d like =
to thank
the NDP for doing the tribute on behalf of the Liberals as well, but I just
wanted to get to my feet for a second and personally thank our caucus’=
; administrative
assistant Jude Layzell. Last year, I pulled a fast one on her, and I
didn’t read the tribute that she prepared, and instead I dedicated my
whole tribute to her, and I made her cry. So I’m not going to do that
again, but I do want to thank Jude for all of her hard work. She’s a
loyal part of our team, she’s a great friend, and it’s worth me=
ntioning
her amazing sense of humour. And, as we can all attest to in this occupatio=
n, a
good sense of humour around the office is absolutely essential. So we would
like to thank Jude — or, as we call her in the office, “our
boss”. Thanks, Jude.
In recognition of National Immun=
ization
Awareness Week
Hon. Mr. Graham: April 20 to 27 is National Immuniza= tion Awareness Week, and I would like to, on behalf of all members of the Legislature, pay tribute to National Immunization Awareness Week. This is an ideal time to make sure our immunizations, and especially those of our children, are up to date.
A hundred years ago, according to I=
mmunize
We rarely hear of diseases any more= like diphtheria, rubella or tetanus. They don’t often have a chance to take hold in a population thanks to public immunization programs, yet some disea= ses are breaking through again because some segments of the population don̵= 7;t think they need to be immunized. There is a good reason we immunize against rubella, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus and meningococcal diseases. They= are dangerous; they rob us of sight or hearing or the use of our limbs; they af= fect our brains; they kill us or, worse yet, they kill our children.
I’m not trying to be an alarm=
ist; the
fact is immunization does save lives. Unfortunately, thanks to the great
success of the public health boom, many of us have grown complacent. We thi=
nk
of those old diseases that aren’t around any more or that they belong=
to
other continents, other peoples. Well, diseases don’t care where we l=
ive.
They can hop on a plane just as easily as we can, and they land in our home=
and
spread if we don’t protect ourselves. In 2002, there were more than 2=
,000
cases of whooping cough in B.C. One infant died of whooping cough in that y=
ear.
Just last year there was an outbrea=
k of
measles in
We can now protect our children aga= inst diseases that ravaged past generations, but we should also think about ourselves as well. How many of us have had a tetanus shot in the last 10 ye= ars? What about a pertussis booster? Should we consider protecting ourselves aga= inst hepatitis A or hepatitis B? Are we at risk of contracting shingles? If we don’t know the answers to these questions, we should contact our community health centres and find out how up to date our immunizations real= ly are.
Finally, I’m pleased to let my
colleagues know that the Department of Health and Social Services is launch=
ing
a new website this week. This site brings together information on
immunizations, including links to scientifically vetted reports on communic=
able
diseases and the immunizations that can protect us against them.
On the site we can find a word from= the chief medical officer of health Dr. Brendan Hanley, links to other agencies with solid scientifically vented information on immunization.
Parents are understandably cautious= about what they expose their children to. It’s important to look for sound information in reliable spaces. I encourage them to visit www.yukonimmunize.ca as a good st= arting place.
In recognition of the
Hon.
Mr.
I’d like to emphasize that the
festival is Yukon-wide, with events happening in
Other events take place throughout =
Mr. Speaker, alongside the festival=
is the
33rd annual Young Authors Conference, which takes place today an=
d tomorrow
at F.H. Collins. Students from throughout the
For our young writers, it is a uniq=
ue
opportunity to write and be coached by accomplished Canadian writers. Stron=
g support
from national organizations, local community groups and businesses makes the
festival happen. I would like to thank the many partners and sponsors who h=
ave
collaborated over the years to ensure its success. Financial support from t=
his
government as well as the Canada Council for the Arts and the Writers Union=
of
Canada make it possible to bring the writers from across
Special appreciation is due to our =
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like =
to
remind Yukoners that the festival is open to the public. Program information
for events taking place throughout
In rec=
ognition
of
Hon.
Mr. Dixon: I rise today to ask my colleagues t=
o join
me in recognizing Yukon Biodiversity Awareness Month, which is in April this
year. By now, every home has received a copy of Yukon Celebrates Spring<=
/i>,
a guide to the many activities taking place around the territory that foste=
rs
an appreciation for wildlife and habitat. Biodiversity is the variety of all
living things, from the tiniest soil organism to the biggest mammal. Every
species has a part to play. All life on Earth is incredibly interdependent.=
I would like to pay tribute to the = many organizations that make the events of Yukon Biodiversity Awareness Month — or, as it’s affectionately known in Environment Yukon, YBAM! — with an exclamation point, for Hansard — possible: l= 8217;Association franco-yukonnaise, Canada Games Centre, Carcross-Tagish First Nation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Environment Canada, Girl Guides of Canada, Kluane First Nation, Marsh Lake Community Association, Society of Yukon Bird Observatori= es, Town of Faro, Whitehorse Star, Whitehorse United Church, Yukon Colle= ge, Yukon Energy Corporation, Yukon Literacy Coalition, Yukon News and t= he Yukon Wildlife Preserve. These organizations host, promote or coordinate ac= tivities, big and small, from the Faro Annual Crane and Sheep Viewing Festival to the popular Girl Guide Snack Shack that feeds all the hungry visitors at the Sw= an Haven Interpretive Centre.
I would like to make special mentio= n of the frog walk planned for May 11 by the Carcross Cut-off. This year, participan= ts will be able to check out the sounds of spring in the new Yukon Amphibia= ns brochure published by Environment Yukon. The Yukon Amphibians brochu= re is beautiful to look at and full of information about frogs, toads and even salamanders. This is an excellent example of how the department generates a= nd shares knowledge, helping others to act responsibly and respectfully in the= ir interactions with the environment.
As I mentioned before, four of the =
6,000 or
so species of amphibians found in the world call
The most common and widespread frog=
in Yukon
is the wood frog, which is found as far north as Frog Lake on the Old Crow
Flats.
The
The boreal chorus frog is found onl=
y in La
Biche River in the southeast corner of
Lastly, the western toad, which is =
found
throughout northern
In closing, I would like to note th=
at
While my remarks today focus on Yuk=
on
Biodiversity Month, I would like to recognize the role played by the Yukon
Conservation Data Centre in preserving biodiversity here. The CDC is operat=
ed
by the
This information is essential for t= he effective management and protection of our natural resources. With so much = to choose from, I encourage all members of this House to enjoy a wildlife view= ing event or two during Yukon Biodiversity Awareness Month. Thank you, Mr. Spea= ker.
Speaker: Are there any introductions of visitors?
TABLING RETURNS AND DOCUMENTS
Speaker: =
194; Under tabling returns and documents, the Chair has for tablin=
g Report
of the Chief Electoral Officer of
The Chair also has for tabling the =
Report
on Subsistence=
, Travel
& Accommodations of Members of the
Hon. Mr. Dixon: I have for tabling today the Yuk= on State of the Environment Interim Report: An Update for Environmental= Indicators 2013, which is published by Government of Yukon, through the Environment Yukon department, as well as contributions from the Department of Energy, M= ines and Resources, Community Services, and other levels of government, including the City of Whitehorse and the federal government.
Hon.
Mr. Istchenko: I have for tabling today the Fleet
Vehicle Agency 2013-14 business plan by the Yukon Highways and Public Works=
. I
also have the Queen’s Printer Agency 2011-12 annual report by the
Queen’s
Speaker: Are there any reports of committees?
Are there any petitions for present= ation?
PETITIONS
Petition No. 11 — additional signatur=
es
presented
Ms. Moorcroft: I have for tabl= ing an additional 25 signatures to the petition whereby the undersigned ask the Yu= kon Legislative Assembly to urge the Government of Canada to hold a national pu= blic inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, and to consult with the provinces, territories and national aboriginal organizations on the terms of reference of the national public inquiry.
Speaker: Are there any responses to petitions?
Petition No. 11 — response=
Hon. Mr. Pasloski: I rise today to respond to Petition= No. 11, which was presented to this House on April 22. Petition No. 11 urges th= is government to join the call for the federal government to hold a national public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls and con= sult with provinces, territories and national aboriginal organizations on the te= rms of reference of that national public inquiry.
This call for a national public inq=
uiry was
supported by leaders from the national aboriginal organizations and premiers
and aboriginal ministers who were in attendance at the
federal-provincial-territorial meeting held in
It is also important to note that t= he Government of Yukon was one of the first governments in Canada to begin addressing this tragic issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women and t= hat much work has been done on this and related issues.
Through the Women’s Directora=
te, the
government has been providing support to the Yukon Sisters in Spirit projec=
t,
which was designed to research the occurrences of missing and murdered
aboriginal women in
In related activities, the governme=
nt has
contributed over $1.5 million since 2004 toward the prevention of violence
against aboriginal women fund, which is intended for innovative projects th=
at
addresses aboriginal women’s safety and wellness in
Since 2007, the government has prov= ided funding through the women’s equality fund to the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle, Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society and the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council.
In 2008, the Women’s Director= ate created an aboriginal women’s policy and program manager position that seeks advice from First Nation communities, aboriginal women’s organi= zations and aboriginal women to ensure impacts on aboriginal women are addressed and effectively implemented in government initiatives.
Also, between 2013 and 2015, the go=
vernment
is providing support to six violence prevention projects: $25,000 to the
Kwanlin Dun First Nation to establish a violence prevention worker within t=
he
Kwanlin Dun community; $25,000 to the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society
for the Together for Justice project to create a community action plan and
encourage systematic change with RCMP training and performance; $50,000 to =
the
Skookum Jim Friendship Centre for a two-year Women of Wisdom project offeri=
ng
skills that can be used by the participants to develop personal awareness a=
nd
recognize their individual worth; $25,000 to the Whitehorse Aboriginal
Women’s Circle for the Daughter Spirit project, which will address the
incidence of self-harm occurrences among young aboriginal women; $25,000 to=
the
Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council for the Brothers in Spirit project, =
a one-year
strength-based community inquiry project targeting aboriginal men, where
interviews will be conducted to gather stories and experiences of aboriginal
men who are behaving in a non-violent, respectful way toward others; and
$50,000 to the Yukon Women’s Transition Home Society, or Kaushee̵=
7;s
Place, for a two-year elder mentor project to increase the sense of communi=
ty
support and cultural connections for aboriginal residents of Kaushee’s
Place.
The government has also invested he= avily in lone-parent family facilities, as well as in housing that protects women and children fleeing abuse. We have also invested heavily in substance abuse programs and are working on the construction of a new alcohol and drug treatment facility, as we know that substance abuse is often a driver when = it comes to violence against women and children.
I think it’s important to poi= nt out that, while the government is doing its part, the responsibility for dealing with this important and tragic issue is the community’s. To address t= his issue successfully will require the efforts of First Nation governments, co= mmunity groups and families — people need to talk about this issue. Cooperati= on and partnership need to continue to be formed so this issue, which affects = our mothers, daughters, families and communities, does not continue.
We look forward to working with our territorial and provincial counterparts on the terms of reference for a national inquiry. We look forward to raising awareness on a national level = of an issue that has impacted so many. Along with this inquiry, the Government= of Yukon will continue with its own efforts to raise awareness of this issue a= nd to continue to work with those who are most affected. This has been a prior= ity for this government and it will remain so.
Speaker: Are there any bills to be introduced?
Are there any notices of motion?
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mr. Hassard: = ; I give notice o= f the following motion:
THAT this House urges the Governmen= t of Yukon to continue to work collaboratively with the Government of Canada for funding to improve our highways, construct new schools, expand the current hospital and to enable investment in energy, transportation and communicati= on infrastructure.
Hon. Mr. Cathers: I give notice of the following moti= on:
THAT this House urges the
I also give notice of the following= motion:
THAT this House urges the
I also give notice of the following= motion:
THAT a select committee regarding t= he risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing be established;
THAT Patty McLeod be chair of the committee;
THAT the chair of the committee hav= e a deliberative vote on all matters before the committee;
THAT the honourable members Hon. Cu= rrie Dixon, Stacey Hassard, Jim Tredger, Sandy Silver and Darius Elias be appoin= ted to the committee;
THAT the committee be mandated to:<= /span>
(1) gain a science-based understand= ing of the technical, environmental, economic and regulatory aspects of hydraulic fracturing;
(2) gain an understanding of
(3) consider the potential risks and
benefits of hydraulic fracturing if it were used in the
(4) facilitate an informed public d= ialogue for the purpose of sharing information on the potential risks and benefits = of hydraulic fracturing as well as gathering input from the Yukon public, First Nations, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including non-governmental organizations;
(5) hold public hearings in the two
communities most likely to be affected by oil and gas development, <=
st1:place> (6) consider whether hydraulic frac=
turing
can be done safely if properly regulated; THAT the committee have the power t=
o call
for persons, papers and records and to sit during intersessional periods;=
span> THAT in exercising its power to cal=
l for
persons, papers and records, the committee may invite: (1) officials from the Government o=
f Yukon to
appear as witnesses on technical matters; (2) officials from other North Amer=
ican jurisdictions
with experience in the regulation of hydraulic fracturing to appear as witn=
esses
on technical matters; (3) experts in matters related to h=
ydraulic
fracturing to appear as witnesses; (4) representatives of Yukon First =
Nation
governments and (5) stakeholders and interested par=
ties,
including non-governmental organizations and members of the public, to appe=
ar
as witnesses or provide input through other methods to be determined by the
committee; THAT the committee report to the
Legislative Assembly its recommendations regarding a policy approach to
hydraulic fracturing in the Yukon that is in the public interest, including=
: (1) its findings, if any, regarding=
the
potential risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing and whether allowing t=
he
use of this technique is in the public interest; and (2) its recommendations, if any, re=
garding
any steps that should be taken to responsibly regulate hydraulic fracturing=
should
its use in THAT the committee report to the Ho=
use its
finding and recommendations no later than the 2014 spring sitting of the Le=
gislative
Assembly; THAT if the House is not sitting at=
such
time as the committee is prepared to present its report, the committee chair
shall transmit the committee’s report to the Speaker, who shall trans=
mit
the report to all Members of the Legislative Assembly and then, not more th=
an
one day later, release the report to the public; and THAT the Clerk of the Legislative A=
ssembly
be responsible for providing the necessary support services to the committe=
e. Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; I rise to give =
notice
of the following motion: THAT it is the opinion of this Hous=
e that: (1) the Government of (2) a statistical analysis of the
consultation data demonstrates that 80 percent of (3) the Government of (4) the Government of Yukon should =
accept
the advice of the former chair of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council and t=
ake
steps to make the policy and operational changes required to restore public
confidence in the land use planning process; and (5) the Government of Mr.
Elias:=
8195; I rise to give notice of the following motion: THAT this House urges the Discovery=
Channel
to remove the word “ Speaker: Is there a statement by a minister? This brings us to Question Period.<=
/span> QUESTION PERIOD Question re:
Education employees making public statements Ms. Hanson:=
Mr. Speaker, in=
its
current form, the Department of Education’s draft policy on making pu=
blic
statements appears to be entering into Charter-rights-to-freedom-of-=
speech
territory. Teachers are telling me that educat=
ors did
not forfeit their Charter rights when they entered the teaching
profession. On Monday the Minister of Education said there would be consult=
ation
with the Yukon Teachers Association and others on the draft policy, and that
further changes are being contemplated based on those discussions.=
p>
My question to the minister is
straightforward. What has the minister discovered after having consulted wi=
th
teachers and what changes will be made to the policy? Hon.
Mr.
Ms. Hanson:&= #8195; It’s true= that guidelines do exist and have always existed, but there are new aspects to t= his. The draft policy in its current form is not about confidentiality. It is a = very broad policy that requires Education employees to get clearance before they= , and I quote, “provide information to the media on any education-related matter”, end quote. It even requires all Education employees to get direction in advance to determine if they can speak and what they can say a= t a public education-related function.
The way the draft policy is written, teachers are rightfully worried they won’t be able to participate in public meetings, like school council meetings, unless they are cleared. Does the minister have a new draft policy that he will release so that teachers = and the public can determine if the rules are reasonable and do not infringe on= Charter rights?
Hon.
Mr.
One of the important things to also= mention is government employees, particularly those employees in the Department of = Education, have access to a lot of sensitive personal, legal and business information = that can impact people’s lives, and that information has to be treated car= efully. The Department of Education is very complex — obviously we deal with children, we are responsible for information on our immigrant population — so again, that’s why we have those policies in place. The pur= pose of these guidelines once they’re completed — not the first draft that the Leader of the Official Opposition is fearmongering about — we look to help ensure the employees in the Department of Education can unders= tand their responsibilities with respect to this type of information. Again, it’s information that involves children, immigrants, and others that = is held within the department.
Ms.
Hanson:&=
#8195; The minister op=
posite
is doing a disservice to himself and to his public service by suggesting th=
at
we are fearmongering. It is educators who have raised this issue —
educators. I would repeat that teachers understand and respect confidential=
ity.
This is not about confidentiality. I remind this House that it is the Yukon
Party that has severely restricted public access to public information about
decision-making and that has refused to act on promises to implement the
whistle-blower protection. This policy is another tightening of the noose on
civic participation. This policy came out in January. Then, as now, there w=
ere
a lot of controversial education issues being discussed in staff lounges, at
school council meetings and in the public domain. I refer to the rushed
consultation on changes to calendars, to the confusion about
Why was the draft policy released a= t this specific time and when will the minister present a revised policy that resp= ects our teachers?
Hon.
Mr.
The Department of Education deals w= ith very sensitive information — information about our children, information a= bout our immigrant population and information about others. When it comes to this type of information, we want to make sure that the guidelines that are supporting a policy that has been in place since 1994 and has been through = the rule of governments from all sides of this House — there has been an = NDP government, Liberal government and several Yukon Party governments since th= at time — are going to help to ensure that all of our employees, not just the teachers — we have a number of employees in the department — understand the responsibilities with respect to this type of information. <= /span>
Fearmongering and tabling a very fi= rst draft is disrespectful, and I think the Leader of the Official Opposition should be ashamed of herself.
Question re: Oil-fired ap=
pliance
safety
Ms.
White:=
8195;
My question is this: Will the Gover= nment of Yukon be introducing new financial supports for homeowners to perform renov= ations or new installations to their heating systems so their homes are safe?
Hon.
Mr.
Ms. White:= 8195; I’m famil= iar with the home repair program. My concern is that if someone is accessing the home repair program for installation or other safety issues, they will run out — they will max out at their $35,000. We have a domestic well program, where rural residents receive low-interest loans to drill wells and pay back the government in five, 10 or 15 years. Those same people can also access t= he home repair program, so my question: Will the minister outline his plans for this new heating system program and when can we expect to see that availabl= e?
Hon.
Mr.
Question re: Victoria Gold power generation
Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; Mr. Speaker, in=
a
recent article in the local newspaper, the Premier was asked about the
potential of opening the Victoria Gold mine near Mayo.
The original plan for the mine was = to tie into the existing power grid. However, the Premier told the paper that ther= e is now a second option on the table: having the mine generate its own power by burning diesel or possibly a diesel-natural gas mix, and I quote: “Th= ose two options are still on the table and being discussed by the company and officials as well”. The article goes on to say that, according to the Victoria Gold president, the company has no plans to generate its own power, “No, it’s still our intention to tie into the grid. We’re actually not permitted to have our own power system, so we’re working very closely with Yukon Energy Corporation to tie into the grid and have th= em provide power.”
The company and the Premier seem to= be in contradiction with each other here, and I just want to know: Does the Premi= er stand by his comments, or does he want to correct the public record?=
Hon.
Mr. Cathers: I would encourage the member not to
assume that every story in the newspaper is always correct. We know the med=
ia
— we assume they make the best intentions but, in fact, in this case,
yes, there have been discussions that have gone on between Yukon Energy
Corporation and Victoria Gold. As far as them hooking up to the grid, that =
has
not been determined to be the final option yet, and there has also been
discussion between Yukon Energy Corporation and Victoria Gold, as well as t=
he Department
of Energy, Mines and Resources and Victoria Gold about the possibility of V=
ictoria
Gold choosing to generate its power on-site. No definitive conclusion has b=
een
reached at this time.
Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; I guess there i=
s still
a contradiction here between the president of Victoria Gold and the Premier
regarding the mine’s intention to get power. Victoria Gold wants to h=
ook
into the grid. That is what they told the local media and that’s what=
it
says on their website, and I quote: “Grid power currently runs along =
the
highway and
We know our power grid is already s= tretched to its limit. Does the Energy Corporation have sufficient capacity to serve this mine and what will the source of that power be?
Hon.
Mr. Cathers: The member is trying to create the =
sense
of a contradiction between what the company and government are saying. I th=
ink
the member is really fishing here. In fact, as we indicated, yes, the compa=
ny
had planned to hook up to the grid. That plan is still a possibility but we
have also had discussions with them at a ministerial level, at a department=
al
level and at a corporation level about the possibility of Victoria Gold doi=
ng
on-site energy production themselves. As I’ve stated on a number of
occasions in the House, before we would give permission for a mine —
including Victoria Gold — to tie into the grid, there would be a numb=
er
of steps that would have to be met and we would have to believe it was in t=
he
best interests of Yukoners and ratepayers. Energy projects of that size als=
o require
approval by the Yukon Utilities Board before they can commence and before t=
hose
assets can be added in to the rate base.
So there are a number of tests that= have to be successfully met and approvals have to be given not only by the Yukon En= ergy Corporation and by government, but also by the Yukon Utilities Board, for energy projects of that size if they are to be added on to the public grid.=
Mr. Silver:&= #8195; For the record, I’d much rather be fishing than trying to get answers from this minis= ter.
Maybe the Yukon Energy Corporation appearing in the Legislature this spring, as I’ve requested — a= nd we heard today that they’re going to show up; that’s great R= 12; could actually give us some answers about these particular companies attach= ing themselves to the grid.
The Minister of Energy, Mines and R=
esources
has said in the past that he’s looking forward to development on the
Eagle mine site in 2013. He also said that the government has been advised =
that
the Eagle property will be in production by 2014-15. Now, this is a very la=
rge
project and it involves a great deal of preparation from both the company a=
nd
the government. At this point, Victoria Gold is focusing on securing its
financing and we are very happy to see this project moving forward.
We know the Energy Corporation is w= orking very hard on supplying power and answering the power questions for this particular project. Is the government still anticipating development this summer, and what preparations is it doing to make sure that it’s ready when this comes on to the grid?
Hon. Mr. Cathers: A few points that have to be said in context — Victoria Gold has gone through the YESAA process. They have successfully received a recommendation from YESAB and a decision document recommending the project proceed. The company has not yet applied for their quartz mining licence, which is another step that must be taken.
It is a very challenging market rig= ht now, not just for Victoria Gold but for other companies with large undertakings.= If the member follows the news, stock markets are in a period of undervaluing a significant number of opportunities.
I would direct the member’s a= ttention to the protocol that I tabled in the House, between Yukon Development Corpo= ration and me, as well as the letter of expectation, which lays out a number of expectations, including our key expectations that the Development Corporati= on ensure its subsidiary operates in a manner consistent with the government’s overall requirement that Yukon Energy Corporation provide Yukoners with safe, reliable and cost-effective electrical power — in particular, that Yukon Energy Corporation minimizes financial risk; assists government, as required, with technical information to help government make good decisions, including policy decisions about new energy projects; under= takes new energy projects as directed by government; and performs maintenance on existing assets. The member will also see a number of references to ensure = that — I gather I’m out of time, Mr. Speaker, so I will have to prov= ide that information later, but I encourage the member to read the letter.
Question re: Old Crow riv=
erbank
erosion
Mr. Elias:= 8195; I have a question for the Minister of Highways and Public Wor= ks. Old Crow is very close to being cut in half. Access to the rock quarry R= 12;
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Mr. Elias:= 8195; Do I have the floor, Mr. Speaker?
The government. The ice is breaking up and =
the
river won’t wait for this government to make a decision.
When will this
government take responsibility for the land it owns in Old Crow and shore up
the riverbank to prevent an important community transportation route from b=
eing
destroyed?
Hon. Ms. Taylor: I woul=
d like
to thank the member for Old Crow for raising this important question and
certainly bringing light to it.
As the member opposite is very much= aware, I had the opportunity to actually meet with members of the Vuntut Gwitchin = government last month in the community of Old Crow, during which time this matter aros= e as a very important issue. The Department of Community Services and the Depart= ment of Highways and Public Works have committed to working with the government = to address this very important issue. At this time, we are awaiting information from officials from the Vuntut Gwitchin government to advance this project.=
Mr. Elias:= 8195; That’s good to hear. I’d like to hear from the Mi= nister of Highways and Public Works though, because this area falls directly within his department as it is part of the airport right of way and it is a part of the roads that are being maintained in Old Crow.
It’s important to note that t=
he
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is doing the
Can the Premier assure my constitue=
nts the
problem will be addressed and the threat to the community of Old Crow will =
be alleviated
immediately?
Hon. Mr. Istchenko: I thank the member opposite for the question. To answer my esteemed colleague, the Minister of Community Servic= es stated that we will be there with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. =
I just want to put on record that t=
he
Transportation and Maintenance branch has a 950 Cat loader, a 120 Cat grade=
r, a
steel drum packer and a D6 Cat, and our Aviation branch has a loader and a
five-tonne dump truck. Not too long ago I did speak with the Member for Vun=
tut
Gwitchin about Porcupine Enterprises, which is a
Mr.
Elias:=
8195; It’s also important to note that I met with these minis=
ters
in the fall and again in January to let them know that this issue was of
importance to the community. It’s also important to note that $150,00=
0 is
going to be multiplied by 10 if this isn’t rectified immediately. With
the Premier and the Finance minister’s prudent fiscal management, I t=
hink
the time is now for them to alleviate this problem. What my constituents wa=
nt
to hear on the floor of the House today is, “Don’t worry, this
river’s going to be fixed. The riverbank is going to be stabilized and
you don’t have to worry about the access route to the traditional har=
vesting
grounds, to the
It’s a simple answer from the government. They were well aware of this six months ago.
Hon.
Mr. Pasloski: I want to thank the Member for Vunt=
ut
Gwitchin for the question. I think the answer has already been provided by =
the
Minister of Community Services in terms of how we are waiting for an assess=
ment
to be done before we can move forward. It was well articulated by the Minis=
ter
of Highways and Public Work — the assets that are available to be abl=
e to
deal with this problem. The member is also correct that this government is =
in a
strong financial position as a result of 10 years of strong economic growth=
as
a result of the good strong policies that this government has had to see th=
at
we have economic prosperity — that we are in fact in a position to be
able to spend the money in places when these things come up. I have spoken
about this in the House many times. We are in a position to be able to meet=
the
needs that are sometimes unexpected — last year, for example, with the
flooding in
I appreciate the question. I think = the answer was well articulated. As a result of the Yukon Party government, we = are in a position to be able to deal with this and other unforeseen incidents if they do arise.
Question re: Mayo B proje=
ct
Mr.
Tredger:=
Mr. Speaker, ye=
sterday
the minister responsible indicated he does not know production figures from
Mayo B. Despite repeated requests for information from this minister, we are
not getting answers. We have heard that Mayo B is not running at full capac=
ity.
Constituents are telling us that you can’t run the water through the
turbine at full capacity without causing winter flooding — flooding t=
hat
threatens the
What is the cause of the winter flo= oding in Mayo and has this government found a permanent engineering solution?=
Hon. Mr. Cathers: First of all, let me address the pr= eamble of the member’s question and point out that the members either do not understand how the structure works or are choosing to ask questions that cr= eate a different impression.
I would point out that not only are=
there
two corporations with very capable boards of directors and staff who manage
this — the Yukon Development Corporation and Yukon Energy Corporation
— there is also a process where the regulator that has the primary
responsibility for regulating the utility is the Yukon Utilities Board. In =
the
last rate application from the Energy Corporation, interveners asked 1,200
written questions that were answered. Yukon Energy Corporation staff spent
three days on the stand answering questions, including the costs and benefi=
ts
of all energy options.
For the members to try to create a = sense of what the cost per kilowatt hour is, it really depends — the usage of various energy production assets on the system is dependent on things inclu= ding water flow, the yearly cycles, demand on the system, et cetera. I would certainly be happy to have staff appear before this House, as they will lat= er this sitting, to answer those detailed questions, but for the members to ex= pect a pat answer to that simply does disservice to how the structure operates a= nd is not —
Speaker: Order please. The member’s time has elapsed.
Mr. Tredger:= I guess that= 217;s why they call it Question Period. This member does expect an answer. There = is such a thing as ministerial responsibility, and it’s the ministerR= 17;s responsibility to be fiscally responsible and to set direction for the corporations.
The people from Mayo have told me t=
hat, for
most of the winter, there has been heavy equipment working the
Can the minister responsible tell t=
his
House what the environmental impacts of the heavy equipment working in the =
Hon. Mr. Cathers: First of all to the member’s = assertions, the member is again trying to paint a picture that either demonstrates that= the member simply doesn’t understand how the structure works or prefers to engage in mudslinging rather than constructive debate.
I’d ask the member, when he a=
sks
about the cost per kilowatt hour from the Mayo B dam project, what’s =
the
cost per kilowatt hour from the
The member is oversimplifying the s= ituation and either doesn’t understand how the system works and the energy grid works or is choosing to engage in mudslinging just for fun. As far as the r= iver goes, I look forward to providing more information about that in the next r= esponse.
Mr. Tredger:= Let me assure t= he minister opposite that I am not engaging in mudslinging, and trying to get = an answer from him is not fun.
The people of Mayo deserve answers,=
and so
do the ultimate ratepayers, the
The flooding is causing damages to
property. A very productive and decades-old farm has been flooded at least
twice. Valuable dirt that took years to build up was washed away forever. H=
omes
in the
Mr. Speaker, what recourse will the= re be for people in Mayo whose property has been damaged by the flooding?<= /p>
Hon.
Ms. Taylor: I want to just clarify for the memb=
er
opposite that it was at the request of the
The winter flooding of the <=
st1:place>
What the government has done, thoug=
h, is
that we have gone to work with the Mayo community. We have gone to work with
Yukon Energy Corporation, with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, on
opening up the diversion channels, which have been a very effective means a=
nd
are certainly within the assessment provided through Department of Fisheries
and Oceans on an emergency basis.
In the meantime, we have committed = to developing long-term strategies to prevent or to mitigate this winter flood= ing problem as we see it, and we are doing so in collaboration with our communi= ty partners.
Mr. Speaker, we do have dollars all=
otted
for flood mitigation in this year’s budget, as we have allotted fundi=
ng
in the past to address this issue. We understand the priority that the
Question re: Communication
infrastructure
Ms.
Stick:=
8195; Mr. Speaker,
telecommunications and Internet service are important for our economy, for =
the
health and security of our communities and have increasingly become an
essential way of life.
What has been the
Hon. Mr. Dixon: Thanks to the member opposite for h= er kind words about the policy direction this government has taken with regard= to prioritizing the ICT industry of our economy and the actions we’ve ta= ken to date to stimulate activity in that industry. With regard to her specific question about monies the government has given to Northwestel, I’m not really sure exactly what she means, but I do know that, over the course of = the past several decades, various governments have worked with Northwestel, as = the lone provider, to enhance infrastructure.
The proposal we have discussed R=
12; the
idea of working with the private sector to develop a second fibre optic rou=
te
to the south — hasn’t been allocated any funding yet. We have
identified some money in the budget to do some feasibility work, but we
haven’t yet expended any money, so I don’t know exactly what
she’s asking about on that issue.
I would agree with her assessment t= hat the ICT industry is an important component of our economy and that the services= provided to Yukoners sometimes don’t match with the ones provided to those in = the south. That’s something that we take issue with and certainly want to push Northwestel toward, as well as engaging with the CRTC to ensure that t= heir regulatory means for pushing service providers in that direction are also encouraged.
Ms.
Stick:=
8195; The
How is the minister ensuring that, = prior to committing additional taxpayer dollars to Northwestel for infrastructure im= provements, a strategy will be in place to ensure public goals are met?
Hon.
Mr. Dixon: Indeed, there is a strategy in plac=
e. She
just referenced it. We, in collaboration with YITIS, the
That strategy comes up with a numbe= r of recommendations for government and for industry for how to move forward with the ICT industry in the territory. We have endorsed that report. We paid for it. Indeed, we’re working with industry to implement the recommendati= ons.
As a part of that, we’ve alre= ady developed a directorate within the Department of Economic Development to facilitate that sort of implementation. I’ve identified core funding = for the YITIS group to provide for some intra-industry collaboration and to ass= ist with the industry in coordinating its efforts. I’ve also indicated th= at we’re willing to explore the possibility of a second fibre optic link= to the south.
So there are a number of activities= that we have undertaken already. There are a number of things we’ve committed= to, and there is strategic work that has been done already which provides us wi= th guidance for going forward.
Ms. Stick:= 8195; The ICT strateg= y report on the Economic Development website suggests public governments choose whet= her they want to be owners and have a stake in the IT infrastructure or use oth= er approaches to be catalysts and leverage public investment in this sector. <= /span>
Throughout the world, there are dif=
ferent
approaches public governments are taking to IT infrastructure and an IT eco=
nomy.
What conditions is the
Hon. Mr. Dixon: At this point we haven’t rule= d out any option. Of course, we are considering a number of options for how we mi= ght move forward with that particular project. I would suggest, though, that I think it’s a good idea for us to take into consideration a number of different factors, including the role that First Nations may want to play in that and the role that their development corporations may want to play in t= hat project. Private companies themselves, I’m sure, will be interested a= nd, of course, there is always going to be a role for government as an important component there.
I have indicated previously in answ= ers in this House that I believe the private sector really needs to be the lead in this sort of thing, but I’ve obviously made commitments that the gove= rnment is willing to support them and work with industry to see a project move forward. Ultimately, the structure of whatever ownership model that could evolve for that particular project isn’t yet determined. As I’ve said, we have indicated that we are willing to do a pre-feasibility study on this. At this stage, we simply don’t have the details that the member= opposite is asking for.
Those are details that will come ou= t in the planning procedures and, as we move forward with a feasibility study, IR= 17;m sure the answers to her questions will begin to emerge, and I will be in a position to respond more accurately as we approach work actually being done= on this project.
With that I’d say that the ICT industry’s a priority for us; we’re excited about it and I̵= 7;m very encouraged by the work done to date.
Speaker: The time for Question Period has now elapsed. We will proceed= with Orders of the Day.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
OPPOSITION PRIVATE
MEMBERS’ BUSINESS
MOTIONS OTHER THAN GOVERNMENT MOTIONS
Motion No. 372
Clerk: Motion No. 372, standing in the name of Mr. Silver.
Speaker: It is moved by the Member for
THAT this House urges the Governmen= t of Yukon to invite officials from the Yukon Development Corporation to appear = as witnesses in Committee of the Whole during the 2013 spring sitting to answer questions related to the pending energy shortfall facing Yukon.
Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; I got the good =
news
this morning: my months of asking, and we finally get the privilege of seei=
ng
the Yukon Energy Corporation and the Yukon Development Corporation in this
House. I wish the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources in his capacity as
House Leader would be a little bit more forthcoming with information. I ask=
ed a
very simple question this morning: are you going to put forth a motion today
calling for the corporations to come forth? Whereas he didn’t say no,=
he
did give the indication that they would only do something like that during
Committee of the Whole.
Either way, I’m extremely hap= py that the corporations are coming forth. I do think it’s worth noting though that the minister went to great lengths this morning in Question Period to = take offence to the Member for Mayo-Tatchun. I believe he said he was creating a different impression with regard to Yukon Energy Corporation and Yukon Development Corporation, so I think sometimes maybe he should listen to him= self and maybe take his own advice.
Once again, I wish we had that info= rmation this morning, but at the same time I do want to apologize in advance that my speech might be a little bit laboured today because my final notes were done and edited today after the House Leaders meeting and at that time I was led= to believe that the minister would not do exactly what he did. Anyway, there a= re an awful lot of important issues that I’m definitely going to get aro= und to speaking of today.
The motion is pretty straightforwar=
d. It
calls for the officials from the Yukon Development Corporation to appear as
witnesses this spring to answer questions about energy. It is a simple requ=
est
that would allow for debate on a wide range of topics. I’ll go through
some of these topics today. I hope the motion can be supported by all membe=
rs
of this Assembly and that later this month, or sometime next month — =
we
still don’t know — that we will have a good debate with our ene=
rgy
experts in this Chamber.
I will begin with a statement from = the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources. He reminded us a few days ago R= 12; or yesterday, I believe, in Question Period — about the role the Yukon Energy Corporation and Yukon Development Corporation play and I quote: “…we do have two boards and corporations that manage this area. They are ultimately responsible to this government and to the Legislative Assembly through myself as minister…” That was the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, April 23 this year in Question Period.<= /p>
I could not agree more with that st= atement as it pinpoints the reason why I have brought forward this motion today. The corporations are ultimately responsible to the Legislative Assembly. One of= the obligations the minister has is to bring these corporations to the Assembly= . In February of this year I put out a news release calling on the Premier to confirm that officials from both the Yukon Hospital Corporation and Yukon Energy Corporation would appear as witnesses in the Yukon Legislative Assem= bly during the spring session. Today’s motion should therefore come as no surprise. We are more than halfway through this session and it’s only today that we have notification that the Yukon Development Corporation and = the Yukon Energy Corporation will be here in the spring.
I wanted to avoid the process that = we went through last session I asked, on a regular basis during motions for the cor= poration to appear — and the government refused.
I wanted the government to have amp= le notice that Yukoners have plenty of questions in this field, and also in the fields of health and energy for these officials — questions that dese= rve answers. I did not receive a response to my call at that time.
Once the session began, so did the = stalling on this request. Finally, after tabling a motion this week, the government = confirmed that yes, officials from the Hospital Corporation will be appearing. It took two months, but I’m pleased the government has finally, if not reluctantly, agreed to this request. It would have been two full years since representatives from the Yukon Hospital Corporation have sat in the Legisla= tive Assembly. The government has been very reluctant to have the corporations appear to answer questions, and the public deserves better.
The Yukon Hospital Corporation last
appeared
As questions mount about the new fa=
cilities,
it’s an ideal time for some accountability to the public. The report =
from
the Auditor General on the construction of the two new hospitals in rural <=
/span>
I’m sure that we could spend = another day talking about these two items alone. I understand officials will be appearing in mid-May, and we welcome the government’s change of mind = in agreeing to have them come forward. The only corporation that appears on an annual basis in this Chamber is the Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board. There was an act review some years ago and one of the recommendations from that review was to formalize the appearance of the cor= poration in this Chamber on an annual basis. It is now written right into the act. P= rior to that, the corporation appeared on an ad hoc basis at the whim of the gov= ernment, much like the situation we now have with the Hospital Corporation. I would = urge the government to make amendments to the appropriate legislation to formali= ze an annual appearance by the Yukon Development Corporation, the Yukon Energy= Corporation and the Hospital Corporation.
Accountability and transparency are
important to me as a legislator and I am demonstrating that with the motion
that I have called here today. There is a principle at stake here: elected
officials are doing a disservice to their constituents if they forego an
opportunity for public insight on Crown corporation spending. That principl=
e is
an important one. It is probably as important as the content of the discuss=
ion
itself. It’s about being open and accountable. I also appreciate the
arm’s-length relationship of the corporation.
The ministers responsible for the H= ospital Corporation or for the Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board = or for Yukon Energy Corporation often stand in this House and say, “I’m not responsible for that. That was a board decision.”= ; In many cases they are absolutely correct. There are a number of questions we = have that can only be answered by the corporation. To deny us the ability to ask these questions by refusing to bring officials into this House is — I don’t think I can use the words here in this House, but I believe tha= t my point can be made on where I think this government stands.
The circular argument of “I= 8217;m not responsible but you can’t ask that question to those people who are” is not a strong argument and it is more of a deflection. I belie= ve that Yukoners deserve better. In moving forward, I would love to see some k= ind of changes to the legislation to allow these other corporation to also appe= ar on a regular basis.
With all due respect to the ministe= rs responsible, we often learn more about power and electrical rates and our energy future in two hours with the corporation than over an entire sitting with the minister. As the Member for Mayo-Tatchun referenced earlier, there= is a reason we call it Question Period and not answer period.
As an aside, in our experience with=
the
Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board in here, it seems to me
that the officials are relishing the opportunity to set the record straight=
and
to have those conversations.
It has been two years since officia=
ls last
appeared and hopefully we can get a chance to ask some questions. Yukon Dev=
elopment
Corporation did not appear in 2009 or in 2012 and last appeared in 2011, mo=
re
than two years ago. With regard to Yukon Development Corporation, which last
appeared on
We’re looking for a progress =
report
on Mayo B. How much power is the expansion producing, for example? We have
questions about the future of current rate subsidies. The government recent=
ly
announced a one-year extension to the interim electrical rebate. We have
questions about the all-too-frequent power outages that we experience here =
in
the
The recently signed January 2013 le=
tter of
intent to create a power purchase agreement with Copper North Mining Corpor=
ation,
other PPAs that are already in place, and still others that have been
negotiated — have the existing PPAs been financially successful? What
impact might Victoria Gold being developed have on our power system? There
seems to be a conflict of information on how the mine will get powered, and=
I
didn’t really receive an answer today either. Let me read from the re=
cent
story — and this is a quote from the Yukon News: “ItR=
17;s
estimated that Eagle will use up almost 100 gigawatt-hours of electricity, =
but
there appears to be some confusion over where that power will come from. The
original plan was to tie Eagle into the territorial power grid. But Pasloski
said there is now a second option on the table: having the mine generate its
own power by burning diesel, or possibly a diesel-natural gas mix,”
— and the Premier’s quote was — “Those two options =
are
still on the table and being discussed by the company and officials as well=
. I
can’t speculate on what exactly will be the requirements and how it w=
ill
be looked at. I know that energy requirements is something that both the Vi=
ctoria
Gold and officials are working on to see what is the best solution for the =
mine
and for the ratepayers, the taxpayers and citizens of
His quote: “No, it’s st= ill our intention to tie into the grid. We’re actually not permitted to have = our own power system, so we’re working very closely with Yukon Energy Corporation to tie into the grid and have them provide power…” That’s from the Yukon News, April 12, 2013.
The whole point of bringing this up= once again here is that perhaps the corporation could clear up some of this confusion — the corporation’s financial plan is another example. This year’s budget has $2.625 million for Mayo B ratepayers’ support= . I have a few questions I would like to ask the corporation about that. How ma= ny years will the taxpayers be paying for this, for example?
I’ve already raised questions= in Question Period about the corporation’s obligation to serve new industrial customers. The minister says it is not an absolute obligation. W= ell, where is the line? I’d like to ask the corporation for its view on th= is question. What happens if a company wants to hook up and the corporation refuses?
The long-delayed IPP policy —= Yukon Development Corporation is involved in that as well. Yukoners would like to hear their thoughts on it. Perhaps they can explain why four years after the minister promised it was coming, we still have nothing delivered. = p>
Also, some of the long-delayed net =
metering
policies and Yukon Development Corporation’s involvement and opinion =
on
that issue.
There are questions that arise from= the recent general rate application in 2012 and the Utilities Board ruling on t= hat application. The recently tabled shareholders letter of expectations and the recently tabled protocol between the government and the corporation have al= so raised a number of questions. The topic of governance and the idea of a separate board for Yukon Development Corporation and Yukon Energy Corporati= on — another interesting topic that I would love to have a chance to dis= cuss with the corporations and the boards. The biggest one: How will future power needs be met? It has been described to me as an “energy cliff” = or an “energy shortfall”. That’s what Yukoners are facing. T= here are many ways to describe it, and they all mean the same thing.
We are at a capacity for hydro and =
yet the
demand continues to grow. If some of the industrial customers come on-board=
in
the next few years, we are going to be scrambling to keep up. How are we go=
ing
to meet these energy demands? According to a document filed by the Energy
Corporation in the 2012 GRA, the answer is mostly diesel. Diesel use as a
percentage of the increased load will rise year after year from approximate=
ly
30 percent to over 70 percent.
Recent developments around liquefied natural gas, or LNG, could certainly impact those numbers — again, so= mething to discuss with the corporation.
In the long term, there is a possib= ility of connecting to the North American grid. A commitment to advance this goal wa= s a campaign commitment of both the Yukon Party and the Liberal Party in the la= st election campaign. In the short term, this is obviously not a solution.
Let’s talk a little bit about=
the
future of LNG in the
I introduced a motion recently R= 12; Motion No. 411. I’ll read it into the record again:
“THAT this House urges the Go=
vernment
of Yukon to proceed with regulations governing LNG so that Yukon Electrical=
can
switch over generators from diesel to LNG.”
Now, the purpose of this motion is =
very
straightforward. I am urging the government to get these rules in place. Th=
e minister
has talked about LNG for some time, but has failed to “set the
table”, so to speak, for Yukon Energy Corporation and others to proce=
ed.
Now I know that the NDP they say th=
at they
don’t like the idea of LNG. Unfortunately, because of the lack of
planning, the
We have no ideological objections to
liquefied natural gas. This does not mean that a more viable, renewable opt=
ion
should not be immediately invested into, and it does not mean fracking in t=
he
But I’m not the expert, Mr. S=
peaker.
What I do know is that there is promising work being done in Eagle Plains, =
and
if this government ever learned to get along with the Kaska, there would be
potential in the southeast
LNG could power our territory for y=
ears to
come until our renewable resources, our renewable sources, are more develop=
ed. I
know that Yukon Energy is interested in working with any proponent who could
supply this resource locally. Every year, millions of dollars are drained o=
ut
of our territory to buy fuel that is produced in other parts of
When the session ends, there will b=
e a
committee in place to examine the issue of fracking. A properly planned oil=
and
gas industry would have seen this discussion take place several years ago. =
The
government’s intent, however, to finally do the right thing and to en=
gage
the public in this debate is now very encouraging. The Yukon Party does not
want to use the word, but just as there currently is a moratorium on staking
claims in the Peel, there is, and there must be, a moratorium on fracking in
the
I think that there has been an assu=
mption
made by some — and it’s an incorrect assumption — that an=
LNG
industry in the
As legislators, we will receive some direction from the public on the issue of fracking and we’ll let the committee do its work. However, to rule out the entire industry for fear of fracking is wrong because there is a conventional resource that can be extr= acted without fracking, and our party believes in that industry. It will be an industry that we will try to encourage in the years to come. It will take private and public sector investment, it will take an improved relationship with First Nation governments, and it will take political leadership.
As far as energy planning goes, I w=
ould
like to conclude with some points about energy planning and about the relat=
ionship
between the government and the Yukon Development Corporation. It is unfortu=
nate
that the former Yukon Party government spent two years and hundreds of
thousands of dollars trying to sell Yukon Energy Corporation to ATCO. Inste=
ad
of the corporation being able to focus on the business at hand — plan=
ning
our energy future — two years were lost in resignations and worse. Th=
ese
episodes sapped the corporation of time and energy. It really set planning =
back
an extended period of time, and the Yukon Party government bears full
responsibility for the entire episode. Unfortunately, that was not the end =
of
the political interference and it does continue today.
I recently asked the Minister of En= ergy, Mines and Resources about the potential for the Government of Yukon to move into the energy planning business. Is there an appetite to discuss moving energy planning in-house, away from the Yukon Energy Corporation? Again, I = am not the expert in this field, but experts have questioned the Yukon Energy Corporation’s spending of more than $20 million in recent years on a variety of energy options.
I want to give the corporations a c= hance to speak in this Assembly on this topic. Most of this money is recovered throu= gh higher energy bills. Money spent on energy planning in the Energy Corporati= on is not debated in this Legislature unless the corporations appear. Let̵= 7;s hear from the corporations their side of this debate. There is less scrutin= y by the public of the spending because it is not debated in the Legislature as a line-by-line budget item. The last thing I want to see — I need to ma= ke this point very clear — the last thing that I want to see is political interference, messing with a sound and responsible energy corporation or in= dustry.
In recent years the
There are, of course, advantages to= leaving these discussions inside the corporation if the corporation is allowed to do its work free of political influence and interference. In recent years this= has been an impossible task. Once again, us having this conversation is one thi= ng; having the corporation in here to be part of this conversation — I re= lish the opportunity and I would love to hear from the corporations on this proposal.
In conclusion, I have demonstrated = today that there is no shortage of topics to discuss and I believe Yukoners would= be well-served by having the Yukon Development Corporation appear here in the spring, and I’m thrilled to hear that they will be here.
I’ve already said that their appearance should be legislated, similar to the arrangement in place with Y= ukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board. The appearance is guaranteed and not subject to political wrangling. I’ve spent much ef= fort asking for the minister to allow the corporations to appear and I believe t= hat normally that shouldn’t be such an onerous task; it should be mandato= ry.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I would= just like to thank you for your time here today and I look forward to hopefully = getting the unanimous support of this House for my motion. Thank you.
Hon.
Mr. Cathers: I’m not going to talk about a=
nd
rebut everything within the member’s statements. There are a few thin=
gs,
to begin with, on which, in fact the government and I do agree with him on:=
there needs to be appropriate and c=
areful
scrutiny of the decisions that are made, including financial spending, and
careful consideration given to what investments are made in the future. I w=
ould
also like to note, with regard to the Member for Klondike’s suggestion
that more planning work and policy work should be done — as he referr=
ed
to it — in-house within Energy, Mines and Resources, that that is bei=
ng
given consideration. We are currently working with the Yukon Development
Corporation and Yukon Energy Corporation boards to clarify and to find roles
and responsibilities for what each corporation does and what is done by gov=
ernment,
so in fact, that suggestion by the member opposite is something that we have
already been working on determining, considering and discussing — whe=
re
those support services are best housed, who is best to undertake certain wo=
rk,
and where the funding for that would best come from.
This whether it comes through corpo= rations, through government directly in-house or through an arrangement by governmen= t to fund certain policy work, such as consideration of connecting the grid to t= he west to Alaska, and to the south to the grid in northern B.C., as well as investment in hydro projects and planning for them because, as you know, we= do have a commitment to continue to pursue the development of hydro projects a= nd plan for the future in that manner.
I’m not going to spend a lot =
of time
answering the member’s assertions or accusations about past activities
under the Yukon Party and the reference the member made to past issues with
regard to the
We need to talk about the future. A=
s the
member knows with regard to even the possibility of sale of assets, if he w=
ere
to refer to the letter of expectation tabled by me and between the chair of
Yukon Development Corporation and me, the minister will see — member,
pardon me — will see that this minister has put in a specific referen=
ce
to, and specific requirement for, the board in the shareholder letter of ex=
pectations
2013 between the minister responsible for Yukon Development Corporation, wh=
ich
is me, and the Yukon Development Corporation. If the member will look on pa=
ge 4
of the letter of expectation, it states, and this is the first time that th=
is
has even been stated in a letter of expectation from government, “Nei=
ther
Development or its subsidiary, will sell, lease or dispose of any publicly
owned energy assets (or an interest in such assets) including, but not limi=
ted
to, hydro assets and other generation, transmission and distribution assets.
This restriction does not apply to outdated parts of components that have b=
een
replaced and are being disposed of as a result of normal equipment maintena=
nce
or system upgrades.”
I think that statement is quite cle=
ar;
it’s a matter of public record and the member would do all Yukoners a
service if he were to focus on a constructive discussion of where as a terr=
itory
we should go in meeting
As far as cost scrutiny, there are =
a few
points I need to point out to the member. While the overall scrutiny of the
budget for Yukon Development Corporation, which does form a part of the
government’s budget, goes to this Legislative Assembly, in fact the
detailed scrutiny of the costs of both the Yukon Energy Corporation and the
privately owned utility, Yukon Electrical Company, are scrutinized by the Y=
ukon
Utilities Board, which is a quasi-judicial regulator that I believe is
established under the Public Utilities Act. So that board has the
primary responsibility for reviewing expenditures. It allows people, includ=
ing
members of the public, to file as intervenors. While that does not eliminate
responsibility of this Legislative Assembly and members for the overall res=
ponsibility
for what is a government-owned corporation, it should be noted that the
detailed scrutiny of those expenses and whether their costs are reasonable =
is
dealt with by this board and is really the bulk of the work of what the Yuk=
on
Utilities Board does, including reviewing rate applications and cost of
service.
The technicality of that work is so significant that the cost for a company like Yukon Energy Corporation to ev= en go into a rate hearing is a very expensive endeavour. While corporation sta= ff can better address the exact cost, my understanding is that for some things such as a phase 2 hearing, the filing requirements can be significant enoug= h to cost around $1 million to go through that process. But I will allow the sta= ff of the corporation to provide exact numbers on that. That is my recollectio= n of what they have told me in the past is the cost of filing for those types of hearings.
The people who serve on the Yukon U=
tilities
Board have an obligation to get into a level of detail and consider the cos=
ts
and make a decision for which they are ultimately accountable to the Yukon
Legislative Assembly and the
With regard to the Member for
However, if the member will return =
to what
I said in speaking to the amendments to the Oil
and Gas Act that government brought forward and which were passed in the
fall sitting of the Assembly, at that time I made a commitment that we woul=
d be
bringing forward regulations to help us better manage gas processing plants=
and
storage of liquefied natural gas for energy production. So the regulations =
that
are currently out for consultation are aimed at giving our staff more tools=
and
a more detailed and more modern regulation structure that allows them to ap=
propriately
manage the activities of companies that have a permit to do things, includi=
ng
storing liquefied natural gas for the production of electricity. To that en=
d,
both utilities could in fact proceed with developing and using liquefied
natural gas for electrical production if government had not proceeded with =
the
regulation. But based on the advice of staff, we determined that it was
necessary to help us improve the regulatory authority that our staff have to
effectively manage plants that can be complex and have specific requirement=
s,
such as cooling and significant pressure requirements, because if done prop=
erly,
it is something that can be a very cost-effective, efficient energy source.=
But it is something that also needs= to have the equipment carefully monitored and needs to meet appropriate modern standards to ensure safety.
I’m not meaning to be insulti=
ng to
the Member for
There are a couple of other things
I’d like to just touch on. In fact, the Member for
The rationale for that really comes=
from
the Auditor General. That’s something that I believe I explained to t=
he
Standing Committee on Appointments to Major Government Boards and Committee=
s.
But in fairness to the Member for
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Hon.
Mr. Cathers: The Member for Klondike
The member made some reference in h= is preamble about motions to call witnesses. In fact, I would point out to the= member, both the motion that he brought forward and the motion that I tabled today = are motions that urge the government to invite witnesses, but they aren’t actually the motions that call witnesses before this House.
If the member will review the past = sittings, he will see that the motion to call witnesses — as I will bring forwa= rd during this sitting of the Assembly — actually specifies the name of = the witnesses to be called and the hours during which they will appear. Those motions can be done either in the House or in Committee of the Whole, but typically have been motions in Committee of the Whole.
First of all, I would encourage mem=
bers to
review the protocol between the Chair of the Yukon Development Corporation =
and
me, and the shareholder letter of expectation from me to the Yukon Developm=
ent
Corporation. If the members will review the current structure, they will see
that there has been a significant investment of time by staff of Energy, Mi=
nes
and Resources, Justice and Finance in revising the protocol and the shareho=
lder
letter of expectation.
There has been discussion with the = chairs of the boards of both corporations and really this is aimed at doing a few things, including improving the clarity, updating the language, and ensuring that we have a protocol that clearly spells out roles and responsibilities = and also emphasizes this government’s expectations for the two corporatio= ns.
There are a few things I need to po=
int out
since the member raised it, and in specific reference to Question Period ea=
rlier. I’d point out with regard to=
those
who have asked for a simple cost — well, what does the power from this
particular asset cost to produce? There are a number of costs within the en=
tire
system, depending on who is doing the calculation and their viewpoint of wh=
at
should be factored in. A switching station or an upgrade to a transformer
— are those considered part of the costs of a specific energy project=
or
not? There can be differences of opinion on that so the answer is not
necessarily a simple, “Well, it costs this much per kilowatt hour from
this asset.”
While those explanations can be giv= en, they really require some detailed explanation rather than a 90-second explanatio= n in Question Period, and they are best addressed by staff of a corporation who = can explain which costs are part of transmission, which costs are part of generation, and which are part of distribution. There are also issues around the consequential costs of upgrades to certain systems, to adding new assets onto the system, that are not solely due to those assets but were, in part, required because of the addition of new generation capacity.
So I’m not going to take a lo= t more time in the House this afternoon explaining that calculation. I would encou= rage members, if they have questions about that and the costs of generation from various assets, as well as how frequently certain assets are producing power and how many kilowatt or gigawatt hours per year they are producing, to ask those questions of the corporations when we bring them in later this sittin= g.
As far as the notice given for brin=
ging in
the corporations — if the Member for Klondike recalls, he asked at on=
e of
the first House Leaders meetings this sitting whether we’d be bringin=
g in
the Hospital Corporation and Yukon Development Corporation or Yukon Energy
Corporation.
I indicated to expect that we would= be but — as the member knows — just as they don’t give us advance notice of the questions they will be asking and very little advance notice = of what motions they’ll be calling, government doesn’t typically — and neither have the NDP or the Liberals when in government — provide a full anticipated list of the lineup of departments and the busine= ss for each and every day of the sitting. In fact, were we to do so, we would = find that that would very quickly change based on the pace of debate and the questions that the members ask or choose not to ask during Committee of the Whole debate on departments and on legislation.
I’d like to address a couple =
of other
points. The duty to serve question — the simple answer to the Member =
for
Work is going on right now, and onc= e we have work done by the departments on that to explain that clearly and succi= nctly, we will be making that available to all members. But the simple answer is t= hat it’s not an absolute duty. Both Cabinet and the Yukon Utilities Board have the ability to say no to a large industrial customer if they believe t= hat those additional consequential costs are not in the best interests of Yukon= ers.
In the case of any line project, it= ’s referenced in the letter of expectations and is actually a reference to what has been in regulation since 1993, I believe. It was the Order-in-Council passed that said “Yukon Energy shall not develop or acquire new gener= ation assets or new transmission or distribution lines having a voltage in excess= of 20 kV, except for such assets or lines required to replace or maintaining existing assets without the approval of Development’s Board of Direct= ors and the Minister;”
So some of these references that are
contained within both the protocol and letter of expectations are in fact
simply references to what is in legislation or regulations.
A few of the things I draw members&= #8217; attention to in the shareholder letter of expectation include: detailing go= vernment’s performance expectations of the Yukon Development Corporation and its subsidiary, the Yukon Energy Corporation; each of these expectations serves= and supports government’s overall requirement of the development group; t= hat it provide Yukoners with safe, reliable, cost-effective electrical power bo= th now and for the future.
That requirement in turn reflects t= he government’s view that the development group is a key instrument of i= ts energy policy. The Yukon Development Corporation is responsible for support= ing government in its achievement of its energy policy objectives and for assis= ting as needed with development of those objectives. As the sole shareholder of = the Yukon Energy Corporation, Yukon Development Corporation is ultimately responsible= for ensuring its subsidiary fulfills its responsibilities accountably, efficien= tly and cost effectively. That quote I was referencing is a quote from the purp= ose under the shareholder letter of expectation.
The members will also see, and I wi=
ll quote
excerpts from them, but in the interest of time this afternoon will not rea=
d in
the full list or the full protocol or letter of expectation — I would
strongly encourage members from the Opposition who have an interest in this=
to
read both the current protocol and letter of expectation and past protocol =
and
letter of expectation to understand the context and some of the changes that
really have been the result of a significant amount of work by staff of my
department, by the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance, as =
well
as working with the chairs of the boards of the Yukon Development Corporati=
on
and the Yukon Energy Corporation.
We think that while there’s r= eference in the protocol that government, the Yukon Development Corporation and the Yukon Energy Corporation will continue to clarify operational responsibilit= ies over the next year, we really see this as an evolution and improvement in t= he structural operational understanding, clarifying who needs to do what and ensuring that all resources of each body are best directed to achieving effective outcomes in a cost-effective manner.
The members will also see on page 2= of the letter of expectation the clear direction by government to the Yukon Develo= pment Corporation to ensure its subsidiary operates in a manner consistent with government’s overall requirement that the Yukon Energy Corporation provide Yukoners with safe, reliable, cost-effective electrical power ̵= 2; in particular, that the Yukon Energy Corporation minimizes financial risk, assists government, as required, with technical information to help governm= ent make good decisions, including policy decisions about new energy projects, undertakes new energy projects as directed by government and performs appro= priate maintenance on existing assets.
Again, returning to the topic of wh= at power from individual generation assets costs, what needs to be pointed out to th= e member is there has been an issue in the past and there was a period going back a little bit in time of roughly a 10-year period where, under previous governments, there was not significant investment made in capital maintenan= ce of the assets — that is, replacement of parts on time, ensuring that there are investments made in those areas, replacing parts that are nearing= the end of their expiration and so on and so forth.
Those maintenance costs are a facto=
r that
are necessary to maintain the health of assets, but it also adds complexity=
to
the answer of how much does it cost for this asset to produce power if upgr=
ades
have been made to a line because of equipment that is nearing the end of its
lifespan or, in the case of the line going to Keno, there were some investm=
ents
made that corporation staff can best explain to try to improve the efficien=
cy
of that line and reduce the chance that it would suffer the type of power
outage that occurred roughly in early 2012.
So there have been some investments= there, including, I believe, improvements to their sensing equipment. So those cos= ts — again, depending on who’s doing the calculation — can be determined to be related to any specific generation asset or related to the customers. That is why, really, to get into taking numbers out of context is not really the best way to answer. It’s not a simple answer that 90 seconds in Question Period can do. It’s really best addressed by staf= f. In some cases, it may require a detailed and written explanation to clarify which costs are related to which parts of the system.
Another thing I’d just point =
out in
reference to some of the questions we’ve heard this week during Quest=
ion
Period and also to comments from the Member for
We encourage staff of departments a= nd corporations to share information with the public, including anything that would be subject to an ATIPP request if an ATIPP request were made. It has = been a practice across all government departments to encourage the disclosure of that information without a formal ATIPP request having to be made if it is = something that would be considered publicly available information and not protected u= nder the protection of privacy provisions within the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
I think I have addressed most of th=
e points
that needed rebutting. As I indicated to the member at the House Leaders=
217;
meeting this morning, we would be bringing forward an amendment to this mot=
ion.
As I reminded him, it has been a practice for staff of the Yukon Energy
Corporation to appear before the House along with the Yukon Development Cor=
poration
procedurally. I would encourage the member, if he has any questions about i=
t,
to ask the Clerk or Deputy Clerk for clarification on the procedural rules
regarding this.
If this motion is to pass or if thi= s motion as amended were to pass, it actually doesn’t call the witnesses, but whether or not this motion passes this afternoon, I will be bringing forwar= d a motion in a future Committee of the Whole naming the time when witnesses fr= om the Yukon Development Corporation and the Yukon Energy Corporation will appear = in this House. It’ll name the time, the date, and the officials by name,= and the same process will be followed for the Yukon Hospital Corporation.
Amendment proposed
Hon. Mr. Cathers: Accor= dingly, I move:
THAT Motion No. 372 be amended by:<= /span>
(1) inserting the phrase “and= the Yukon Energy Corporation” after the words “Yukon Development Corporation”; and
(2) deleting all words after the wo= rd “questions” and replacing them with the phrase “and discu= ss matters relating to the Yukon Development Corporation and the Yukon Energy Corporation.”
Speaker: Order please. The amendment is in order. It has been moved by= the minister responsible for the Yukon Development Corporation
THAT Motion No. 372 be amended by:<= /span>
(1) inserting the phrase “and= the Yukon Energy Corporation” after the words “Yukon Development Corporation; and
(2) deleting all words after the wo=
rd
“questions” and replacing them with the phrase “and discu=
ss
matters relating to the Yukon Development Corporation and the Yukon Energy
Corporation.”
Hon. Mr. Cathers: The amendment is fairly simple, as I mentioned in introducing it. It is standard and the most productive use of = the House’s time to have officials from both Yukon Development Corporation and Yukon Energy Corporation appear. Some questions that are detailed in na= ture are probably best addressed by Yukon Energy Corporation staff, whereas the overall responsibility to this House — the direct accountability is f= rom the Yukon Development Corporation, which is the parent of YEC, so of course they need to be here as well.
As far as the end, the member’=
;s
characterization really is not accurate. I’m not sure whether the mem=
ber
is simply playing politics in his phrasing of the motion or whether the mem=
ber
is actually not understanding what’s occurring within the electrical
demand, but it’s not accurate to describe it as an “energy
shortfall” facing the Yukon, as the member said in his phrasing.
What is in fact occurring is that if
projected growth in residential demand — and I note that is projected
growth in residential demand — continues as the corporation expects, =
we
will be running out of our renewable energy capacity or renewable electrici=
ty
capacity. This is because electrical demand is growing beyond the capacity =
of
The investment in Mayo B line proje=
ct
— as I noted to members, there were several reasons that project was
chosen by government. That includes the fact that the federal government ha=
d a
time-limited fund that required what they referred to as
“shovel-ready” projects that met their criteria for
shovel-readiness within two years. It enabled us to get at $71-million
investment from the federal government under that project.
It was the project recommended by t= he Yukon Energy Corporation and the Yukon Development Corporation at that time. It a= lso enabled us to do what the Yukon Party committed to in our 2006 election platform, which was to work toward the connection of the Mayo-Dawson transmission line and the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid. The platform commitment was fulfilled — significant federal investment in increasi= ng our green energy supply; a significant reduction in carbon emissions that otherwise would have been produced through the need to burn diesel because = we would already be burning diesel to make up for what Mayo B is currently producing had that investment not been made — so a significant reduct= ion of what would otherwise occur in carbon emissions because of that investmen= t.
The reason for the amendment is bec=
ause the
member’s characterization in the latter part is not accurate. What is
occurring is that if projected growth of residential load is at the level t=
hat
the corporation expects and/or if there are new large customers added on to=
the
system, there is a need to add new energy capacity or else the diesel gener=
ators
would be in operation more frequently and those have a very expensive cost =
per
kilowatt hour, which has to be paid by someone.
It is reaching the end of our cheap= hydro surplus capacity, but to characterize it as an energy shortfall either refl= ects a lack of understanding of the facts or simply an attempt to characterize i= t as something other than what it is.
I think that would largely address =
the
amendment. The only other point I should just touch on briefly is in fact t=
hat
there have been significant investments made by Yukon Energy Corporation in
reviewing various energy supply options, and we commend the corporation for
doing its due diligence and doing work in the past. We’ve also asked
them, as I have indicated in the House upon my taking over the portfolio of
Yukon Development Corporation for the first time in the fall of 2011 —=
; in
November 2011 — we’ve asked them to be focused in the work that
they are doing, including a focus on the priorities as I articulated in the
letter of expectations.
These were as follows: to minimize financial risk; to operate in a manner that Yukon Energy Corporation provid= es Yukoners with safe, reliable, cost-effective electrical power, which of cou= rse means being targeted and focusing where new studies are done; and ensuring large amounts of money are spent on projects that are likely to be viable projects and projects that are likely be to successful in getting permitted through the appropriate permitting regimes, as well as projects that are li= kely to be deemed acceptable by the Yukon Utilities Board.
With that, I think I’ve broug= ht enough context on the amendment and — oh, I should add one further po= int on that, which is that the proposed amendment at the end of it replaces the= end of the wording with the standard type of wording that is usually in motions= to bring witnesses before the House, which is to discuss matters relating to — in this case the Yukon Development Corporation and the Yukon Energy Corporation. If the member would look at previous motions related to calling witnesses or corporations, that’s the standard wording that is used, regardless of whether it is Yukon Development Corporation, Yukon Hospital Corporation, or Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board.=
With that, I commend the amendment = to the House.
Mr.
Silver: Mr. Speaker, you don’t even need =
to set
your clock. I am fine with the amendment. We obviously have a disagreement =
as
to the concerns with energy moving forward in the Yukon. When you take a lo=
ok
at how this government connects GDP to major mining projects that are movin=
g forward,
there is a pending energy shortfall. The wording of this amendment and the
wording of this motion today is pretty much a moot point. The corporations =
are
coming in and I will accept the amendment, but I definitely will, as well, =
ask
questions related to the pending energy shortfall facing the
Speaker: Does any other member wis=
h to be
heard on the amendment?
Hon. Mr. Dixon: I would like to briefly say a few w=
ords
about the amendment, because I do want to comment on how I feel that this
amendment improves the motion.
One of
the things that I was not entirely content with in the original motion was =
the
level of specificity in terms of what was going to be looked at in the moti=
on
and what it was prescribing that members would be able to ask about.
The idea
that members would only be able to ask about what the Member for Klondike
characterized as the “pending energy shortfall” and what he just mentioned, as well, I think doesn’t do
justice to the members of the House who want to ask the questions about oth=
er
important aspects of the operations of the Development Corporation and the
Energy Corporation alike.
A few of those, for example, might = be things that relate to other aspects of the Energy Corporation, like some of= the activities they have taken with regard to demand-side management. I know th= ey have opened up an office, I believe, in the last year specifically for programmi= ng around demand-side management. I know that the government, primarily through the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and the Energy Solutions Cent= re, has engaged with the Energy Corporation to advance programming on that fron= t.
So there are things —<= /p>
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
INTRODUCTION OF VISITO=
RS
Ms. Moorcroft: Mr. Speaker, I = would like to ask all Members of the Legislative Assembly to join me in welcoming= some visitors to the gallery. We have present with us here this afternoon elder Agnes Mills, who serves on the Whitehorse Correctional Centre elders adviso= ry committee and who has also been involved with the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council, the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle and in support of Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society, and is the auntie of the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin, who has a motion on the Order Paper coming up f= or debate later this afternoon. We hope that will in fact be soon.
Also in the gallery, Chantal Genier= is here. She is the president of the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council. I would like to ask all members to join me in giving them a warm welcome.
Applause
Hon. Mr. Dixon: The short point I was just making w= as that there are other matters related to the Energy Corporation and the Development Corporation, which I think bear some discussion in the Legislat= ure. I feel that the amendment put forward by the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources improves the motion to allow for that sort of discussion.<= /p>
As well, a few other matters that I= think are important that need to be touched on are questions, I believe, for the Energy Corporation and the Development Corporation around the work they’ve done with both the Energy Solutions Centre and the Department= of Environment’s Climate Change Secretariat around some of the commitmen= ts that have been made in the Climate Change Action Plan that I think members should be interested in and probably have questions about. <= /p>
Of course, one of the commitments i=
n the
government’s Climate Change Action Plan progress report of last
year which was to replace existing on-grid diesel generation with a lower
carbon technology. Of course that’s something that was committed to in
the Climate Change Action Plan progress report of 2012, and I’m
sure it’s something that will come up in those discussions with the
Energy Corporation.
Again, these are just a few example=
s of
some of the things that I feel need to be discussed and need to have the
attention of members. I did feel that the motion in its original wording was
unnecessarily prescriptive to the detriment of the motion as a whole. IR=
17;m
happy to see the Member for
Speaker: Does any other member wish to be heard on the amendment?
Amendment to Motion No. 372 agre=
ed to
Speaker: Does any other member wish to be heard on the main motion as amended?
Mr.
Tredger:=
I rise to speak=
in
favour of Motion No. 372, as amended, standing in the name of the Member fo=
r
It’s unfortunate that he had = to go to these lengths. It’s unfortunate that the minister has chosen to play games around this. I think it’s critical that we live up to our promi= se that we made to our constituents about open and honest government and trans= parent.
When I see the silliness around thi= s as something that should have come and been straightforward as a matter of cou= rse — energy is critical to our future. Yukoners want a say in it. When we have the minister refusing and not answering questions and blaming the Yukon Development Corporation or the Yukon Energy Corporation for his lack of knowledge, we see all the more reason why we need to have this discussion in the House.
Such visits should be standard. The=
y should
be set ahead of time with notice for all members of the House so that it ca=
n be
most productive and make best use of the House’s time.
I was somewhat dismayed to hear the= minister in his remarks still not agree to come up with a date ahead of time so that= all members of the House can be sufficiently prepared and ready for the discuss= ion and the debate. It’s an indicator of the games that are being played,= the lack of openness, the lack of transparency and the lack of a desire to have= a discussion that involves and is at the centre of our future.
We and the
The Yukon Energy Corporation has not
attended the Legislature since March of 2011. This is a corporation in which
all Yukoners are shareholders. We need to ensure accountability and
transparency. That is achieved partially through having legislative oversig=
ht.
This means having the chair of the Yukon Energy Corporation board of direct=
ors
and the president and chief executive officer of the Yukon Energy Corporati=
on
attend as witnesses. I will provide a bit of overview of the areas that I t=
hink
we need to discuss.
As the Member for
These legacy hydro projects gave us= a good basis to build on by providing abundant renewable energy. We have squandered our grace period and now we find we are in a crunch — a crunch that we have seen coming for a decade now.
We hear the minister say how they w= ant to focus on hydro-electricity, or electricity produced through dams and water,= but it’s going to take a long time; it’s a long-term process. We’re only now beginning to plan; where have we been, as we’ve = seen the lines going closer and closer between our consumption and our production capacity?
As the Member for
Where is the progress on this? Retr= ofitting and energy savings programs for consumers, and renovations — we shoul= d be going into these wholeheartedly. These are proven, low-hanging fruit. We are dabbling in them, certainly, but we should be committing wholeheartedly to these renovation programs.
I must commend Yukon Energy Corpora= tion and Alexco for their work on an industrial energy audit on their mine site in K= eno. It has proven very successful and achieved considerable cost savings. Why is this not a requisite for any new major developments? Why is this not incorporated into our building permits?
Management got us to this pending
shortfall. The warning signs have been out there for years. The energy plan=
ning
should have started on this 10 years ago. Consumption from individuals, from
existing business and from mines has pushed our capacity to the brink. Money
repeatedly wasted on dead-end projects like the
DFO is and always has been adamantly opposed, but still YEC spent hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dol= lars on more studies and efforts to bypass DFO.
Money is spent on wind studies that= are then buried as the public tries to gain access to documents that our shareholders have a right to and they are denied or the documents are heavi= ly redacted.
I was glad to hear the minister sta=
te that
he was encouraging corporations and his officials to make full and transpar=
ent
disclosure to the public of reports and studies that have been done. The st=
udy
done on wind showed that wind energy was viable. There’s a lack of
ongoing maintenance and efficiencies of the existing infrastructure.
We’ve known of this pending shortfall but where is the plan to begin
figuring out where and if we are going to have a major hydroelectric projec=
t?
Where are the discussions with our First Nations whose traditional territor=
ies
such a project undoubtedly will affect?
Instead, we have spent lots of doll=
ars on
feasibility projects, like increasing the water level in flood-prone Southe=
rn
Lakes and putting forward a plan that would dramatically alter
Again, we’re reaching a bottl= eneck. The government is proposing LNG — a political direction to move to LNG instead of renewables. The Champagne-Aishihik project is showing that renewables are viable.
The 2012 protocol between the minis= ter responsible for and the chair of Yukon Development Corporation spells out very clearly = that it is the minister who “is responsible for developing and implementing energy policy and providing direction relating to energy policy and its implementation to Development.” We have asked many specific, concrete questions about energy policies, and the minister responsible has failed to answer them.
For example, on several occasions, = we have asked about two main goals of the 2009 energy strategy, those being: (1) to= increase renewable energy supply by 20 percent by 2020; and (2) to support and demonstrate renewable energy projects in communities off the electrical gri= d to reduce diesel use.
The minister did not provide any information about how he will direct the implementation of these goals. It = is his responsibility to both direct implementation of those important renewab= le energy goals and to report progress to this House. There was a 2010 progress repor= t on the energy strategy. On page 6, it says that renewable energy is emphasized — and I quote: “Energy production from renewable energy sources= is a priority to reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.” Another report on the energy strategy was due at the end of 2012, but we ha= ve not seen it yet.
In the Department of Community Serv= ices, back in 2009, some great work was done to identify potential renewable ener= gy projects around the territory. Also in 2009, the Yukon Party signed on to a pan-territorial initiative called “A Northern Vision”. It inclu= ded a renewable energy inventory and called for cooperation and commitment to s= hift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Here is a quote: “Dependence on imported fossil fuels puts us at an economic disadvantage; the three territ= ories are vulnerable to high costs, price volatility and supply disruptions. The burning of these fuels also emits greenhouse gases that contribute to the changing climate that is affecting the North.
“At the 2009 Northern Premier= s Forum, the three territorial Premiers committed to developing an inventory of curr= ent and future renewable energy resources. This inventory describes the current state of renewable energy use in territories, outlines actions being taken,= and describes policies under development to increase renewable energy use in the North.”
Taken altogether, the energy strate= gy, the climate exchange strategy, and the pan-territorial initiative, these initia= tives provided hope that the critical shift away from fossil fuels could actually begin. Further open energy charettes gave Yukoners the impression the government actually intended to include and be informed by local expertise = in renewable energy. Unfortunately, we are now learning differently. We are le= arning that the minister responsible for the Yukon Energy Corporation will not ans= wer our questions about renewable energy goals in his own energy strategy. In f= act, the minister spends more time ridiculing those who would question him. It w= ould benefit him to focus more on telling the truth.
We are learning that the minister
responsible for Energy, Mines and Resources will not answer our questions a=
bout
the actual energy results of Mayo B, a very significant public investment. =
We
are learning that the energy charettes in the end were more about public
relations and less about actual information seeking. How do we come to this
conclusion? How did we come to this state? In addition to inaction on
renewables, we have learned that, for the minister, liquefied natural gas h=
as
always been a done deal — no cost-benefit analysis necessary. When the
Yukon Energy Corporation released a report called LNG Transition Option<=
/i>,
this minister clarified the direction he wants this territory to go with po=
wer.
Minister Cathers spoke, “Transition fuel is Yukon Energy Corporation
phrasing. I think a better choice of words would be to refer to it as a rep=
lacement
for the role that diesel has played in the system.” This minister aim=
s to
increase
We certainly recognize that liquefi= ed natural gas, a carbon-based fuel, is not environmentally responsible, but t= he minister obscures the truth about LNG. He says it —
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Point of order
Speaker: Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, on a point of order.=
Hon. Mr. Cathers: For a member to accuse another memb= er of obscuring the truth certainly would appear to be contrary to Standing Order 19(h). I’d ask you to have the member retract that.
Speaker: I’d remind the minister not to give the Chair direction= but to just stick to the point of order.
I will ask the member to retract it= though. Please retract the statement.
Withdrawal of remark
Mr. Tredger:= Certainly, I wi= ll retract that statement.
But the minister is economical with= the truth about LNG. He says it burns cleaner than diesel and that —
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Point of order
Speaker: Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, on a point of order.=
Hon. Mr. Cathers: The member, after being directed by= the Chair to retract an accusation contrary to Standing Order 19(h), I believe = just made another one.
Speaker’s ruling
Speaker: There is no point of order. The words used have been used bef=
ore
and have been allowed, but the member is really pushing the line here and I
caution him to be careful what words he chooses because they will come back=
to
him.
Member for Mayo-Tatchun, you have t= he floor.
Mr. Tredger:= Thank you, Mr. = Speaker. LNG should be measured by its full life cycle costs — extraction, wat= er, transportation, processing, various emissions at every step of the way, including methane.
Many Yukoners are disappointed and frustrated that this minister is not making progress on the development of = renewable energy. His rhetoric reveals that he needs to update his information about = the real and fiscally responsible potential for a diverse and renewable energy future in the north.
The minister is rushing regulations=
through
to enable the development of LNG infrastructure without demonstrating that =
he
has done his due diligence on renewable alternatives. According to a
presentation put together by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources,=
There has been quite a bit of confu= sion about the obligation to power new mines. We have not received clear informa= tion from the minister opposite. The Premier has weighed in and YEC officials ha= ve said publicly that the corporation’s position is that it’s obli= ged to provide electricity but not if it would cause an additional burden for ratepayers. The president and CEO of Yukon Energy Corporation has said other things, and the Yukon public would benefit from a more in-depth discussion about this obligation and how Yukoners can make a decision to power a mine = and get value for money.
We have brought in a motion about increasing legislative oversight of capital spending. Unfortunately, the government put down this suggestion. Energy infrastructure spending needs m= ore oversight and accountability provided by the Legislative Assembly. <= /p>
With that, I will be voting in favo= ur of this motion and I encourage the minister opposite to set a date well in adv= ance so that all members of this House can be prepared for the debate.
Hon. Mr. Pasloski: I will be brief but certainly I tho= ught it would warrant a couple of comments following the debate from the Member = for Mayo-Tatchun. What has changed in 10 years — 10 years ago was when the Yukon Party took over government after six years of NDP and Liberal governm= ents. You are right, at that time there was no issue with energy, Mr. Speaker, be= cause we had a mass exodus. Thousands of people were leaving the territory because there were no jobs here after the policies of the NDP government were put i= n place. So we had a mass exodus. Certainly that has been demonstrated as the NDP solution to the energy crisis and, in fact, the housing crisis, as well. Ju= st kill the economy so people leave by the thousands and then we have an abund= ance of housing and an abundance of energy, as well.
Mr. Speaker, again I think there is=
still a
bit of work that the Member for Mayo-Tatchun needs to do in terms of the un=
derstanding
of the structure of the Yukon Energy Corporation and the Yukon Development
Corporation.
In fact, there is only one sharehol=
der of
the Yukon Energy Corporation and that is the Yukon Development Corporation,
which is the sole shareholder of the Yukon Energy Corporation. Yukon
Development Corporation is owned and controlled by the Yukon
This government has continued to lo=
ok
forward as a result of the strong growth that we have. We are looking at how
we’re going forward and we do say that we believe that hydro is a
long-term solution for this territory and work is being done now. Options a=
re
being discussed and conversations will go out as time goes forward to talk =
to
all of those people who will be affected —Yukoners in general —=
but
specifically as well with Yukon First Nations, and even discussions on
ownership opportunities for the production of clean, renewable energy in the
long term, which could guarantee perhaps investment by some of the First
Nations a stream of revenues for generations to come.
We know that exists because of the =
fact of
the devolving of NCPC to the
With the implementation of green en= ergy fund from the federal government, we were the first jurisdiction that had a shovel-ready project ready to go when that opportunity arose. We were able = to partner with the federal government to ensure that we could utilize and acc= ess that money, because not only has it given us more renewable hydro electrici= ty and not only has it reduced the need for diesel supplementation because of = the green energy — so we’ve reduced our greenhouse emissions and we’ve provided a number of jobs.
I also want to take this opportunit=
y to
acknowledge and to thank
We look at all of the options that =
are out
there. As the minister has explained many times, we have to ensure the proj=
ects
moving forward are palatable to the taxpayer and the ratepayer here in the =
We are looking at that. We’re=
also
looking at the feasibility of an inter-tie with southeast
I want to acknowledge the work and = the cooperation of the chairs and boards at Yukon Development Corporation and Y= ukon Energy Corporation in working toward the documents that have been tabled in this Legislative Assembly — the new protocol and a protocol that real= ly does articulate the purpose for this protocol. It articulates what the mand= ate is for the Yukon Development Corporation because this is a protocol between= the government and the Yukon Development Corporation. It is the Yukon Energy Co= rporation that reports to the Yukon Development Corporation, which reports to the gov= ernment.
What we have in the protocol is as = follows: what is the mandate for the Yukon Development Corporation; what are the rol= es and responsibilities; from the government’s perspective, what is the = role of the minister; what is the role of the deputy minister; what is the role = of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. The protocol also talks about what the role for the Yukon Development Corporation is, as well as the role= for the board chair and for the board itself; what is the Yukon Development Corporation’s responsibility for energy. It goes on to talk about the president and chief executive officer, and it talks about communication and= reporting.
This is a new protocol and with it subsequent to that was the shareholders letter of expectations that was also put forward this year, which gives the government’s direction to the Yukon Development Corporation, providing them with a direction and also art= iculating the accountabilities with respect to the Yukon Development Corporation.
I think what we’re talking ab= out here is how we’re moving forward and, as a result of the success that has occurred over this last decade of Yukon Party government, we do have a dema= nd. We are working with the Yukon Development Corporation to clearly articulate what that demand is and what it will be going forward. We’re also wor= king toward what we need to do in terms of the long-term success and we do belie= ve — and there is work to be done — that the long-term success wou= ld be allowing us to gain that stability with a tie with the rest of the North American grid and producing clean and renewable hydroelectricity, which I t= hink will benefit Yukoners for generations to come.
You know, I just have to listen to =
the
member opposite talking about the atrocities of fossil fuels and how bad LNG
is, and of course we are saying that we are looking at LNG as well. LNG mig=
ht
be something that we need to do in terms of replacement if we have to repla=
ce
diesel engines, for example, for a generation.
I think, for example, the member op=
posite
fails to acknowledge the significant reduction, for example, in
We’re very proud of the select
committee moving forward — meeting the obligations that started with =
the
motion the government put forward, in terms of dialogue with Yukoners and
ensuring that what we do is science-based. We’re very proud and excit=
ed
about this work moving forward. I think for the Member for Mayo-Tatchun and=
for
the member opposite to really have their heads in the sand and not acknowle=
dge
that some of these options are occurring, and occurring successfully, in ot=
her
jurisdictions are very worthy of looking at.
We have to also understand and take= into account where we live and what challenges we have to ensure that we can hav= e a sustainable energy production, recognizing how small our population is and = how great our geography is — almost 500,000 square kilometres. I think th= at if you look at where we are — and we just have to look to the east to= the other two territories to see what a great position we are in, in many respe= cts, and certainly, in terms of energy production — where I think essentia= lly every community in the other two territories is driven by diesel-generated electricity. I think we have a lot to be loud and proud of and, as has been= articulated by this motion, we will look forward to having officials from Yukon Energy Corporation and Yukon Development Corporation come to the House during the spring session to be able to answer the questions articulated by Members of= the Legislative Assembly. Thank you.
Hon.
Mr. Dixon: I wasn’t originally intending=
to
speak to this, but some of the outrageous statements made by the Member for
Mayo-Tatchun compelled me to respond. I have to respond to some of the rath=
er
silly comments he made — some of them silly, some of them inaccurate.=
First of all, the one I wanted to m= ention was his quote about the Yukon Energy Corporation’s charettes. He said, and I quote: “The charettes were more about public relations than pub= lic input.” If that’s how the member feels, and if that’s how= the NDP feels, I encourage them to bring that forward to the Energy Corporation when they’re inside this House because I’m quite certain that t= he staff at the Energy Corporation, who put a lot of time and effort into those charettes, don’t feel that way. I know they felt that, in many cases, they received a lot of good input from the public and appreciated the input. I’ve spoken to staff before and heard that they really enjoyed some of those charettes and a lot of the people who attended them enjoyed providing their input.
For him to make that sort of assert= ion in the House is fine, but I hope he’s willing to make it to the Energy C= orporation when they’re here. If he’s not, I’d be happy to clip his quote and send it to the corporation, so they’re aware of how the NDP feels about their charettes.
The second was that his discussion =
on this
wave of trucks coming to
For him to suggest that that partic=
ular
private company didn’t conduct a cost-benefit analysis — first =
of
all, I would think it’s inaccurate, and second of all, I think itR=
17;s
probably inappropriate for him to speak so negatively about a private compa=
ny in
the territory. For the NDP to suggest that — and I know that the Memb=
er
for Tahkini-Kopper King has previously in Question Period confused the
difference between the private company, which is Yukon Electrical Company a=
nd
the Yukon Energy Corporation — I appreciate it’s a very similar
acronym, but they are very different entities and one, of course, is a publ=
icly
owned Crown corporation-style institution and one, of course, is a private
company. For the member to suggest that no cost-benefit analysis has been d=
one
by the Yukon Electrical Company with regard to the switch from diesel to LN=
G in
The list goes on of the rather inac=
curate
and silly comments he made, so I won’t go on at length because I̵=
7;m
very conscious of the time and I understand that there are others who want =
to
speak to this and there are some other important motions coming up, so I wi=
ll
sit down very soon.
But I did want to say that this biz= arre approach taken by the NDP where they insult private companies, insult the Y= ukon Energy Corporation for their charettes and insult government for a decision around considering LNG is very peculiar and unbecoming. So I wanted to get = that into the record, because I do feel that it is important to mention that. I = will sit down now because I do want to carry on with the debate, but I would enc= ourage them to get their facts straight, to remember who they are insulting when t= hey are in this House and encourage them to behave a little bit more responsibl= y.
Speaker: If the member now speaks, he will close debate. Does any other member wish to be heard?
Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; I would like to=
thank
everyone who was on the record today, making their comments. Looking at the
whole day, a lot of the conversations are moot. We are getting the corporat=
ions
coming forward and that’s great.
We kind of broke out into a he-said, she-said, and I just want to say a couple of comments based on what I have heard today with regard to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources gett= ing up and giving us his thoughts about costs and issues surrounding IPPs or whether or not there is an energy shortfall pending. I just have to say, we’ve heard these statements. We’ve heard them many times over.= I would like to say that the answers — or the lack of answers — a= re part and parcel of why we need the corporations to come forward in the first place.
I have met with the officials of th= ese corporations, and his views just don’t hold water. Instead of answers= , we get the minister’s opinions, attacking the Opposition and cracking wi= se about the NDP and wind. The minister also spoke about how we don’t gi= ve our ministers questions beforehand and therefore they don’t have to g= ive us a specific date for corporations to appear in this House. I have given questions to the ministers directly. If I think that I’m going to get= a better answer by providing the question in advance, I’ll do that, bec= ause it’s much better to actually have an answer that’s thoughtful as opposed to hearing another round of the briefing notes. So I just had to put that on the record.
Also, I just finished putting on re=
cord
almost every single question that I’m going to ask the corporations. =
So
again, the minister’s statement — it does a disservice to Yukon=
ers
and it just doesn’t hold water. It’s just simply not true. Inst=
ead
of taking issue with some of the other questionable statements that were put
forward by the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, I’m going to =
keep
this brief as well. We have other very important issues to discuss here tod=
ay.
The corporations are coming; that= 8217;s great and finally we’ll have a public audience with our energy professionals. I’d like to thank everybody for their comments today.<= /span>
Speaker: Are you prepared for the question on the motion as amended?= span>
Motion No. 372, as amended, agre= ed to
Motion No. 423
Clerk: Motion No. 423, standing in the name of Mr. Elias.
Speaker: It is moved by the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin
THAT this House urges:
(1) the Government of Canada to hol= d a national public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girl= s, as called for in an April 17, 2013, statement issued by nine provinces and 2 territories;
(2) Yukon’s Premier to public=
ly
endorse and express support for the statement of April 17, 2013, and its
recommendation for the Government of Canada to hold a national public inqui=
ry;
and
(3) the Government of
Mr.
Elias:=
8195; It’s an honour today to speak to this motion. On this c=
all
for a federal inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls,
mine is just one in a chorus of voices. Sometimes in this Chamber we find t=
hat
we are in the right place at the right time, and I’m honoured to have
this opportunity to speak to our motion today. I say “our” beca=
use
that’s exactly what it is. It has my name on it, but I stand here tod=
ay
proud to say that this was a team effort. I want to thank the Premier for
carefully considering all the facts before making a decision to call for a
national public inquiry on behalf of the government yesterday and for his r=
esponse
to the petition today. Should the Prime Minister agree and launch the natio=
nal
public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, this c=
ould
have far-reaching ramifications for our territory. So, thank you, Premier, =
for
taking the time to speak to your senior staff, Cabinet colleagues, your fel=
low
leaders across the Council of the Federation, women’s groups and our
elected members in this House before urging the Government of Canada to do =
the
right thing.
I also want to thank the Leader of =
the
Liberal Party for his support when I asked for it. When I spoke with the Me=
mber
for
I thank my chief of staff for his n= ew fresh approach, his articulation and knowledge of this issue. I thank the Member = for Copperbelt South, especially, who came into my office on Monday morning and said to me, “Darius, you have a wonderful opportunity here to do something good,” because I was in the right place at the right time in the motion rotation. She recognized that I do have dozens of motions on the Order Paper that I could have called today, but her foresight and guidance = and passion and caring in her voice made this a no-brainer decision for me. I a= lso thank her for her petition that she tabled.
To the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women&=
#8217;s
Circle, the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council, Yukon Sisters in Spirit,
the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society, Yukon Women’s Transition =
Home
Society, Kaushee’s Place, Victoria Faulkner Women’s Centre, Les
EssentiElles, Yukon Status of Women Council, Native Women’s Associati=
on
of Canada, Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council and the
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, mahsi’ cho for all your hard work and
dedication.
It is important to note that I spok= e with the president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Ms. Michèle Audette, this morning and she wanted me to convey something to the minister responsible for the Women’s Director= ate and to all the members of this Assembly as a whole. She said, “You sh= ould be proud of yourselves for the financial resources that have been invested = into the women’s organizations in this territory and for having the foresi= ght and courage to bring the motion forward to your Assembly today.”
I also want to recognize that the P= remier did extensively go over those investments in his response to the petition t= his morning.
I think it’s important to rec=
ognize
that when we as elected officials in this territory take the opportunity to
speak with one voice and send a message to Ottawa that we see tremendous va=
lue
in the national public inquiry to missing and murdered aboriginal women and
girls, this, to me, exhibits a moral rectitude and solidarity that Yukoners
rightly expect us to display in this House.
That’s the difference here to=
day. We
can be the first Assembly in the country on behalf of the people we represe=
nt
to unanimously vote to urge
It is an honour to call this motion=
before
the House to be debated and represent the collective call to address a
continued injustice. It is my sincere hope that at the end of House business
today we will be able to celebrate
Let us pause for a moment to rememb=
er the
name of a victim, Angel Carlick — just 19 years old. She went missing=
a
few days before her high school graduation in 2007. Her body was found in a
wooded area near the
Close your eyes for a minute and th=
ink of a
young woman you know who is currently in her mid-20s. I have two daughters =
in
their mid-20s, Mr. Speaker.
Think of how important she is, how = loved she is, how much she contributes to the world, how valuable she is to her friends and her family. Now, imagine for a moment if that potential had been snuffed out like a flame of a candle six years ago. We’ve all seen the picture of a smiling Angel, proudly dressed in a cap and gown, clutching a bright bouquet of red roses. In the picture she is full of life, ready to l= eap into adulthood. But someone took that all away from her, and we still do not know who, or why they did it.
The Yukon RCMP still has a file ope=
n for
Angel Carlick. They also have files open for three other aboriginal women w=
ho
have disappeared. We do not know what happened to them. In fact, since the
1960s, there have been over 35 unsolved cases of missing aboriginal women in
the
I am opening with stories about peo= ple because humanity can get lost when we just talk about cultural groups or st= atistics.
In his 2012 report on the B.C. miss= ing women inquiry, the Hon. Wally T. Oppal wrote, and I quote: “Given the horrific number of women who disappeared, many of whom were murdered, there= is a tendency to refer to them as an anonymous group, their individual existen= ce blurred into a collective identity.”
That’s the risk of examining = the issue in terms of it being about aboriginal women and girls. We’re talking about people here, Mr. Speaker, individual people with hopes and dreams, wallets and bank cards, just like the rest of us; people who had ev= ery right to live safely, free of fear of violence and fully respected by every other person in society around them. It’s written right into our Constitution. In fact, in Novem= ber of 2010, the Government of Canada endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which reads: “States shall take= measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of viol= ence and discrimination.”
But I know there is a question on m=
any
people’s minds; it too often goes unspoken, so let’s just get it
out into the open right now: why aboriginal women and girls? What’s so
important about them that they deserve a special inquiry and special attent=
ion
from the Government of Canada? Again I’ll quote Mr. Oppal:
“Aboriginal women experience higher levels of violence in terms of bo=
th
incidence and severity and are disproportionately represented in the number=
of
missing and murdered women across
If you are an aboriginal woman in <=
/span>
Looking specifically at the issue t=
hat the
federal government needs to address, the numbers become even more distressi=
ng.
In
Four of them are in the
Knowing the problem exists is never= enough. We need to know why the problem exists. We need to examine its roots; we ne= ed to understand the conditions that feed its growth. Then we need to tear it = out of the earth and cast it aside to clear a safe path for aboriginal women to walk down. That’s our job; that’s why we were elected — to improve the conditions for all people — to improve their lives and to make them safer.
To be honest, Mr. Speaker, I don=
217;t
even know why we’re talking about this — endorsing an effort to
improve our understanding of how we can make
I will leave it to the minister res=
ponsible
for the Women’s Directorate to list the specifics of government’=
;s
many programs that have addressed the rights and interests of
Ms. Audette, president of the Native
Women’s Association of Canada, tells me that these investments give <=
/span>
In the face of the current inadequa=
te
response to ongoing violence, all levels of government will continue to face
calls for action, requiring them to devote resources to responding to these.
Estimates of the cost of spousal violence against women in
In the long term, conducting one co=
mprehensive
national inquiry will be more cost-effective than conducting multiple inves=
tigations,
which include only some regions in Canada
It’s important that we recogn= ize an inquiry is not an attempt to blame any one faction of our society. Maybe there’s a fear that someone’s going to get in trouble or that we’re looking for a scapegoat or someone to blame, but that’s n= ot the case at all. We just want to know why.
Ms. Audette told me, and I agree wi= th her: “We need to focus on the future safety of aboriginal women rather than seek a place to blame for past actions.” It’s not just about wh= at has gone wrong historically; it’s about the underlying causes. The B.= C. commission examined many factors that contributed to the environment of violence that Canadian aboriginal women and girls are forced to live in. Th= ey include issues like the following: discrimination; institutional bias, referencing some jurisdictions’ justice systems; a lack of leadership; outdated approaches to policing; inadequate resources; poverty and social i= nclusion.
For our communities to grow and to =
thrive,
women and children must be healthy, feel safe and secure and enjoy the full
protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination.
I’ll leave that as my opening comments, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Hon. Mr. Pasloski: I’d like to begin by thanking= the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin for putting forward this motion today, and I wan= t to thank him and acknowledge him for the words that he has just given us and t= he passion with which he said those words. I think they certainly struck home with all= Members of the Legislative Assembly.
I would like to make my comments to=
day
summarize a bit of some of the work that Yukon government has done to date =
and
perhaps put into context a bit of the work of the Aboriginal Affairs Workin=
g Group
as well. I’d also like to acknowledge that the government will be
supporting this motion put forward today. While the motion itself urges our
support, in fact, the record will show that the motion I tabled in the
Legislative Assembly this week will already show we have done so and that we
are urging the Government of Canada to hold a national public inquiry into
missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls and consult with the provin=
ces,
territories and national aboriginal organizations on the terms of reference=
of
the national public inquiry.
I hope that we are correct with the=
member
opposite’s assumptions that we could perhaps be the first in <=
st1:country-region>
I would like to recognize that the =
Currently, the Women’s Direct=
orate is
providing support for the Yukon Sisters in Spirit project, which was design=
ed
to research the occurrences of missing and murdered aboriginal women from h=
ere
in the
As part of implementing the recomme= ndations from the Yukon aboriginal women’s summits, the Yukon Sisters in Spirit project has received $114,720 of funding from the northern strategy trust a= nd an additional $75,000 from the prevention of violence against aboriginal wo= men fund from 2010 to 2013.
Aboriginal women’s equality i=
s one of
the main priorities of the Yukon Women’s Directorate. I know that the
minister responsible is looking forward to making her comments on some of t=
he
good work that the directorate has done. Through this, we are directly
supporting a number of successful ongoing programs to help address violence
against aboriginal women. This includes the prevention of violence against
aboriginal women’s fund, which is intended for innovative projects th=
at
address aboriginal women’s safety and wellness in
In 2009, the Women’s Director=
ate
doubled the prevention of violence against aboriginal women fund to $200,000
annually, and the
In 2012-13, the Women’s Direc=
torate
provided funding to eight organizations and in 2013-15, the Women’s
Directorate is able to support six violence prevention projects through this
funding. This includes $25,000 to Kwanlin Dun First Nation to establish a
violence prevention worker within the Kwanlin Dun community.
There is $25,000 for the Liard Abor= iginal Women’s Society for the Together for Justice project to create a community action plan and encourage systemic change within RCMP training and performance; $50,000 to the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre for a two-year Wo= men of Wisdom project, offering skills that can be used by the participants to develop their personal awareness and recognize their individual worth; $25,= 000 to the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle for the Daughter Spirit project, which will address the largely overlooked incidence of self-harm occurrences among young aboriginal women through community awareness, encouraging dialogue and providing resources within the community; and $25,= 000 to the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council for the Brothers in Spirit one-year strength-based community inquiry project targeting aboriginal men.= In this project, interviews will be conducted to gather stories and experience= s of aboriginal men who are behaving in a non-violent, respectful way toward oth= ers. These interviews will look to explore reasons why men choose not to abuse t= heir families and intimidate partners and choose non-violent and respectful acti= ons.
There is $50,000 for the Yukon
Women’s Transition Home Society for a two-year elder mentor project to
increase a sense of community support and cultural connection for aboriginal
residents of Kaushee’s Place.
This program is designed to transmit traditional cultural knowledge and teachings regarding healthy lifestyle skills, self-care and responsible stewardship from elders in the community = to aboriginal women fleeing violence.
Yukon has committed $450,000 over t= hree years to support aboriginal women’s organizations in developing proje= cts that respond to the recommendations made at the Yukon aboriginal summit that was held — the second one that was just held in October of 2012.
Since 2007, and now committed throu=
gh 2016,
the Women’s Directorate provides funding through the women’s
equality fund to the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle, the Liard
Aboriginal Women’s Society and the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s
Council. The Women’s Directorate is working together with the Whiteho=
rse
Aboriginal Women’s Circle to develop proposals and a business plan fo=
r an
aboriginal women’s centre in
As I have mentioned, the government=
has
also invested in such things as the lone-parent family facility, as well as=
investments
in housing projects that protect women and children fleeing abuse.
We have also invested heavily into substance abuse programs and are working on the construction of a new alcoh= ol and drug treatment facility, as we know that substance abuse is often a dri= ver when it comes to violence against women and children. Those are just some of the hard numbers — the actual financial support we have — but I think what we really need to do is to acknowledge the work of these aborigi= nal women’s groups and the individuals out there who are working tireless= ly on this issue. As the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin spoke about — really trying to get to the core of this issue and, really, the question is why, a= s he articulated. We want to know why.
The Aboriginal Affairs Working Grou=
p has
been doing good work for a number of years and it has evolved over time. It=
is
currently working in conjunction with the Council of the Federation and the
leadership of the premiers across the territories.
It has been working in three import= ant areas: closing the graduation gap, closing the income gap, and ending the v= iolence against aboriginal women and girls. The latest meetings last week that we h= ad our senior officials go to — I think all of these issues are important issues that we need to continue to work on.
On the graduation gap, the committe= e is endorsing a joint workplan of the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group and the Council of Ministers of Education Canada on shared priorities, endorsing the inventory of aboriginal education-related provincial and territorial initiatives and agreements that are promising approaches to increasing aboriginal graduation rates and identifying opportunities to build and fost= er relationships among partners to address the education challenges and opport= unities of First Nations, regardless of status or residency, and Inuit or Mé= tis peoples.
On the income gap side, the working=
group
discussed supporting practices in aboriginal communities that have increased
opportunities and participation in economic development; endorse further
additions to the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group’s economic developm=
ent
success stories website, which is www.=
aawgecdev.ca.
Shared activities and best practices
related to developing increased aboriginal entrepreneurship, employment
training and business development programs and strategies for First Nations,
regardless of status or residency, Inuit or Métis people and, most i=
mportantly,
was ending violence against aboriginal women and girls. They received the
recommendations of the third National Aboriginal Women’s
The ministers and leaders did ackno=
wledge
the importance of continued cooperation on aboriginal affairs.
This includes the following: focusi= ng on increased efforts to support safe communities and prevent violence against = aboriginal women and girls; enhancing skills and educational opportunities; building strong working relationships with aboriginal communities to support economic development; working to address housing challenges; and working with the federal government to enhance disaster support services.
The Aboriginal Affairs Working Grou=
p will
continue to provide national leadership on these and other issues to further
support and ensure a strong future for aboriginal communities across the co=
untry.
The results of these meetings will be coming forward to the next Council of=
the
Federation meeting, which will occur later this summer in
I have had the honour of being in a=
ttendance
at the last two summer COF meetings. The day prior to the meeting is devote=
d to
meetings with the national aboriginal organizations, and we’ve had ve=
ry
good discussions and also opportunities to have one-on-one discussions as w=
ell.
Last year in
My quote that was a part of the con=
clusion
of the meetings last week and that was included was that I’m pleased =
that
Just to continue to highlight the g=
ood work
that this committee has done — and I believe the growing impetus it h=
as
going forward — we should look at what it is that it does and therefo=
re
be able to help determine how they were able to come to the conclusions that
they had working in conjunction with the national aboriginal organizations =
at
this meeting, and through some of the powerful discussions that occurred. W=
hile
I wasn’t there, I was able to hear of these stories that were brought
forward through the officials who were present at the meeting.
Now the objectives of the working g= roup: to carry out the direction and priorities established by the provincial and te= rritorial premiers and national aboriginal leaders following their annual meeting and report back on progress; to strengthen collaboration, strategic thinking and planning on jointly agreed-to priorities of provinces and territories and national aboriginal organizations; to share information and successes that = will help improve the well-being of aboriginal peoples in all parts of Canada; a= nd to invite federal engagement on specific and relevant aboriginal initiative= s or issues as appropriate.
The membership of the Aboriginal Af= fairs Working Group is comprised of ministers of aboriginal affairs from the prov= inces and territories and leaders of five national aboriginal organizations: the = Assembly of First Nations; Métis National Council; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Congress of Aboriginal Peoples; and Native Women’s Association of Can= ada.
This committee does report back to =
COF on
an annual basis and will be doing so this summer. Some of the work that has=
happened
— currently the minister from
The second meeting of the working g=
roup was
held on
The premiers and NAO leaders met in= August 2010 to further discuss these three areas. The meeting resulted in a letter from Manitoba Premier Selinger to Prime Minister Harper, recommending the P= rime Minister convene a meeting of first ministers and the leaders of the nation= al aboriginal organizations, recommending the establishment of a task force on= missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, and inviting the federal governmen= t to commit to a third national aboriginal women’s summit.
The third meeting of the working gr=
oup was
held on
These recommendations were containe=
d in the
July 20 report to premiers. At our meeting on , in
March 13, 2012, the FFM framework w= as submitted by Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Wynne, the Aboriginal Affa= irs Working Group chair, to the current Council of the Federation chair, who at that time was British Columbia Premier Christy Clark Subsequent to the 2012 meeting, a progress report from the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group was tr= ansmitted to the Premiers in advance of their NAO meeting in July 2012 in Nova Scotia= . At that meeting, the premiers and NAO leaders accepted and endorsed the April = 2012 report and directed the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group to continue work b= ased on the action plans contained in the report.
As I have stated, the most recent m=
eeting
of the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group was in
Mr. Speaker, the next meeting of th= is working group will be held in November of 2013.
There have been some other accompli=
shments
that are worth noting from the working group, such as an updated inventory =
of
innovative bilateral and trilateral First Nation education initiatives and
agreements. A virtual resource centre is under development that will serve =
as a
clearing house centre of excellence and will post and access research, arti=
cles
and descriptions of initiatives that address violence against aboriginal wo=
men.
Also development of an Aboriginal Affairs Working Group economic developmen=
t website
— this site includes information on how
Joining national aboriginal organiz= ations in calling upon the federal government to hold a national public inquiry in= to missing and murdered women — this is, I think, the boldest and loudest work that has come out of this group.
I think that’s what we’=
ve done
and I acknowledge that work, but I would like to sort of bring my comments =
to a
close by getting back to reality. I remember very clearly that time in 2007
— it’s hard to believe how time goes by — when Angel Carl=
ick
went missing and the subsequent discovery of her body months later. I very,
very clearly remember attending that ceremony and the releasing of the ball=
oons
by the river. More than anything it is also looking at and thinking about a=
nd acknowledging
the families of these people and what they have to go through. I certainly
haven’t had to deal with that myself and for that, I am thankful, but=
I
know that just being a parent of four children, and three of them being
daughters, I think even just the thought of such violence or the thought of
having a loved one disappear and not knowing what happened certainly is a
tragedy that’s beyond description.
So I think that we need to recogniz= e those families; we need to thank the groups and individuals who have been working= on their behalf, but also on going forward as to how we can address and really= get to finding out why this happens, because that’s how we can help to re= ally move forward and get past that and ensure that we can curb this and elimina= te this from happening.
I want to also take the opportunity= to thank the minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate for the gr= eat work she and the officials in the Women’s Directorate have been doing= in supporting these groups for a number of years. I would also like to thank t= he Minister of Justice and the former Minister of Justice, Marian Horne, who herself was indeed very passionate and committed to this.
I think that I would also like to acknowledge the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin for bringing this motion forward today. It’s very timely and I have to say that I’m thankful tha= t as the numbers rolled out this week it was in fact his turn and he had the opp= ortunity to bring forward this motion. I think it is very symbolic and I’m very thankful that that in fact happened today.
Ms. Moorcroft: I would like to= thank the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin for bringing this motion forward for debate today. I’m pleased to speak for the Official Opposition in support of this motion.
The high rates of violence faced by=
indigenous
women in
A public inquiry can be given a man=
date to
inquire into both specific facts and also the broader concerns — the
social science, the history and other evidence about missing and murdered
aboriginal women in
Violence against women will only st= op when more men engage in making personal, political and social change to end all forms of violence. I thank all of the men who speak and who work for that. =
Like the MLA for Vuntut Gwitchin, I= would like to acknowledge the value of the financial contributions that the Government of Yukon, and particularly the Women’s Directorate, is mak= ing to many equality-seeking women’s organizations. I support those effor= ts and the work that is done.
I also want to thank the many women
I’ve heard from and worked with over the years to end violence against
women, and I need to recognize the value of the Internet and the information
available on websites from organizations, such as the Native Women’s =
Association
of Canada, the Feminist Alliance for International Action, Amnesty
International, Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council, the Whitehorse
Aboriginal Women’s Circle, the United Nations, the Assembly of First
Nations and many others, although those are some of the ones I drew from in=
preparing
my remarks today.
Indigenous women have the right to = be safe and free from violence. When a woman is targeted for violence because of her gender or because of her indigenous identity, her fundamental rights have b= een abused. When she is not offered an adequate level of protection by state authorities because of her gender or because of her indigenous identity, th= ose rights have been violated.
Mr. Speaker, as Amnesty Internation= al put it, “Violence against women is rarely understood as a human rights is= sue. To the extent that governments, media and the general public do consider concerns about violence against women, it is more frequent for it to be described as a criminal concern or a social issue. It is both of those thin= gs, of course, but it is also very much a human rights issue.”
As a human rights defender, I take =
very
seriously the need for members of the Assembly to respect the full and equal
rights of aboriginal women as found in the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the most recent United Natio=
ns
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Canadian government statistics reve= al that indigenous women are five times to seven times more likely than other women= to die as the result of violence. The pattern of violence against aboriginal w= omen looks like this — racist and sexist stereotypes deny the dignity and worth of indigenous women, encouraging some men to feel they can get away w= ith violent acts of hatred against them. Decades of government policy have impoverished and broken apart indigenous families and communities, leaving = many indigenous women and girls extremely vulnerable to exploitation and attack. Many police forces have failed to institute necessary measures, such as tra= ining, appropriate investigative protocols and accountability mechanisms to elimin= ate bias in how they respond to the needs of indigenous women and their familie= s.
The Native Women’s Associatio=
n of
Canada, NWAC, is founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote and fos=
ter
the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of First Nations and
Métis women within First Nations, Métis and Canadian societie=
s.
As a national organization represen=
ting
aboriginal women since 1974, NWAC’s mandate is to achieve equality for
all aboriginal women in
In 2004, Amnesty International publ=
ished Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and Vio=
lence
Against Indigenous Women in Canada. This report highlights the stories =
of
missing and murdered women over the past three decades. Amnesty Internation=
al
is also concerned that Canadian officials are not living up to their
obligations toward indigenous women. Many of the preventive measures identi=
fied
by past government commissions and inquiries have not been implemented.
Meanwhile, long-standing patterns of social and economic inequity continue =
to
drive indigenous women and girls into situations like the sex trade, where =
the
risk to their lives is much greater.
The Native Women’s Associatio=
n of
Canada has been calling for a national public inquiry into missing and murd=
ered
aboriginal women for years. This call has been endorsed by the five national
aboriginal organizations: the Assembly of First Nations, Métis Natio=
nal
Council, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, along =
with
NWAC.
Here in
The project was successful in helpi=
ng to
rebuild relationships between the RCMP and aboriginal women’s groups.=
In
2013, as part of the project, a survey randomly administered to citizens of=
the
In a media release today, Chantal G=
enier,
the president of YAWC, is pleased to see that the
A 2011 joint statement of indigenou=
s and
non-indigenous organizations called for action to stop violence. It said th=
ere
can be no piecemeal solution to a tragedy of this scale. As we in this Asse=
mbly
join with other jurisdictions calling on the government to hold a national
public inquiry on missing and murdered aboriginal women, we should contempl=
ate
other measures we can take to create safety for indigenous women. An exampl=
e of
progress being made into building relationships of trust between aboriginal
women, the RCMP, and the broader community is the recent protocol signed
between the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society and the RCMP detachment =
in
The RCMP saw the need to change the= way it responded to women who experienced violence, asked for advice from women and made changes. The protocol centres around improving how police and community respond to women who experience violence.
Together for Justice<= span lang=3DEN-US> workshops provided training to place the RCMP on a common gro= und regarding First Nation culture and how people are responding to residential schools and challenges with the Justice system. As Chief Superintendent Pet= er Clark of the Yukon RCMP acknowledged, there is a need to “recognize women’s courage, support their decisions and ensure our responses do = not attach blame.”
The Together for Justice pro=
ject
began in 2011 to promote a dialogue between women and the RCMP about how to
create safety for women. A goal of the project was to do this work in
As one woman who works in the field=
of
preventing and responding to violence against women said to me, “Over=
the
years, the silence has been deafening.” We’re speaking today.
I’ve spoken to so many aboriginal women and their families and to
If, as a
The United Nations Special Rapporte=
ur on
violence against women has also taken note of the hundreds of murders and d=
isappearances
of aboriginal women and girls in
On
Sharon McIvor of the Feminist Allia=
nce for
International Action called for the Government of Canada to establish a nat=
ional
public inquiry immediately. She said there is a need for a fully independen=
t national
public inquiry where the families, the groups, the governments and the expe=
rts
can come together to examine the causes of this problem and find solutions.=
In
addition, NWAC and FAFIA urge the Government of Canada to fully cooperate w=
ith
international and regional human rights bodies so that aboriginal women and
girls in
The Feminist Alliance for Internati=
onal
Action also made a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council on=
the
occasion of the second universal periodic review of
A significant aspect of the recomme= ndation for a national inquiry in Canada that national aboriginal organizations, women’s and human rights organizations and now, the Yukon Legislative Assembly, along with provincial and territorial governments are calling for= , is that Canada consult with NWAC and other organizations representing and supporting the interest of aboriginal women on the terms of reference, so t= hat the causes and consequences of the violence and the steps necessary to end = the murders and disappearances can be fully examined.
I would also like to point out that=
in
April 2013, the Assembly of First Nations and NWAC closed the National Foru=
m on
Community Safety and Ending Violence, held in
In 2008, after its periodic review,=
the
CEDAW committee urged Canada to examine the reasons for the failure to inve=
stigate
the cases of missing or murdered aboriginal women and to take the necessary
steps to remedy the deficiencies in the system, to urgently carry out thoro=
ugh
investigations of the cases of aboriginal women who have gone missing or ha=
ve
been murdered in recent decades and to carry out an analysis to determine
whether there is a racialized pattern and to take measures to address the
problem if that is the case. The CEDAW committee, at the same time, recomme=
nded
that
Mr. Speaker, yesterday in this House, you acknowledged the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Mass Atrocities. It is relevant to debate on the motion before us to recognize that the forced confinement of aboriginal children in what is called the residential school system was a mass atrocity that still affects our communities today and that contributed to the traged= y of violence against aboriginal women. We need to focus on education, on invest= igation, and on action to end this violence.
The federal government has responde=
d by
announcing plans to spend money on addressing violence against women, altho=
ugh
most of that money went toward police initiatives that track missing person=
s.
The Government of Canada unfortunately delayed funding to the Native Women&=
#8217;s
Association of Canada’s Sisters in Spirit initiative, which was impor=
tant
research and advocacy work that the government itself has said has been vit=
al
in drawing attention to violence against aboriginal women. While they have
refused to develop a comprehensive national action plan on stopping violence
against women and girls, even though Canada has played a key role in UN
resolutions promoting such national action plans as a standard for all nati=
ons
to adopt, this makes it that much more imperative that the Government of Ca=
nada
will listen and will hold a national public inquiry.
I would like to conclude my remarks=
by
quoting Michèle Audette, president of the Na=
tive
Women’s Association of Canada: “We need to ensure that indigeno=
us
women and girls enjoy the equal protection and equal benefit of the law in =
Hon.
Ms. Taylor: I want to, first off, thank my coll=
eague
from the other side, the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin, for bringing forth this
very important motion and to offer my support and, of course, to reiterate =
our
government’s support of this motion for the call for a national public
inquiry on murdered and missing women in Canada. I’d like to thank the
Member for Vuntut Gwitchin for his comments and for his eloquent words in
support, and for providing some context as to why, in fact, we are here tod=
ay
and debating this very important subject.
I would also like to thank the prev= ious speakers to the motion for their words and their perspectives. I have to say — without trying to sound repetitive — there have been a lot of good comments, and I’m going to try to keep my comments succinct, bec= ause I know the Liberal Party member would like to say a few words.
I do want to say that this motion r= eally speaks to the issue of violence. Often I am asked — and others in this Assem= bly — why do we focus on violence against women? It’s a valid quest= ion and there are some very valid reasons why we do.
When it comes to violence in our
communities, men’s experiences of violence are largely different from
women’s in a whole host of ways. While men are more likely to be inju=
red
by strangers in a public or a social venue, women are in greater danger of
experiencing violence from intimate partners in their own homes. Women are =
also
at greater risk of sexual violence.
As has been said by others here tod=
ay,
The prevention of violence against = women is a priority of the Yukon government and a key mandate of the Women’s Directorate for the past decade in my capacity as minister responsible for = the Women’s Directorate, and there is also credit to be paid to the former Premier, Dennis Fentie, who held the portfolio, as well as my former predec= essor Marian Horne.
The Women’s Directorate has b= een working very hard in collaboration with many aboriginal women’s organizations, individual aboriginal women, First Nation governments, and others to address violence against women and to advance aboriginal women’s equality when it comes to social, economic, legal and politic= al — I believe that we have been doing just that.
I would like to make note of a numb=
er of
initiatives. There has been so much work being done by many, many different=
organizations
in the territory and governments, and we don’t have the time here to
actually spell all of that out today. But I do want to go back to 2005 and =
the
Premier at that time, Premier Fentie — who also held the portfolio of=
the
Women’s Directorate — there was a discussion about violence aga=
inst
aboriginal women. It was really a talk of the Council of the Federation to
bring the parties together, to bring all the provinces and the territories
together to really highlight this issue and to do what we can as members of=
the
confederation to highlight this work, and also to advance aboriginal
women’s equality.
It was a couple of years later that=
the
government in
At the end of the summit, there wer=
e some
137 recommendations made by women, and of course about half of those were
identified as the key priorities in moving forward.
I wanted to make note of that, beca= use NAWS, which is the acronym of that summit, was a really key indicator of in= creased capacity of aboriginal women’s organizations at the national level co= ming together, as well as the willingness of governments and non-government organizations and communities to really engage on those critical areas of importance to aboriginal women’s equality in Canada.
Of course, by bringing forward those principles and those recommendations that are so highly important, it has helped to increase capacity. It has helped to broaden the issue of women’s equality in the country, but also how we can work together co= llectively to advance aboriginal women’s issues in the territory and beyond.
From there, at that time we brought=
that
very thick document home to the
It was at that time that we were ab=
le to
come home and we had what we called the YAWS, which was the
It was from there that a number of
recommendations were born. A number of implementation projects also came ab=
out.
It included a violence prevention project, an aboriginal women’s role=
model
mentorship training program, an elder/youth land-based program, a culturall=
y relevant
gender balance analysis, as well as an aboriginal women’s group expan=
sion
project.
The one I do want to highlight, how= ever, is the Yukon Sisters in Spirit initiative. It indeed took form. It was really = what I would coin as a 36-month project. It ran from 2010 and ended the end of M= arch of this year. It was delivered by the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council and they received dollars through the northern strategy trust, and I can say that what a tremendous project it was. It was designed to include the voice= s of missing and murdered aboriginal women’s families and communities and = to come together and commit to working to develop and support ongoing relationships based on trust and reciprocity. I can tell you that, of cours= e, we do know that, as was articulated just recently by the member opposite, t= here are some 35 cases.
The project began on
Initially, it was to be a one-year =
research
and awareness project, and it was quickly identified that that wouldn’=
;t
be sufficient and it evolved into a three-year project focusing on policy,
education, prevention and research. It began the day after the national Sis=
ters
in Spirit project ended, and that’s key, because I have had the
opportunity to meet Michèle Audette from NWA=
C on
many occasions now. She has really congratulated the Yukon Aboriginal
Women’s Council and the government’s support, but it is the
women’s organizations coming together and working hand-in-hand with
aboriginal women from around the territory and working with their family
members and the friends and the relationships that has really led to this
project. It highlighted a number of things, and, as I understand, the proje=
ct
travelled to Women’s Worlds congress in
It was also showcased in the Nation= al Justice Forum, coordinated by the Assembly of First Nations, with the focus put on = that specific project.
I had the opportunity of also atten=
ding the
Sisters in Spirit “Honouring Grandmother Moon” event, which was
held not long ago — earlier in February. For me to see so many of
Yukon’s women being permanently commemorated — when I say those
women, they’re the missing and murdered aboriginal women — with
those exquisite moons, it came with mixed emotions for all of us in the roo=
m.
To see so many moons there for the first time, it’s tragic; it’s
saddening; but at the same time, as I looked around that room, it was so
encouraging, by the commitment and the dedication of so many individuals and
those trailblazers who remain in the territory, and their commitment to put=
an
end to violence against women is inspiring.
Today’s motion is about conti=
nuing on
those efforts at the national level and at the territorial level. I want to
quote Premier Greg Selinger. =
Back
in November last fall, he said — and this is following the third Nati=
onal
Aboriginal Women’s
Mr. Silver:&= #8195; Seeing the time= , Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief. I don’t believe that I could possibly = add more to the debate that hasn’t already been said by the Member for Vu= ntut Gwitchin. The sincerity of his words and the unbelievable stats that he bro= ught to this House are very compelling and horrifying. I said to him in our preliminary conversations I will absolutely support his motion. I would lik= e to extend a thank you to the Member for Copperbelt South for her years of dedication on this and other women’s issues. It’s obvious the l= evel of commitment the member has given to this cause and she should also be applauded.
What an absolute shame — the = discrepancies between these numbers. My heart goes out to the affected families. There= 217;s not much else to be said other than I’ll be 100 percent supporting th= is motion.
Speaker: Does any other member wish to be heard?
Mr.
Elias:=
8195; I thank all members of the House. I do believe that a federal
inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls is going to
happen. I think that conducting a comprehensive national inquiry with the
participation of all levels of government and national aboriginal organizat=
ions
will provide the knowledge we need to act with some wisdom to create meanin=
gful
change and to design a national framework and action plan that will prevent
aboriginal families from experiencing the pain and horror of the loss of a
loved one to violence in the future.
We require nothing less than a
transformation of the relationship between aboriginal women and girls and t=
hose
who are supposed to help and protect them; between aboriginal peoples and t=
he
government, police and the justice system; and of the way we think about and
respond to violence in
The federal government must act. The country has spoken loud and clear. Mr. Speaker, you pray for us every day t= o conduct ourselves with temperance, understanding and reason, and that we, the elect= ed members of this House, serve the people we represent with dignity and honour — and I believe that happened today.
I want to thank all members of this=
House
that we send a united message — unanimous — and we give our Pre=
mier
support that, when he speaks to the Prime Minister, this territory speaks w=
ith
one collective voice.
Mr. Speaker, you also say that hist= ory will be the final judge of our deeds. Twenty years from now, when we look back o= n today and the discussions that happened and the results of a national inquiry, I think this is something that we can all be proud of.
Speaker: Are you prepared for the question?
Some Hon. Members: Division.<= /p>
Division
Speaker: Division has been called.
Bells
Speaker: Mr. Clerk, please poll the House.
Hon. Mr. Pasloski: Agree.
Hon. Mr. Cathers: Agree.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: Agree.
Hon. Mr. Graham: Agree.
Hon.
Mr. Hon.
Mr. Istchenko: Agree. Hon.
Mr. Dixon: Agree. Mr.
Hassard: Agree. Ms.
Hanson:&=
#8195; Agree.=
p>
Ms.
Stick:=
8195; Agree.=
p>
Ms.
Moorcroft: Agree.=
p>
Ms.
White:=
8195; Agree.=
p>
Mr.
Tredger:=
Agree.=
p>
Mr.
Silver:&=
#8195; Agree.=
p>
Mr.
Elias:=
8195; Agree. Clerk: Mr. Speaker, the results are 15 yea, nil nay. Speaker: The yeas have it. I declare the motion carried. Motion No. 423 agreed to Hon.
Mr. Cathers: Seeing the time, I move that the Ho=
use do
now adjourn. Speaker: It has been moved by the Government House Leader that the Hou=
se do
adjourn. Are you agreed? Motion agreed to Speaker: This House stands adjourned until The House adjourned at =
i> The =
following
Sessional Papers were tabled April 24, 2013: 33-1-81=
Politic=
al
Contributions 2012, Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Yukon (Speaker
Laxton) 33-1-82=
Subsist=
ence,
Travel & Accommodations of Members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly,
2012-2013, Report on (dated April, 2013) (Speaker Laxton) 33-1-83=
Yukon S=
tate of
the Environment Interim Report: An Update for Environmental Indicators 2013
(Dixon) The =
following
documents were filed April 24, 2013: 33-1-49=
Fleet V=
ehicle
Agency 2013-2014 Business Plan (Istchenko) 33-1-50=
Queen=
8217;s
Printer Agency 2011/2012 Annual Report (Istchenko) 33-1-51=
Queen=
8217;s
Printer Agency 2013/2014 Business Plan (Istchenko)
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