David Ramsay

Thank you. It sounds like as far as the department is concerned, it’s a year-to-year process and they just take each year as it comes. I’m not sure if coming up with a better plan and a long-range plan to accommodate, like I said, 65 grads in the next three years might be something that’s worthwhile to the department and to this government. I’d like to ask the Minister, does the Department of Health and Social Services and the health authorities consider positions that are currently filled by locums and agency nurses to be vacant and why aren’t those positions posted? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Getting back to my Member’s statement where I was talking about northern nursing grads, this year we’re expecting to graduate 19 and next year 16 and then in 2013, 32. So we’re going to have close to 65 northern nursing grads enter into our health care system hopefully in the next three years.

I’d like to ask the Minister, it was almost four years ago she went to Aurora College and spoke to the students just entering the program, promising them jobs upon completion of the program. I’d like to ask...

I thank the Minister for that. I’m not on the Social Programs committee, but that’s the first I’ve heard of the department going down that road and, again, that’s good news. I guess you have to ask questions to find out what’s going on, Mr. Chairman. I’m happy to hear that.

Again, with the issues I’ve been raising in the House here with the incidents of spousal assault, violent crime in our communities, in our Territory, and the money that we’re spending, I don’t think that we can underestimate it enough that we have to take the programs that we are delivering today and ensure that they are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If individuals are recommitting offences 15, 16, 18, 19 times, Mr. Speaker, doesn’t the Minister want to state to this House and state to the public that, yes, we have a problem with the way we are rehabilitating individuals that are incarcerated in our corrections system, Mr. Speaker? That’s obvious. I’d like to again ask the Minister to commit to a review of services and programs provided to individuals who are incarcerated in the Northwest Territories today for violent crimes. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this individual that has 19 prior offences of a violent nature, in fact, killed somebody, got five years. Mr. Speaker, according to some folks that work with sentencing, this individual could be walking the streets of the Northwest Territories in 22 months’ time. Mr. Speaker, 19 times the system has failed him. I’d like to again ask the Minister of Justice what safeguards are in place or what are we going to do differently with this individual that is going to ensure public safety when he gets released, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sounds like we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that locum nurses are going to be in these positions and the department and the authorities are not going to post the positions to be filled by resident nurses here in the Northwest Territories. Is that what I’m hearing the Minister say? That locums are there permanently, we’re not posting those jobs? I’d like to ask the Minister why aren’t we posting the jobs that locums are filling today. Thank you.

Thank you. I hope the Minister can appreciate the fact that these graduates are months away from completing the program, yet when they look at the government website and any job postings, there are just none available and they’re left scratching their head saying, well, the Minister was here three years ago and promised us jobs, where are they? Then they see locum and agency nurses working in our health authorities and at Stanton and they wonder where are the postings. I’d like to ask the Minister if she can explain the fact that we have these locum and agency nurses here and no job postings...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to be speaking today about the Northern Nursing Program at Aurora College. As Members are well aware, this program became a four-year degree-granting program a few years ago. It is affiliated with the University of Victoria.

One of Ms. Lee’s first speeches as Minister of Health and Social Services was to address first-year students of the Northern Nursing Program at Aurora College in the fall of 2007. Ms. Lee’s address that day was full of encouragement, support, and promise of full-time employment in the Northwest Territories for each graduating student. Well...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions, on the Order Paper. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Unless it’s court ordered, I’m wondering if the corrections service here in the Northwest Territories could commit to making programming mandatory for any violent offender in the Northwest Territories and why should we have to wait for the court to instruct us to do so. I think the justice system and corrections service here in the Northwest Territories should make that program and service available to all violent offenders in the Northwest Territories and it should be mandatory, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.