David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask questions today to the Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Dent. Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of jobs advertised in the local media. Mr. Speaker, one of my favourites was manager of total rewards. It got me to thinking that perhaps the employees of the government were accumulating points to redeem for some toasters, camcorders or iPods, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Human Resources, a department that has, as I mentioned the other day in the House, six managers managing six people. Of these new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to join my colleagues in speaking about alcohol and its impact on the lives of residents here in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, as a government, we’ve had much discussion surrounding alcohol and other addictions and the services we provide to residents. Mr. Speaker, we have to do more.

The common denominator in family breakdown, family violence, violent crime and the segue into other addictions is alcohol. As a society, we have normalized the consumption of alcoholic beverages to the point where much of our leisure type of activity involves...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is good. The base review is going to be conducted at Stanton, but is there also going to be a base review done in the Beaufort-Delta and the Sahtu as well? Again, it is a systemic problem here. It is one that recurs over and over again. If boards are unable to manage what they have, then there has to be a reason for that. Is it mismanagement? Is it underfunding? What would the Minister attribute the chronic deficit situation seen in the Beaufort-Delta, the Sahtu and here at Stanton too? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

That is good. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted a little bit more information on the Northern Women’s Health Program, $116,000. It looks like that is a PY. I am just wondering how that position would relate to the Aboriginal Wellness Program.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. We will do that after a short break. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, May 17, 2007, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends the government not enter into a binding agreement committing it to the Deh Cho Bridge project until it has provided Regular Members with: an up-to-date analysis of the expected cost of living impacts of the bridge on Yellowknife, the Tlicho communities and the Akaitcho communities; the estimated social impacts and economic benefits for the community of Fort Providence; and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister could make me feel a little bit more comfortable today if he could tell me that the Department of Human Resources today is working on a comprehensive human resource strategy or plan long-term that is long overdue by this government. Are they working towards that, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Hackett report, it also says that the Government of the Northwest Territories is completely out of whack with an organization of comparable variety where you look at employees per transaction. In a normal government operation, you look at seven. We have 24 employees per transaction, Mr. Speaker. What exactly is an organizational design specialist? Is this just to organize the 170 employees at Human Resources, or is this position government-wide organizational design? Thank you.

One of the general themes stemming from the NWT Alcohol and Drug Program’s discussion paper from last fall was that there needs to be more attention paid to health promotion and prevention programs. Investments need to be made and programs aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing the onset of addictions. These would be required in order to effectively combat alcohol and drug issues. The more children in the NWT that we can get into sports and recreational type activities, the better the chance they will have to choose healthy living. We need to get more physical activity into our...