Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, the intent here is to recognize the complexity of the work in different areas; that a nurse is not necessarily a nurse any more than a pilot is, or that doctors all seem to be the same or remunerated the same. In this case, that is a similar circumstance. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the week of October 17th to 23rd is National Foster Family Week. I would like to take a moment to recognize the valuable contribution that foster families make to our communities and our children.

Foster families form an important network of safe, caring homes for children. They have a very challenging and demanding role and provide care for children when parents are unable. There are about 200 foster homes in the NWT that give children a stable, nurturing home environment. It is encouraging to see that so many people in our territory have offered to care for children. Over...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the renovation in Inuvik is to make the office space more habitable. If memory serves me correctly, the offices are in the Semmler Building. They are very crowded. They are trying to renovate to better accommodate the staff. I know they’ve had at least two major sewage backups that have caused a lot of damage. So this is to deal with that particular issue in terms of accommodating the staff. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if one was listening to the questions in this House about royalties and resource revenue sharing, this issue with the federal government, there is a whole list of issues that we have outstanding with the federal government that require resolution. We are taking proactive and aggressive or assertive approaches as we can as a government at all the tables that we are at. This is one of them. It is an issue that has national interest. It has national impact. So over the next few months, as I indicated to the Member, we hopefully will be able to show...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that impacts two federal departments: Health Canada as well as Northern and Indian Affairs. Yes, we have staff working, sometimes it seems almost on a full-time basis negotiating with the federal government over the outstanding claims, what they’re prepared to allow and what they’re not prepared to allow. Problems with the criteria that they have, be it on the non-insured health benefits side or under the medical services for Indian and Inuit people. So, yes, we have people working on this. It’s a political issue. It’s a structural issue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue and an important discussion. The reality is that, yes, there are drug addiction problems, but the alcohol abuse and the addiction problems caused by alcohol dwarf the drug problems. We are struggling to deal with the addiction issues related to alcohol. Are we trying to deal with the drug addictions? We are, as well. Are we prepared to look at that? Yes, within the fiscal limitations that we have. We have some plans already in place and if you quantify, the actual problem is going to be the first step, and then we have to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the programs we have are geared to the issue of addictions; mainly alcohol, but drugs as well. I would suggest that on the degree and actual specific issue we’re dealing with or degree of issue we’re dealing with, that the services we have here are a starting point. If it’s a situation where a person is thoroughly addicted and is into some kind of withdrawal program as opposed to dealing with the issues that may be assisting or feeding or causing her to support her addiction -- the family issues, the other issues that may be there -- then we have to look at...

Mr. Speaker, we have group homes, we have foster homes, we have arrangements. We have two facilities of our own as I have indicated: Trail Cross and the Territorial Treatment Centre here in Yellowknife. We have arrangements with a number of facilities in Alberta and in Saskatchewan. The issue that provoked this debate was the Member’s statement and vandalism and what happens when children in the community are out of control. Their family is the first starting point.

We as a department have learned a hard lesson where if we just arbitrarily reach in -- because there’s a concern and we yank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member raises an issue that there is no clear answer to. If she’s talking about how do you deal with a near adult that is still 17 or 18, then I can tell you that it’s not the normal practice to apprehend. If they are involved in a drug bust, if they are from out of province and they are found doing crack cocaine in their hotel room, then I would suggest the issue that the Member raised is one that is not clearly a child welfare issue and that there are other factors. If it’s a situation where they are from out of province, then it is another...

Mr. Chairman, the issue of this funding, first let me just say this, that we have just started to see the forced growth pressures of fuel costs and we haven’t even really budgeted for it in any fixed number. But with the price of oil at $55 a barrel, before winter’s end our costs are going to be going up significantly as a government. In the case of the Inuvik facility, it was a new facility, there were estimates in terms of what it was going to cost and we had to prove what the costs were going to be to get funding. Normally funding is not given out on projections. Normally it’s based on...