Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services of the Government of the Northwest Territories has a very competitive and, I think, progressive pay and benefits package for nurses. We see it as a very positive step, all the work that has gone on in the last number of years, the work with the nursing association and the work with the unions, the work with the government, to come up with a fair remuneration package. So the Member and I have a different point of view on the value and the benefits of that particular issue. 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.

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we can have the debate on where we should be putting a facility if, in fact, there was agreement to build one. If the Member is suggesting that we should scrap any further development at the community level and use that money for O and M for example, I think that would take some discussion. If he's suggesting that the Legislature is prepared to vote Health and Social Services new money, of course we would greatly accept that. But the debate on should we have more institutions as opposed to community infrastructure is one debate that we've already had...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, almost three years ago now we embarked on a plan, a Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. We had three separate years in it that we were going to fund, and it focussed on the community getting in wellness workers, mental health workers, some supervision, and looking at trying to beef up the support at the community level where the most immediate good work has to be done. That's the plan that we've been working off of to date. There is no money in the plan for any new major facility development at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a national issue that affects all the provinces and territories. Anybody that does business with the federal government and administers programs for aboriginal people has this problem. So, yes, it has been dragging out. It is protracted. The pace is glacial in getting it resolved, but we all have some new tables. The Prime Minister himself has set up a table to meet with the aboriginal leaders. There has been recognition, and there is going to be a table for the aboriginal leaders to look at the health agenda. There has been a blueprint for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t have an exact figure on hand, but I would like to note that the Member has raised a very important issue. It’s one that I know the Premier has raised at his tables. I’ve raised it since my tenure as the Minister of Health and Social Services with the three federal Health Ministers that I’ve had the privilege of working with over the last three years. It’s also an issue for the other two territories. It’s hopefully one of the issues that will be put on the table if we can get this working group together that there’s funding been identified for out of...