Debates of August 17, 2007 (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 143-15(6): Agency Nurse Usage

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Keeping with the staffing issue, I’d like to ask the Minister exactly where is the staffing utilization review report that the ministry and Stanton were conducting at Stanton Hospital? Where exactly is that in the process of being released? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 143-15(6): Agency Nurse Usage

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the request of Members, as well as from just our own internal look at it, we decided that we needed to do this work and I committed to bringing that report back to Members. I hope that we can have that and I believe we should be able to provide that to committee before the end of this session. Hopefully I can deliver it to committee early next week. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 143-15(6): Agency Nurse Usage

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I find it really hard to believe how it could take a year to do a report like this. From what I understand, the report is not completed to the liking of Stanton. Maybe it says something they don’t want it to say. So what is the real issue and why can’t the Minister today, almost nine months after this was talked about last October, initiated in February, like that’s a long period of time. Why isn’t the report ready to be looked at by Members of this House? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 143-15(6): Agency Nurse Usage

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we should be realistic in the fact that with as many employees over at the Stanton facility, we’ve gone into a process where we do a survey, and it was done through the Bureau of Statistics, that they do a survey with employees there and one out of every five goes into a further in-depth survey and that’s the report we’re working on. We are not playing with that report. In fact, I believe that report will come back and show for the majority of things there’s satisfaction with the work around that facility, the work environment. There are a number of issues that will be looked at, but hopefully as we sit down and we work with committee and go through that report and look at what can be done.

As well, Mr. Speaker, for the record, I should state that through our Community Health Nurse Development Program we support 100 percent of all costs incurred, including salary and developmental for northern nurse graduates, costs there, and 50 percent of the salary and 100 percent of the developmental costs for non-northern nurses. So we are looking at incentives of bringing nurses to the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for WCB and it’s in regards to the Member’s statement I made earlier. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister to just give us a status report on what he has been able to accomplish in terms of clearing up some of the long outstanding files in light of the new chronic pain policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board, Mr. Krutko.

Return To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have enacted or revised that chronic pain policy where we have renewed it and it has taken effect April 19th of this year. So we do have a policy. I am doing a letter to all Members and also with a copy of the new policy so they can see it. Again, with those changes, we’re hoping to have a clear, transparent policy that people can see and hopefully it will improve the services that we do have, but also deal with the outstanding claims that have been outstanding for some time, especially in the area of chronic pain. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague from Hay River South said that a strategy without money is a slogan and I say that a policy without resources to back it up. Would this be a statement on paper? I don’t know. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my Member’s statement, I think a policy change is a start, but nothing will be affected in terms of making a difference on these files and the workers that have been waiting for years and years to have their cases resolved, expending a lot of energy and money and time and their mental health, in many cases, and physical health, not to mention. None of that will make any difference for them unless there is a real concerted effort to put some resources behind it, force the WCB staff or encourage them or ask them to really go through all the files and see, in light of the new policy, what changes we can make. So could I ask the Minister whether he’s done that or not and if he hasn’t done that, why not, and would he be willing to do that as soon as possible? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. A couple or three questions there, Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regards to the issue the Member talks about, this issue has been voiced loud and clear from this Legislative Assembly and it has been passed on to the staff at the Workers’ Compensation office here in Yellowknife to do everything they can to bring down the number of cases that are outstanding. More importantly, by changing policies and also the legislation that we’re looking at before the House, it will improve the system we have. It’s been some time since that’s happened and I think in order to improve things, we have to change things. I think one of the big changes, like I say, we are one of the few jurisdictions in this country that has made a change in regards to our pain disorder policy by including chronic pain in there. I think that by setting that precedent, across the country it is improving. Again, I do stress to the department to ensure that they do resolve these cases as soon as they can and ensure that injured workers are being dealt with fairly and as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the Minister’s answers but, as I had stated in my Member’s statement, I know that none of the files that I have been associated with have seen any movement whatsoever since April. So I have to assume that that may be the case, or most likely the case, that is what’s going on with other files, but I am willing to be persuaded otherwise. So I’d like to ask the Minister, because I know the WCB has been collecting cases, would the Minister report to us and tell us before the end of this Assembly what progress has been made, what number of files are outstanding, what’s being done about it and have we been able to resolve any of those files? Could he provide us with some of those detailed stats and information? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do commit to the Member to get that information to the House before this House adjourns, to update all the Members on exactly the status of those outstanding cases, how many of them have been resolved and exactly how many of them are still outstanding. So I commit that to the Member and the House here to get it back before the adjournment of this session.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In doing that and further to that, could the Minister advise as to whether or not there have been any extra resources put into place to close these files? Each file could take a long time. So unless you put some bodies in there to speed up the process, it may not happen. So I’d like to ask the Minister to have that information as well, specifics on additional resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 144-15(6): Outstanding Files Relating To Chronic Pain Policy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I do commit to the Member to get the information on exactly how many resources have been expended in this area and also has there been an increase. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Before we go on, colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the gallery to two distinguished gentlemen: the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Canada, Mr. Karel De Beer.

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With him is Consul General of the Netherlands, Mr. Hans Driesser.

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Also with them, protocol officer Carmen Moore and Jhillian Adams.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I talked about the high cost of living in the Sahtu. I want to ask the Premier of the Northwest Territories, in his short time with the Legislative Assembly here, in terms of what types of targets is he looking at in terms of bringing down the percentage of the cost of living in our region, the communities that are most isolated and have no highway system and pay the higher costs of living. What are his targets, dollars, can he estimate in terms of bringing down the cost of living in our communities?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don’t have fixed targets that we can work towards, although we do want to work towards the cost of living. It is much too high in a lot of our communities. In the short term, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased with the revisions we are making to the Income Support Program. That is going to help those who are most in need. Mr. Speaker, we have also done some revision on the housing program hopefully to help relieve some pressure there as well.

We have also committed to working with the people in Deline on a mini hydro project which will help to bring down the cost of energy, which is one of the biggest drivers of cost of living. So that will help.

Mr. Speaker, in the longer term, though, we are going to have to continue to lobby the federal government to carry out their responsibility to finance the building of a road up the Mackenzie Valley. That is the only way to lower costs.

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Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the programs we have right now is the Food Mail Program the federal government offers. We are looking for some solutions in the Sahtu. A litre of milk, as I stated earlier in my Member’s statement, is 40 cents more in Colville Lake than in Hay River. There are other costs that our members in the Sahtu region can tell this government how much more we pay. I would ask the Premier if he would work towards a fixed target within the government in terms of saying by the year in 2008-2009, we want to bring the cost of living down by this percentage. We want to give something for the people of the Sahtu to look forward to and also work with this government. Can the Minister make that commitment?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is certainly a recommendation we can make to the 16th Assembly, that we work towards some targets. We have done a lot in this Assembly to try to get things moving to lower the cost of living and with some good success. But setting fixed targets may be possible. That’s something we have to work on.

Regarding the Food Mail Program, I have had meetings with the Northern Store and also the co-op on the Food Mail Program to ensure that our communities are benefitting from that program as well. Hopefully, maybe we will lobby the federal government again to put more money into that program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the discussions I had with the people when they go to Yellowknife or Hay River and do their shopping for the winter season is when they get into the lineup or bring their food to the counter and cash out, they tend to bring a lot of money. The teller tells them it’s only this much and they say it can’t be. It’s a common discussion we have around our region.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask you a question in terms of this type of thing with the Northern Store and the co-op, how can we look at something that would give incentive to people in the Sahtu to look at working with other communities in terms of bringing in some supplies? We do not have any roads or bridges. A long time ago, we used to have two barges that would sell products into our communities at a lower price.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are currently no programs that I am aware of that would organize a barge order system for communities, but it’s something that possibly our economic development officers or people working for us in the regions could look at. How can we bring some products in on the barges? I know that is being done to some extent already, but there may be ways for improving on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government makes a mention of the Deh Cho Bridge as a cost-savings initiative. How much money will the Deh Cho Bridge save the Sahtu?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 145-15(6): Cost Of Living In The Sahtu Region

Since the Deh Cho Bridge is not on the route to the Sahtu, then I don’t expect it will make a big difference there. But, Mr. Speaker, it will make a difference to those communities on the north side of the Mackenzie River. Now we are doing that much, but, Mr. Speaker, that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to pay attention to the other communities. As the Member knows, we are working on the Bear River Bridge; we have done a lot of work on the Mackenzie Valley highway and put some 20-odd bridges in there already. So we are taking steps to lengthen the season for the winter road to keep down the costs. I look forward to the day when the Government of the Northwest Territories can have a ribbon cutting for the Mackenzie Valley highway that will lower the cost for everybody. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I welcome our friends, the Ambassador and the Consul General from the Netherlands. You heard Mr. Speaker say “Mrs. Groenewegen,” so there is one good name down here on the floor of the House.

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My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, in keeping with my Member’s statement, Mr. Speaker. The Minister gave a good briefing on the BDIC business program and I thank him for that. One of the changes was to switch the focus to less developed communities and make no direct contributions available to level I communities. I would like to ask the Minister why this was an action and decision that was taken by this program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Return To Question 146-15(6): BDIC Business Program Policy Changes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a philosophical change and I have talked to my colleagues on this side of the House as well, Minister McLeod about his days as an economic development officer in Providence. We know that the amount of money we have available for business development funds and the amount of grants to go out to communities has been decimated over the last 10 to 15 years. We see much less money available in terms of grants, so we had a shrinking pool. Most of the money was being accessed by the larger communities and it became very apparent that the larger communities had easier access to capital, not enough access admittedly but easier access, and that many of our small communities weren’t able to get much in the way of business development funding. So we’ve made a decision that we would target the grants to the smaller communities and try to improve loan access for the larger communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 146-15(6): BDIC Business Program Policy Changes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, speaking of loan access to the larger communities, I would like to ask the Minister about the Community Futures Program. The GNWT has talked about accessing an extra $2 million through the SINED funding. I would like to ask the Minister what is the status of that application for that extra money? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 146-15(6): BDIC Business Program Policy Changes

I will have to get a formal update for the Member, from committee members, in terms of where the various different aspects of SINED funding sit today. There are very many schedules, targeted investment programs, application-based programming available. Individuals can apply through the Department of Indian and Northern Development to access funds. Government departments have been successful in accessing funds, whether it be for a road at Taltson, some runway work. There have been other pots of money that have been allocated across the territory. ITI has been involved in that. In terms of the specific $2 million that the Member is referring to, I will certainly have to get more information and I will provide an update as soon as I get that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 146-15(6): BDIC Business Program Policy Changes