Debates of August 23, 2011 (day 16)

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my great pleasure today to recognize a representative of one of the organizations for the No Place for Poverty Alliance, Ms. Julie Green, director of community relations for the YWCA. Welcome.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I had the opportunity to recognize a few folks that are down doing some work around caribou issues as well as Wildlife Act issues. Further today I’d like to also recognize James Firth. I believe he’s about to be chairman of the Gwich’in Renewable Resource Board. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize James Firth, acting chair of the Gwich’in Renewable Resource Council and former chief of the Inuvik Native Band. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to welcome Mr. Frank Pokiak, the chair of the Inuvialuit Game Council; and Mr. Larry Carpenter, chair of the Wildlife Management Advisory Council of the NWT. Thank you and welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the president of the Deline Land Corporation, Mr. Peter Menacho. I’d also like to recognize our chair of the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, Mr. Walter Bayha; and I believe the Renewable Resource Council member, a real good fisherman, Paul Modeste in the gallery, all from Deline.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Edward Esau. He’s a Page here helping us do our business of the Assembly. He’s most notably known as the son of one of our staff members, Phoebe Esau. Thanks for your help here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Assembly. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, with great sadness, I wish to pause and make special note to the First Air flight that met with tragic ends on its approach into Resolute Bay this past Saturday.

As we all know, 12 of the 15 people on board didn’t make it and, without any doubt, the impact of this tragedy will have significant and lasting effects on all Northerners.

I know that this experience has affected two families directly in the riding of Yellowknife Centre, both the Golding and Merritt families. My heart goes out to them as well as all the other families that lost loved ones on that flight that day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my questions with regard to my Member’s statement on the delivery of health services in Nahendeh to the Minister of Health and Social Services.

For the last eight years I’ve been continuing to raise about the ability of having translators, about having cultural training workshops for staff. It appears that it has taken a relapse again, so to speak. I know it comes in waves, cross-cultural training. I’d like to ask the Minister if there is consistent cross-cultural training that happens with the front-line health staff in our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the intent, recognizing, of course, as the Member pointed out along with other MLAs, that one of the challenges is the rapid turnover in staff and often the use of locums or casual nurses. It is a challenge.

I appreciate the Member’s comments and feedback. I intend to follow up with the board chair and the deputy minister. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister’s answers. I think just one of the solutions that must be done is we have to have consistent cultural training and awareness training programs for our front-line staff.

I spoke in my Member’s statement about our elders being turned away not once or twice but three times as you go to the health centres. They are being given Tylenol, like Mr. Yakeleya says. It is the same in my riding. They are going there and being given Tylenol. They are not being diagnosed or even examined properly. They are just saying they are sick, so here’s some Tylenol. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s aware of this and what can be done to stop this type of practice and do proper medical examinations on our constituents. Thank you.

Once again, this is an important issue. The Member has written to me on some specific cases. I would point out that there are thousands of patients seen successfully every day across the Northwest Territories. We do have the occasions where things don’t quite work as planned. The issue of being more responsive and sensitive to the needs of seniors are cautions that are worthy of note. Once again, as I follow up on some of the concerns the Member is raising, that would be on the list. Thank you.

I would think that doing a proper medical examination would be the first thing you do, because people are saying they are going there and getting cursory examinations and given Tylenol. I’d like the Minister’s commitment that the front-line staff must do this to our residents and constituents.

The other issue is about having proper translators and training for the front-line translators that are there. What type of training program is available to the front-line workers that deal with people on a daily basis? Thank you.

Once again, some of those services are available usually at the larger centres, the health centres, the larger facilities, the long-term care facilities. The issue of translators in the small communities is more problematic. Once again, if the front-line staff is experienced and from the region, it’s a different issue than if they are just in town for a few weeks. The Member, once again, raises an issue where we don’t have the complete solution. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much. I know we are beefing up our Aboriginal Languages Training Program, working with the Minister of Education. That is a commitment of this government. I think it’s time we start doing a coordinated approach. Perhaps the Minister of Heath could work with the Department of Education. Let’s get these terminology courses happening in all our Aboriginal languages provided to our front-line workers, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to do that? Thank you.

Yes, I will discuss with our deputy and the Minister of Education to make sure we are coordinated and connected on that important initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Premier and I’d like to ask some questions with regard to the Anti-Poverty Strategy or the development of, or maybe I should say lack of development of.

I’d like to ask the Premier initially if he could advise, give us -- the House -- an update or advise the status of the report on the Anti-Poverty Strategy discussion paper. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member will be happy to hear that, in fact, I’ve just signed off a letter to forward the discussion paper to the Standing Committee on Social Programs. Thank you.

I am very pleased to hear that. I want to thank the Premier for that response. It’s coming at the last hour, but better that it come than it not come at all.

In this next period through the election period and through October until the next Assembly gets up and running, I’d like to know whether or not there are any activities relative to the development of this paper or the Anti-Poverty Strategy planned during the next several months. Thank you.

The work that we’ve done in forwarding the discussion paper to committee, we’ll await their response. Clearly, as I’ve indicated to Members, this will be part of the transition that we will be preparing for the 17th Assembly.

Thanks to the Premier for that. That was my next question, was relative to the transition document from the government. I’m really pleased to hear that it’s in there. It’s really unfortunate that we couldn’t have had greater work done in the 16th Assembly. What kind of a priority is assigned to the development of an Anti-Poverty Strategy in the transition document to the 17th Assembly? Thank you.

The transition document itself will cover quite a number of areas: the work that we’ve been doing as the 16th Assembly, the work that’s ongoing. This will fall into that category of ongoing work and put it before them. I can’t weight a priority of the next government, but it will be part of that document of transition and a commitment from the 16th Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier. I would sincerely hope that all candidates in this upcoming election will seriously consider whether or not they can pledge to make the Anti-Poverty Strategy a top priority in the next Assembly, should they end up here.

To the Premier, I don’t know whether he can answer this question or not, but since the paper has just gone to standing committee, can he give us any indication of when the paper might be released to the public? Thank you.

The work that we’re doing by handing it over to the committee for their initial look and being part of the transition I can’t commit to a public release. We would have to, as we transition this to the next government, leave it to the new government to decide if they will distribute it publicly after hearing from the committees in the 17th Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Environment with regard to the proposed amendments to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. I know the Minister mentioned that this government is requesting three additional changes to be considered in light of what’s being recommended by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board and also the other boards and agencies. I think the big issue or challenge that we face is that as the Northwest Territories I don’t think it’s the fault of the board. If anything, the boards are doing what they’ve been told, but without having the adequate resources to do their jobs. Especially integrating land and water management systems and looking at the timelines for consultation of which we have 42 days to deal with a Class A and 15 days for Class B licences. Yet there are regions in the Northwest Territories that don’t have land claims, regarding the Tlicho and Dehcho and the South Slave. Without having the appropriate structures in place it is a challenge on different regions.

I’d like to ask the Minister what we are doing with regard to the government’s suggested changes to find ways to integrate these different systems to streamline them so they’re more workable.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This issue of regulatory reform and changes to the process have been under discussion now for many years. Our request to the government, to Minister Duncan, has been that there be no changes initiated now that we’ve signed the agreement-in-principle so that the devolution process can take place, and then at that point, once there’s been a transfer, if there are changes necessary to sign on by Northerners, that Northerners would have that right and authority to make those changes, whatever they may be, should it be so determined by Northerners.

I think one of the fundamental elements that are missing, especially in the majority of the region which there’s only one region that has a land use plan through their land use planning commission planning process, which is the Gwich’in Settlement Region, but again that whole system of land use plans is a tool that can be used by the different management authorities to help them and assist them in making those decisions.

I’d like to ask the Minister exactly why it is that this government is not supporting land use plans where they’re presently being integrated, and supporting the Dehcho and Sahtu in integrating their land use plans into the system.

In fact, the Government of the Northwest Territories strongly supports the idea of land use planning. We are working as a government on our own land use framework that will get our thinking clear as a government so that we can be as constructive and supportive as possible at the various tables. We are involved at the various tables right now. The key for us is to make sure that we have an organized, coherent message and plan going forward. We recognize the distinct importance of the land use plans. That’s why we’re doing things like the Water Strategy. That’s why we’re doing things like improving our legislation to deal with species at risk and the Wildlife Act, is to be able to, within the broad land use planning framework, have the tools necessary to make them work.

Another area I think has to be clarified is the whole area of inspection and enforcement. That’s the part that falls below the waistline when it comes to actually getting the work done. A lot of times the blame goes to the regulatory boards, which they don’t have that authority. That authority is with Indian and Northern Affairs. I’d again like to ask the Minister, with regard to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, that’s another area I feel has to be concluded and fulfilled. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s had discussions to ensure that component is looked at in regard to the government’s suggested amendments.

That and a number of other issues have been discussed. The money that was identified to do things like cumulative impact studies and assessments. The main fundamental concern is that there be no significant changes, or changes of any kind while we’re in an election process. Now, since we’ve signed the AIP and we’re in a transition phase where we’re going to be taking over from the federal government that there not be any significant changes until that process is concluded so that it will be Northerners that will decide on what changes are necessary, if any, once that process is complete.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.