Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that from the Minister, and I think it would be great if it was just routine practice from now on that we include a member from the public.
My last question, Mr. Speaker. I see the Minister is bringing it forward to submit in the House and, again, I’m hoping this is standard practice but I’d like to confirm. Will the committee have an opportunity to review and comment on this report so that the Minister can consider their input before it is tabled in the House? Mahsi.
With any review that’s been undertaken by the GNWT, it’s always been brought to the standing committee for their review as well. Once the report is finalized we really can’t speak to specifics until the committee is under review, and then we can open it up for a general discussion to the general public. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question also is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It’s dealing with our priorities set out by the 17th Legislative Assembly, enhancing addiction treatment programs using existing infrastructure. To date, with our priorities, has the Department of Health set up an inventory to begin identifying any of the existing infrastructure that are currently available to accommodate treatment programs specifically in the Beaufort-Delta region? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has not looked at the current inventory for the possibility of using our inventory for treatment facilities. However, I think I should clarify that the intention, I think, is that we would look at what we have in place now for health and social services for treatment as opposed to building new infrastructure. So the idea of looking at current infrastructure was more or less looking at what infrastructure we had on the ground now as opposed to building something new. Thank you.
I understand that we’re not looking at building any new infrastructure, especially with the situation that the GNWT is in. However, I’d like to see an inventory of the buildings that are not being used right now in the Beaufort-Delta that can house such treatment programs for the people that are going through the system and don’t have that opportunity to get those services that they need. Thank you.
The Department of Health recognizes that there are a couple of facilities in the Beaufort-Delta that were previously used for treatment facilities and we are prepared to look at the feasibility of using those for treatment centres as we go through our inventory of existing infrastructure. Thank you.
In some of the other departments, the Department of Justice, they have a really good diversion program. The Department of ECE has a really good on-the-land program. Has the Department of Health looked at these successful programs and thought about implementing them in the treatment sector for both the youth that are battling addictions as well as adults that are battling addictions, to create an on-the-land treatment program within the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
The Department of Health and Social Services supports different alternatives to getting people to on-the-land activities. We have made $50,000 a year available to all of the communities if they want to do some on-the-land activities. It’s been a request from the communities and I’ve asked the Department of Health and Social Services to look at the possibility of developing on-the-land treatment programs across the North. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services, for that answer. My last question is in regard to the same thing with the programming. We have a lot of programs for people that are institutionalized. We have a lot of programming for people who are incarcerated in the Northwest Territories. There is a really good article about it today in the News/North. For those that aren’t in those institutions or that are in the community that are suffering and aren’t getting those services, what are the programs in place for those individuals in the communities? Thank you.
At this time we have within the communities – I’m not sure if it’s all 33 communities – addictions counsellors and also some mental health counsellors at the community which we talked about a little bit last week. But we do have addictions counsellors. That would be a good place for individuals hoping to access, whether it’s residential treatment in the facility or hoping to work with a counsellor to get some sort of programs on the land that could be available through the various non-government organizations or community governments across the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to get back to my question with the Minister of Health and Social Services on the cancer in Fort Good Hope. The Minister gave us some numbers, and according to those numbers cancer in Good Hope is pretty high; 20 percent higher than my numbers here than in the rest of the territory, such as colorectal cancer is 24 percent in Good Hope while the territory is 20, breast cancer is 17 in Good Hope and in the territory it’s 16, prostate cancer is 9 percent in the territory, and so forth.
I want to ask the Minister is his department willing to look at any type of research from the community to look at what the heck is going on with the community of Fort Good Hope. Why is the cancer so high? Where are the sources? There are a lot of opinions out there and people are afraid and they’re scared. They’re scared to drink that water from the water reservoir. They’re scared of the Norman Wells oilfield. They’re scared of the federal government buildings that are condemned right now. There are a lot of things that are scaring people right now in Fort Good Hope. Can the Minister work with me to look at a research funding institution to go into Fort Good Hope and find out what is going on with the cancer issue? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, yes, the Department of Health and Social Services is prepared to look at research with health and social services from the Sahtu. I have no problem doing that. Thank you.
I just about choked in here. I didn’t know what to say. The Minister said yes right away.
I want to ask the Minister how soon he can work with us to get a research institution into Fort Good Hope to start the process of elimination of the types of cancer that are causing so much grief in the community of Radili Ko?
I am aware that the department has a lot of work on the go now at this time, but I am prepared to talk to the senior management to try to get this going as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier has promised to take action to address the low employment rate in our small communities with large projects. In Aklavik the employment rate is 36 percent. That is below the territory’s average, which is 67 percent. There is simply more people who need work than there are jobs, but we do have one project that is on our government’s red flag priority list A. That is the all-weather access road to the Willow River gravel source.
Honourable Premier, when will construction begin on this project during the 17th Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. It is not a written question. I will get back to you, Mr. Blake, later today. We will run it by our staff.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, December 14, 2011, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Government of the Northwest Territories work with business, organizations and those living in poverty to complete an Anti-Poverty Strategy for the Northwest Territories;
And further, that the Anti-Poverty Strategy identify specific measurable targets with clear cross-departmental mechanisms for coordination and integration of actions;
And furthermore, that the government provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question
Question has been called.
---Carried
Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 2-17(1), Northwest Territories Capital Estimates 2012-2013. By the authority given to me as a Speaker by Motion 18-17(1), I hereby authorize the House to sit beyond the daily hour of adjournment to consider the business before us in the House, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.
I would like to call Committee of the Whole to order. There is one issue on our agenda today. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Dolynny.
Madam Chair, Committee of the Whole requests to continue Tabled Document 2-17(1), Northwest Territories Capital Estimates 2012-2013. More importantly, we would like to work today on Public Works and Services; Education, Culture and Employment; and Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will commence with that after a short break. Thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. As per the committee’s wish, we are going to deal with the capital budget for Public Works and Services; Education, Culture and Employment; and Health and Social Services.
I would like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services, the Honourable Jackson Lafferty, if he would like to call witnesses with him to the witness table. Mr. Lafferty.
Yes, I do, Madam Chair.
Is committee agreed?
Agreed.
I will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. I will ask Members if they can be thinking about any general comments that you have with regard to the capital budget for Public Works and Services.
I’d like to ask Mr. Lafferty if he would like to please introduce his witnesses for the record. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Madam Chair. To my left is Paul Guy, deputy minister of PWS; and also John Vandenberg, director of petroleum products division.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. General comments on this department’s capital budget. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I find this department intriguing and interesting, working in an area that has definite challenges but real clear opportunities. One of the opportunities and good work that’s being done is the adoption of the building standards; it’s 25 percent better than the Model National Energy Building Code, if I’ve got that term right. I appreciate that. The opportunity I see is to spread that to our communities, ideally starting with our Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. I’m wondering what opportunities this department has taken in working to get their sister department MACA up to speed on this.
The other area that I see this department doing a lot of good work in is the adoption of renewable energy, in almost every case at cost savings. Again, good work in developing a revolving fund which captures the benefits of this work, the savings from this work, and reinvests this on behalf of the taxpayers and the residents of the Northwest Territories into a fund to continue that good work. That’s another opportunity that I see for other departments, if this department could work to spread that cultural knowledge.
One of the big ones I’ve talked about quite a number of times is the opportunity to undercut the need for very expensive fossil fuel containment and storage. Again, these often run in the millions of dollars, as I suspect they do this year. Whenever there are clear opportunities to reduce the need for those fossil fuels, and similarly reduce the need for the very expensive storage and containment that that engenders. Of course, I’m not sure what the department has been able to achieve in this area because I only see the activity when they do build new containment and so on. There it is clear when it is community structures that they have not done the work that I feel they have the opportunity to do in concert, of course, with their sister departments and the communities themselves. The reason I speak on this is because we do have broad government goals of new employment, a revved up local economy in our small communities as well as our large communities, the overall reduction in cost to government, and of course the reduction in environmental costs, especially today, as we know from all the science, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
I just want to take this opportunity; I will be bringing these points home with some specifics as we go through division by division here today. I did want to be sure to again compliment the department, and urge them to continue and spread the cultural knowledge that they’re developing. I will be asking again for, if it’s possible, a summary as we have been provided in past years of the greenhouse gas savings, the reduction in the costs or the financial savings, and any information that the department collects in terms of the employment and the development of the industry of renewable energy, energy efficiency, recovered waste energy. This is an area that I know there are good things happening but we haven’t seen much for stats on it.
Each time we bring a market, for example for wood pellets, into a community, that begins to deal with the logistical challenges and costs for a homeowner or a business within that community to take advantage of that same energy source and allow them to springboard forward to similar savings and so on.
That’s it. I just wanted to highlight those and I would appreciate any response from the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Madam Chair. First, the 25 percent earmark that the Member alluded to about the building codes, working with MACA and other departments, there’s been a discussion as well. When it comes to policies, those policies are also in discussion with the communities that we deal with on a continuous basis. We try to meet those standards as well.
Renewable resource energy across the board has been of high importance within our department, again working with other departmental areas when it comes to renewable energy in that fashion.
Also reducing the need for fossil fuels. I’ll get Mr. Guy to elaborate a bit more in these areas and also reduction of environmental costs. If I could have Mr. Guy explain more in detail.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Guy.
