Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have various components of the programs that we have for the issue that the Member is raising. We do provide assistance for residential programming, whether within the NWT, Nats’ejee K’eh, or outside of the NWT or some of the community programs. We have mental health and addictions workers. We’ve spent $6 million and we have 62 people working in that area right up to more acute care right out of the hospital. So we have a vast spectrum of services that we provide on this issue. Thank you.
Thank you. The issue of addictions varies from community to community and what I think the Minister and the department need to do is to develop a specific community-by-community strategy to combat alcohol addictions, and need to consult. I’d like to ask the Minister if using money for those programs, start a process of consulting community governments and local stakeholders and actually develop a strategy for each community on a strategy on addictions and wellness. Thank you.
Thank you. I don’t have all of the information for all of the communities in the Territories in front of me, but for Lutselk’e we provide $186,000 for Lutselk’e mental health and addictions. We also provide $23,000 for Lutselk’e cultural programs; $76,876 for Deninu K’ue First Nation to fund their addiction counsellor position in Fort Resolution, and in addition we provided $23,000 to Deninu K’ue First Nation for youth addiction initiatives. That’s just an example of the different programming funding that we provide to smaller communities.
I take the Member’s point that maybe we should look at this and work with the community to see how it is working and if we can do something differently and get input from the community. I’d be happy to do that.
To start with, can the Minister have her department facilitate, coordinate some community meetings with the end means of developing some sort of community strategy on addictions and using some of the money she’s indicated already to begin the process of developing? I think that the community will build some momentum towards addressing addiction issues.
I would be happy to make the commitment to ask the staff to maybe start discussing with the Member’s constituency; seeing as we have 30 communities and we can’t start them all at once. I’d be happy to do that.
I do want to note that we are doing some work in the North, as I indicated earlier. We’ve been working with GTC and IRC and we are making some progress in that area. I am planning on making an announcement on that which is more community-based. We are doing that work but we have a vast Territory and we have very regional, different, unique characteristics. I agree with the Member that we need to be flexible in how we work with our communities and regions.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister consider shifting resources, both human and financial, in the area of addictions as opposed to residential treatment to community-based treatment in order to provide much needed support at the community level?
Yes, I am willing to look at that. We need to be mindful of the fact, though, that addictions and mental health programming needs to have a spectrum of services and there is a place for residential and more acute care. We have been looking at some of the money we are spending on sending people down south to institutional settings and we have been refocusing our energy on seeing if we can use that resource better within the Territories. This is what we are doing in the North. So yes, I’d be happy to discuss that further with the Member.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement was on the arts and crafts centre opening up in Ulukhaktok. It would be a huge loss if we lose any skills necessary to continue our traditional arts and crafts; therefore, will this government ensure the resources are in place for the community-based workshops to increase awareness of these areas?
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are quite pleased to be invited to participate in the official opening of the Ulukhaktok Arts Centre. It’s been about a 20-year hiatus since prints were produced in what is formerly Holman Island. The prints are world-class so we’ll certainly work very closely with the community arts centre to make sure that we can promote as many workshops as we can so that the artisans and printmakers can expand their skills and learn some new, modern techniques.
The initiative such as the Subsidiary Company Program with the NWT BDIC is an excellent way to create jobs in the communities; development services promote traditional arts. Will this government look at providing similar assistance to other community-based businesses to service the export of products?
In this 16th Assembly, this government, when we looked at one of our priorities of developing a diversified economy, what we decided early on was to promote development in every one of our 33 communities. Our focus was to get at least one development in every community. We are certainly trying to make sure that happens in every one of our 33 communities.
Really good job, Mr. Minister. But now the point I’m trying to bring up is Tuk needs one now. We need an arts centre in Tuk because between Tuk, Ulukhaktok and Sachs, Sachs has the muskox, Ulukhaktok has the print shop and carving shop, now will the Minister help me to work with a committee out of Tuk to get a carving shop in Tuk? We had it about 10 years ago but it failed. Now I think that the community is looking at trying to help out the younger generation of carvers. Will the Minister commit to helping me get a carving shop in the community of Tuktoyaktuk?
When I look at the Member’s riding of Nunakput I know that there are four communities there, and in Ulukhaktok we have the arts centre, and in Sachs Harbour we have the muskox subsidiary, and in Paulatuk we have Darnley Bay. In Tuk, in addition to having the largest reserves for oil and gas, we have a building there and we can work with the Member to develop a carving centre, if that’s what the community wishes.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. I look forward to going home and telling all my carvers that I’m going to have a carving centre opening up. No, he is right; I do have all the oil and gas in the Territories. We’re open for business.
Thank you. I have to remind Members that question period is for questions, not for statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I talked in my statement about mental health and addictions programs and services in the NWT and about the needs that we have and that we don’t have the resources to meet those needs.
I mentioned the mental health review that the Minister mentioned to us in the last couple of days. My first question to the Minister is if she could advise what the focus of this particular mental health and addictions review is.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The focus is to review how we are delivering our mental health services. Over the many months now, Members are talking about the need for more focus on communities. There are those who feel that we could do better with the $6 million that we’re spending through our mental health programming. More recently we’ve had lots of issues being raised about the more acute mental health services being delivered out of Stanton. We are looking with the experts and people involved to see how we can do better what we already do.
I’d like to thank the Minister for the response. I have to say that I noted in there that there was no reference to an increase in funding, which is very unfortunate. I talked in my Member’s statement about the needs of the mentally ill when they are released from hospital particularly, or some other area. To me it’s an area where our residents and patients are particularly vulnerable. I’d like to know if the review will look at the after-care needs of the patients once they are released and will it also look at the after-care needs in light of the service providers who try to assist patients at this time.
That issue was raised and I spoke about that when MLA Bromley asked. I think we need to be... I understand what the Member is saying, but we should be aware of some of the clinical decisions that clinicians make. There is some legislation in place that has a bearing on when the people are being discharged. There are limitations on how long we can keep some of these people in treatment places. There are Charter issues and Freedom of Rights issues as well. So it’s not always just about money that our clinicians make their decisions based on their clinical expertise as well as their legislative obligations.
The purpose of this review is to come up with an action plan to ensure -- and I think that should please the Member -- that we are reviewing to see how current and how accessible and how well we are meeting the needs of people that we serve within the Mental Health Program as they are currently structured. I look forward to having some action plan out of that to improve the services we deliver.
I thank the Minister for, I guess, being very... She answered my next question before I asked it, but I didn’t get an answer to the first one. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not this review will look at the after-care needs of patients and look at the service providers who try to provide that after-care. I would also like to know relative to patients being released early, which is where the Minister went, is can we look at legislation and change our legislation to assist in that particular area of difficulty.
I believe those two issues that the Member raises are part of the review and I hope to have the results by April-May and we can have further discussion on that. After-care is obviously a part of the needs of our community and when we are talking to the people that are delivering it, I’m sure that’s being raised, as well as some of the legislation that might need to be changed.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to hear about the legislation being looked at, because to me that is the crux of the issue of why we release patients way too early. They’re not ready to be released but they can’t be held. Can the Minister advise if there are recommendations to change the legislation and when that might come forward?
I think we’re being a little ahead. I don’t know what the action plan will say and what recommendations from the review will speak about. I am thinking, and I think that recommendations would include after-care and seamless transition of the people in mental health services and how we can fill some of the gaps. I’m hoping they’ll identify the gaps and how we could fill some of the gaps. I’m hoping they’ll identify the gaps and how our providers that are providing services already can do things differently. I expect those options to be available. I don’t know if they’re going to recommend legislative change, so I think we should wait until the review comes out. I will be going to standing committee and we can work through them together.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation. I understand the Power Corporation was scheduled to meet with the Town of Norman Wells on February the 1st to discuss the situation the community is facing. I want to ask the Minister if he can comment on the outcome of the meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of the natural gas situation in Norman Wells has been one we’ve been working on as the Government of the Northwest Territories in a number of fashions. The Power Corporation itself has recently had a meeting with the mayor and council of Norman Wells to discuss some of the work that’s ongoing and concerns with outages and so on and the distribution of power. They’ve also engaged in the work that’s going on for the conversion to either diesel or another form of energy in the community. Thank you.
I spoke to the mayor this morning and he was quite pleased with the meeting they had with NTPC. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister if there has been any cost estimated on converting Norman Wells to diesel power.
The specific area there would be one that is more directed between the community itself and Esso, as Esso right now is the generator and the Power Corporation is the distributor of that energy. We are directly involved in that work going towards conversion and we’d have to look at alternatives, depending on what the community would decide. I would have to get more up to speed on that. I know that the Power Corporation, the CEO and the staff who were at the meeting are aware of the concerns and I’ll look to them to see the work they’re engaged in. Thank you.
Has the government, within its other departments, within the Energy Coordinating Committee, looked at the whole issue of Norman Wells going through this conversion once the natural gas has been cut off to the town, in terms of the commercial and the residential units? Do they know or have an estimate as to what kind of dollars that possibly the Town of Norman Wells will be seeking to help the community, both the commercial and residential users?
Again, I know from the Power Corporation side on the energy distribution and working with Imperial Oil, that that work is ongoing. From an overall Government of the Northwest Territories perspective, when this issue first came to our attention, a number of departments were pulled together to look at what needed to be done and the alternatives that could be looked at, and some of the initial work was to convert some of our larger buildings to diesel so that there would be less of a draw on the natural gas supply that was remaining, to allow a longer transition period. There hasn’t been a commitment for dollars at this point. We’ve been, through the Department of Public Works and Services, for example, supplying technical support to the community to help go through the work that it’s looking at doing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the Power Corporation or the other departments that are working on this issue here, I know there could be some solutions. Have they been working with the Arctic Energy Alliance to look at different types of renewable energy sources in Norman Wells, or have they been looking at other sources, for example, maybe a natural gas line from Colville Lake to Norman Wells, in terms of alleviating some of the situations in Norman Wells?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m informed that the Town of Hay River, the council, has a working group between the Town, Imperial and, I believe, another firm, Global Technical Services, looking at their operations. We’d have to go to them to see what alternatives they may be looking at. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding the Stanton deficit, which harkens back to my Member’s statement where I am significantly concerned that Stanton has missed 10 out of 11 budget years in the sense that they’ve found ways to create deficits without stopping them. Mr. Speaker, they need to be applauded for that one year that they let the board fire itself. It seemed they knew what was going on, because it showed that they weren’t in deficit that year, but they continue to accumulate with no one willing to stop it.
Mr. Speaker, during Stanton’s zero-based review, as highlighted by the deputy minister, what inefficiencies were discovered, what did they do about it, and certainly, what did it cost? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I answer that question, I just wanted to comment that the Member mentioned something about that the administration is denying or somehow hiding the deficit. I want everybody to know that we do regular reporting of the deficit situation of the entire structure. Every three months Members get briefed regularly about the deficit situation, so nobody is denying anything about the deficit situation.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, while I believe it’s important for us to have important discussions here, it is important for us not to be abusive towards the staff. Mr. Speaker, we have the A-Team at Stanton, with the CEO and the medical director and everybody who works really hard to keep one of the most important institutions, the territorial health care system, afloat. While I’m paid to take abuse, I would ask the Member to refrain from… I have to tell you, every time I go to FPT all of the Atlantic Ministers keep asking when are we going to send the CEO back to Atlantic Canada, because they want her back. We are lucky to have her.
Mr. Speaker, the administration is well aware of how much it costs to deliver the services they are delivering. Over the years, as the Member knows, we have put in cash infusions to clear the deficit. But we all understand, and the management understands, that that is not a way to go. We need to figure out what services we need to deliver at Stanton and what should not be, and how do we do things better so that we get to the cause of it before we put the, you know… So the focus is not getting to the black, but the focus is about knowing what Stanton should deliver and making sure that we do it well. Thank you.
Well, Mr. Speaker, financially, it’s like the government wants to run this ship to the ground. I mean, 10 out of 11 budget years a deficit and we’re not even including the one that’s just past, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with all this so-called review that they don’t care about how much money they spend, what has the management learned and done? In other words, what management and financial controls have been put into place to ensure that we have that so-called zero-based budget review that was done, that it was not money out the window and a waste of time? What are they doing to plug the leaks? Thank you.
There are no leaks in the hospital. The hospital is the only territorial acute care hospital in the Territory. They deliver services that have deficit inherently built into them, such as medical travel. One of the options we are looking at is to transfer out of that. The medical directors and the CEO are looking at finding efficiencies with the specialist delivery. We are understanding that the deficit at Stanton is not just a Stanton deficit. Stanton takes on a lot of work that is attributable to other authorities.
As I’ve said for the last four days in the budget review, Mr. Speaker, we are looking at it as a system. The deficit at Stanton and Beaufort-Delta are not Stanton and Beaufort-Delta deficits, it is a system deficit; and for us to address those deficit situations, we need to change the entire system. The Foundation for Change is doing that. We are looking at the physician model, we are reviewing the medical travel and we are reviewing the mental health and addictions service. We have also made item-by-item cases for some of the underfunded programming at Stanton. I am very proud of the hard work that the management and the CEO are doing. We need to make very well-considered, methodical and long-term view changes to the system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
