I’d like to ask the Minister if there have been discussions with the Yukon government as to jointly doing the Porcupine caribou herds, and when can we expect that?
There have been ongoing discussions with the Yukon. They’ve tried to do the surveys during the summers. The last three years have been unsuccessful due to a number of circumstances, be it forest fires or inclement weather. The pressure is on them again this year to do the work. They know it has to be done. We sit on that board, and we are very concerned that we do get an up-to-date census.
Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.
I thank the Minister again for that. Last year, I believe, there was a caribou summit held up in Inuvik, and there was a lot of discussion on the demise of the caribou and actions that could be taken to help the caribou herds. People, I think now, are looking for some action. We realize that there is a decline, and now we are looking for some action.
I’d like to ask the Minister if the department has had discussions with the aboriginal governments on the declining numbers, and do they share our concerns with the numbers?
The work that's been done in terms of the caribou numbers has been done in full partnership and co-operation with the aboriginal governments and the various co-management boards that exist all the way up north, with Inuvialuit, Gwich'in, Sahtu, now with the Tlicho. We have consulted as well in the North Slave.
It’s very critical, and we have an obligation and an absolute necessity to make sure we consult with the aboriginal governments, and through the co-management boards, we've done that.
The various co-management boards have reviewed the data that's come in to them and made recommendations that have been acted on in terms of restriction of the hunt and other recommendations they’ve made to try to preserve the herds.
My questions today are directed to the Minister Responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.
As discussed in my Member’s statement, I was talking about the Energy Efficiency Incentive Program, with specific reference to the rebate available for hybrid vehicles.
In my opinion, the intent is good. The intent of the program is to help residents reduce their energy costs and, at the same time, reduce greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, it’s a new program, and there are some limitations. It does limit our residents’ choices. In order to get the rebate, they have to buy a vehicle that's available through a Northern vendor. This eliminates a lot of very efficient vehicles that fall within the intent.
I'd like the Minister to commit to reviewing this program and removing the limitations placed in the program on individual choice.
We, as well, consider this to be a good program and with a laudable intent. I am aware of the concern raised by the Member. There has been some correspondence over the lack of choice.
I have indicated, and I'll commit in this House, that I will be prepared to review this particular program — it’s been running now for a year or so — as well as to talk about this with committee in terms of whatever other amendments may be deemed necessary, looking back, now that we've had some time to see how effective this program and others are.
I'd like to follow up on a Member’s statement I made last week on the health care card imbalance issue, where there are more health care cards in our system than there are people in the N.W.T. With the pressures to reduce costs, this area should be seriously examined.
I was very pleased, though, during my research, to hear that the Department of Health and Social Services and the Minister’s office were aware of this issue. I’m really interested to know what steps are being taken, to date, to address this situation.
Mahsi.
I thank the Member for the question. We are taking steps, both on a long-term and short-term basis.
In the longer term, we will be sending out renewal forms for health care cards in 2009. We're looking at options in detail about what extra measures we could put in place to verify the residency of health care card holders, and what kind of documents we could ask for that, and to meet all the technical requirements in doing so.
We will be looking at possibly asking for tax files as well as asking for physical residential addresses in cases where the address is written down as PO box numbers.
In the short term, the department is already auditing files to look at the patterns of claims being made, where the services are being done and where the products are being bought. If many of those are happening outside of the jurisdiction for any length of time, they are being re-looked at, to verify the residency.
There are many other things being considered to make sure that we take measures to balance those numbers.
We understand that there will always be that discrepancy, but we just want to make sure that those are for the right reasons.
Of course, there are long-term and short-term residents here. It has always been felt that some received health cards because they had lived here for six months, got employment, and now reside somewhere else but still work in the mines. I don't know if the Minister’s office is able to reconcile that difference if they actually live here, like you said.
For the most part, some of it will be easy. Some living in my communities, like in Nahanni Butte and Jean Marie, are life-long residents. I think it would be easier to assess those. But determining the people that are not living here and if there are such people utilizing our much-needed resources for our Northern people…. That is the issue. How is the Minister going to continue to address that in the short term once again? Mahsi.
Absolutely, I don’t think any of us want to be paying for health care benefits for other than those who are residents here.
We do have a large transient population. We get about 150 applications a week for health care cards. So we are building in a process to make sure that we do monthly audits. There are audits being done of all these files on a daily basis and a monthly basis to look at any kind of pattern of out-of-jurisdiction claims, whether of services or medication for extended periods of time. Whether there’s inactive/activity on file for any length of time, we want to make sure that those residents are still living in the North.
Many of those transient populations use PO box numbers as their address, and this is why we want to put the physical address as being required information. Also, we’re looking at the possibility of requiring tax files to prove their residency in our 2009 renewal process. So that’s precisely the reason why we’re looking at these options.
Is there an existing system right now, Mr. Speaker, wherein the department can track those people that actually are non-resident, or is there a way to determine how many people that are using our existing cards are not from here?
All the cards, the people who are registered with health cards, are assumed to be residents of the North unless they are proven otherwise. I could advise the House that we get reports from Blue Cross on a regular basis for all out-of-town claims where the services are purchased from outside. We do look at inactive and irregular files to make sure that those claims are from people who live here. We do understand that there is a possibility that among those 5,000 claims we have, there is a possibility. So we’re strengthening our check and balance systems to make sure that all those who have a health care card currently are active and residents of the N.W.T.
Just for the record, I think my research said there were 46,000 health care cards and 42,000 residents. Perhaps the Minister can clarify that if she’s got the numbers in front of her.
As of October 2007 there were 41,425 residents, according to the latest census. As of February 6, 2008, we have 45,991 health care cards. I can advise you that in the last health care renewal in 2005, we did receive 5,000 health care cards returned, because when the health care cards go out there is a specific instruction that says it cannot be forwarded outside of the jurisdiction. Many of them are cancelled. We expect that we probably will have that this time around, but in the short term, we’re making sure that all claims are from residents and that they in fact live in the Northwest Territories.
In my statement I talked about the Remote Community Wind Energy Conference, which was held in December of this past year. Actually, I believe it was November; I’ll correct myself. The conference report was expected in January of ’08, and it’s now February.
So my question is to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I wondered when we could expect to receive a report on the conference proceedings.
Before the end of this fiscal year.
That was before the end of this fiscal year, so I guess that will be the 31st of March. Okay, thank you.
When can we expect to see a community identified for the wind energy demo project that was a recommendation from the conference? It also was a recommendation in two reports from 2007.
There is work underway as we speak. There have been wind monitors put out to do wind mapping to check the patterns of the wind across the North, there is a Wind Energy Committee, and as well, Minister McLeod is the chair of the energy coordinating committee.
For the government, in this issue of responding to the recommendations that came out of the Wind Conference in Tuktoyaktuk, one of the things on our agenda…. NTPC has the RFP ready to go, to move on this subsequent to the discussion that we are going to be having here in the next week or so with the energy coordinating committee. So there is a lot of work underway.
I would just like to point out that we need to do the base work, because one of the recommendations out of the conference is the observation from other jurisdictions that if you just do a one-off project all by itself, it’s doomed to failure. We have to do the right work with the wind mapping — make sure the infrastructure is in place to support it and make sure that the utility, the community governments, the Territorial government and individuals buy into this. So that’s part of our challenge. We are moving on this, as I just indicated.
I’d like to follow up and ask the Minister when he expects there will be some sort of advancement of the development of the regulatory and policy framework that is required in regard to selling and producing wind energy.
At this point the best answer I could give would be: in the fullness of time and in due course.
Laughter.
There is preliminary work that has to be done in terms of just determining where we would do the pilot project, the kind of other work such as the net to chargeback power. We have to work with NTPC to hook it up so it’s compatible with diesel. There’s a lot of actual logistical work before we have the systems in place, but that’s one of the pieces, and the Member is very accurate in pointing out that we need all these pieces in place to proceed over the long term.
“Fullness of time” is a little difficult to define, but I will accept the Minister’s answer.
Just to clarify, will the work start on the development of the regulatory and policy framework? As well, will we be able to see an operating wind turbine somewhere in some community in the N.W.T. in 2009?
What I will commit to is that through the energy coordinating committee we would be prepared to work with and report back to committee on the work that we’re going to do and the plans that we’re going to lay out to try to advance this initiative in a way that is going to allow full engagement at the community level, as well as with other governments, like the federal government. They need to buy into this process and hopefully put in some resources and lay out some of the steps we would have to take in terms of the infrastructure as well as whatever other legal requirements may be there to do this properly.
My questions are for the Premier, to do with Deh Cho Bridge. I must have missed the dozens of briefings that were provided….
Interjection
Check the attendance record? I think I was there.
Thirty-five years is a long time. There was a cost-benefit analysis done. There are projections. It’s a business case based on volumes of traffic that will go over the bridge that will pay a commercial toll, which will in turn help the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation make the payments on the construction of the bridge.
I would like to know if the G.N.W.T. is going to guarantee the bridge construction loan.
I haven’t been a party to any discussions on guaranteeing a loan beyond the $9 million guarantee we have in place. There is, however, a commitment, as the Members know, that above and beyond the operational money that goes into the ferry and ice crossing, the government did commit another $2 million a year so the tolls could remain acceptable and within the limits established in the Act.
Mr. Speaker, how can the Premier assure us that our contribution to the Deh Cho Bridge project is capped at $2 million per year? And I understand it is indexed. How are we going to set the money that is going to go into the bridge project that is related to the ferry operations and the creation, construction and maintenance of the ice bridge? We’ve got dollar values on those now. Are those going to be subject to increase, as well, as time goes ahead? Is there anything on this that’s capped? Are the tolls for the commercial tonnage capped? Is our contribution capped? Is the other contribution that’s laid out capped at anything, or is this just going to turn into a free-for-all?
Mr. Speaker, the framework that is in place for the Deh Cho Bridge Project allows for indexing, as the Member has stated, whether it’s the $2 million figure that is out there, the fixed-price contract that’s established out there right now — that’s with the Bridge Corporation and the contractor that will be going ahead with the construction of that bridge…. As for any changes, that would have to occur as highlighted. The changes that would have to be approved would have to be approved in this House, once the bridge is in place and transportation starts flowing across it.
Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that any changes to this government’s contribution would have to be approved by the House, because the $2 million we are putting in was never approved by this House. Let the record show we never approved the $2 million a year indexed over 35 years. So I don’t know what it means when the Premier says it would have to be approved by the House. What does that mean?
Mr. Speaker, I’m going to ask the Premier: who is paying the $10 million fully funded contingency for the Deh Cho Bridge?
Mr. Speaker, the contingency is part of the overall construction contract, and that would be through the loan the Bridge Corporation would be getting.
I’d like to ask the Premier: would the bridge project have collapsed if the bridge contractor from New Brunswick had not stepped up the day before the deadline with an additional $2 million equity? Would the bridge project have collapsed without that?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Your question is hypothetical. I will allow the Minister to answer.
As the Member highlighted in her Member’s statement, the concession agreement talked about a maximum of $5 million equity. The Bridge Corporation could have come in lower than that, and we could have, in fact, as a government, looked at it if they had a dollar value. Of course, that would severely affect their rate of return. But there was a maximum — not a minimum — set, as the Member stated.
Mr. Speaker, there has been a plan on the books for a number of years to consolidate the clinics in Yellowknife to create a downtown consolidated clinic. There has been a business case made to do this, basically on the principles that we can take our existing staff and our doctors and we can put them all together and provide more services for less money. So what seems to be the problem? There is money in the budget. Where is this plan today?
Mr. Speaker, the Member is well aware that we will be reviewing our interim appropriation in due course. I believe it is on the agenda. I would not be able to speak about what is in the detail of that.
I would be happy to talk to the Members about some benefits of consolidation of clinics in Yellowknife. It’s a project that has been going on for a very long time. It’s an idea I support. I look forward to having more discussions on that in due course, in the fullness of time.
The time for question period has expired. I will allow supplementary questions. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I encourage the Minister, in this case, to talk about it now. What better place than this Assembly?
In a time where efficiency is…. We have a dire need to create efficiencies within our system. If we can prove the fact — which has been done already — to create a system that gives us more efficiencies, better service for less dollars, what’s the problem here?
Mr. Speaker, where is this plan in the process? There has been capital money already directed toward this project. What’s happening to date?
I totally agree with what the Member has to say about the benefits of this program. I don’t think I agree with the Member that the money spent will necessarily be less, because the programming of this is looking at the long term. That’s a benefit to be gained by consolidating the clinics, which will be absorbed by extra programming and extra hours that the medical and health care professionals in Yellowknife want to provide.
It’s a project that is a priority for the department. It’s a priority of mine, and it’s something that I look forward to working on with the Members through the business planning process.
The Member knows I cannot comment on the capital money elements of that, because that’s up for debate in the upcoming budget.
Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear here, because we’re getting these sort of semantic answers. Is the project in or out for this capital budget?
Mr. Speaker, as I stated, it’s not something I can comment on right now. He will see the budget when it gets debated in this House in the next day or two.
With a whole bunch of leases coming up, the time is now to act. With us having to find this money through our financial exercise of reductions, this is the time to act.
Mr. Speaker, what is this Minister doing to make sure that this consolidated clinic becomes a reality in this coming budget and a reality in this session of this Assembly?
I don’t know if the Member was there, but I voted for that project in the budget last year. That was in the budget last year. It is not true that all the leases are coming due this year or in the immediate future. It’s a phased expiration of the lease. I am aware of that, and I’m working toward consolidating the clinic in time for those leases coming up. We will have further debate on that, I’m sure, as we are able to review the interim appropriation in coming days — this week and next.
I have a number of written questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. They are as follows:
What is the foreign worker assistance program designed to help small business owners fill skilled employment vacancies called?
What is the budget for this program?
When was this program instituted?
How often has this foreign worker program been used, both successfully and unsuccessfully?
What is the average processing time with these applications?
How many businesses have been assisted by this program?
Provide a breakdown of the communities that have businesses accessing this program.
What public information campaign was used to advertise this program to employers?
Who is the point of contact to access this service in Yellowknife?
Do we offer financial assistance in processing applications?
Will you provide me a copy of this program’s establishment policy, assuming there is one?
