Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier again. I don’t question the right of the federal government to do their legislation, but our Aboriginal partners, the mass are speaking against this. So what I’m talking about here is mitigating the impacts of this. It’s going to happen. The Devolution Agreement commits us to stick with the MVRMA for at least five years, but the current federal government only has a mandate until 2015.
Will the Premier show some leadership and begin working with our partners on a strategy for re-establishing regional boards when a new federal government is in place? Mahsi.
We will commit to working with our Aboriginal governments to improve in every area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Although I know that the Housing Corporation will be building independent living housing for seniors in Fort Good Hope in 2014-15 and that there’s a schedule already set out by the Housing Corporation and they’re working with the community of Fort Good Hope, I’m hoping that all plans are on target and that construction would begin, with elders moving into the facility in the spring of 2015. I wanted to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services about the programs and services of that facility.
Will there be plans to train some additional staff members, maybe one or two that would support the facility in Fort Good Hope?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just confirmed with the Minister of Housing that that project is definitely going ahead. They’re going to be starting during this fiscal year. I’ll leave it to the Minister to confirm the actual opening date, but the Department of Health and Social Services, the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority and the Housing Corporation are collaborating on the development and programming for the new independent living units. A common area has been identified and incorporated into the design of the new housing units, and in the plans it is proposed that seniors day programs and health and personal care services will be delivered in that area through the new independent serviced seniors living unit. This will be assessed in 2014 by the department and the health and social services authority, and the department will work with the authority to determine the best range of services to the clients to be delivered in that area. At that time I’ll be able to give the Member more detail. Thank you.
In our planning for our elders and our long-term care facility in Norman Wells, which is going to happen for a territorial long-term care facility, we also have this additional independent senior housing unit in Fort Good Hope.
Can the Minister inform me if it makes sense to look at the training or this training happens in the upcoming years, that the residents in Fort Good Hope will also have the opportunity if the training is assessed and that they can also be tagged on to the training program that is scheduled for the territorial long-term care facility that is going to be located in Norman Wells?
Until we do the analysis of that facility and the programs that will be delivered there, it’s hard to give a definite yes. I can say that it may be possible for us to deliver personal care and coordination of the programs in the Fort Good Hope independent living unit using existing home care staff in the community. However, if additional staff are required through the analysis that’s being done, we’re happy to work with our training partners, such as Aurora College, in the community to coordinate training for future staff.
Looking at the schedule from the Housing Corporation, the seniors are expected to move into the independent seniors facility in Fort Good Hope in the spring of 2015, I believe.
I want to ask, do we have enough time, I guess, to say, yes, we can look at an additional one or two staff members, given that there is going to be a caretaker there, and that we also need to have some kind of medical personnel at that site also?
We will continue to work with the Sahtu health and social services in the community and identify the needs for the community with respect to the new independent living unit. Where additional resources are required, we will plan for them through the normal business cycle, which will give us time to have positions in place if necessary and required in the ’15-16 fiscal year.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the recent announcement by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the future investment and rollout of the publicly funded junior kindergarten plan, it begs to ask what is to become of well-established private daycare facilities or, in some cases, societies such as Montessori that provide similar programming? Today my questions will be for the Minister of ECE.
Has the Minister or his staff entered into any formal dialogue with owners of private daycare facilities or providers of similar competing programs to the publicly funded junior kindergarten plans?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. During the transition period, since we’re talking about 2014-2015, we are making connections with the daycare operators and also those school boards that we have to work closely with. My department has been in development and also implementing actions to support the licenced programming that will be affected. Those are just some of the discussions that we have been having initially with ECE, the regional early childhood consultant that works with all the child care centres across the Northwest Territories. These are just some of the discussions that will be taking place from here until the start of the next school year, so the discussion is ongoing.
It’s comforting to know that the Minister is indicating that we’re going to be talking to some of these partners in due course here, but has the Minister or his staff designed any formal programming and partnering with this junior kindergarten plan with these established daycares and providers of similar programs? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my department, as I have stated, is developing an action plan to help support licenced programs that may be affected during the transition of bringing the junior kindergarten into our school system. Both Education, Culture and Employment early childhood consultants and also headquarters staff will be working very closely with all the daycare operators throughout the Northwest Territories and during the introduction of junior kindergarten will provide options for parents, and in particular for our communities that do not have licenced child care programming. Those are just some of the areas that we will be working and very closely monitoring and supporting those individuals and organizations as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to hear more about the partnering aspect, because I think that a lot of these facilities are a bit concerned here.
Has the Minister or his staff performed any risk assessment that may occur if such junior kindergarten initiatives create closures of private daycare or current program offerings in our communities? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the daycare centres can convert four-year-old spaces to spaces for children zero to three. The Member is asking about a risk assessment. The program operators simply need to contact their regional early childhood consultant to work with them – all those daycare operators – to make necessary changes to convert the four-year-old space to accommodate younger children. So those are areas we are working closely with them.
We also provide additional funding of an additional $780 to convert each four-year-old space to an under-24-month space. This investment should comfortably cover the costs of necessities such as cribs, infant tables and chairs and tables, toys and resources.
Those are some of the areas we continue to work on with the child care operators. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The purpose of my questions today are to create ladders of opportunity for our private daycare facilities and our private providers such as Montessori, and I’m hoping that the Minister can commit to when he will begin these formal discussions, these formal offerings with these private facilities so they can voice their concern. When will this start to occur? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there has been preliminary discussion with the child care operators when we started talking about the early childhood development, the overall framework and the action plan. Part of that was introducing the junior kindergarten. All regions have early childhood regional consultants that are available to answer any questions or ideas that they may have or any assistance for these operators.
Under the Early Childhood Development Action Plan, my department has come out with having a comprehensive communication dialogue and also a plan. Within the plan, we’re developing a toll-free number that parents and operators and anyone interested can start conversing back and forth with our department, the specialists and consultants.
During the junior kindergarten implementation, we want to have a smooth transition, so we are providing those support mechanisms to these operators. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within the next 46 days we will be implementing our Devolution Agreement, if all goes well.
I would like to ask the Premier, once this process has been completed, will this benefit the outstanding land claim groups in their negotiations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I truly believe that will be the case. I think we’re seeing evidence of that now, working with the Dehcho First Nation where we’ve been able to work together to resolve some very difficult, complex issues around land on a without prejudice basis. I think the incentive for both of us to do it was devolution. I think that by putting rigour to the process with oversight by myself and the grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations, I think we’ve been able to work together and find some very innovative solutions to long-standing problems, and I’m really looking forward to the next few months where we will see if it will stand the test of going through the due process of both the Dehcho First Nations process and our government process.
We are also looking at entering a similar process with the Akaitcho First Nation. In my mind, this has provided a positive impetus going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 8, written questions.
---Interjection
Mr. Hawkins, I didn’t see your hand up.
Mr. Speaker, this Legislature approves money to be directed specifically to human resources. In other words, we dedicate money specifically for jobs. The Northwest Territories as of December 31st, had an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. We’ve heard that deputy ministers will move money that is intended for human resources over to projects because they want to fulfil their mandate within their department. My view is they are actually breaking direction laid out by the Legislature. In essence, it’s tantamount, in my view, of breaking the law.
My question to the Minister of Finance is: Will he review the books over the last five years and find every deputy minister who has approved and signed these off and fire them?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No.
I’d like to ask what the Finance Minister is going to do if we know that deputy ministers are signing off human resources money that is designed, protected and passed in this Legislature by a duly elected body when they go behind the scenes and re-appropriate the money for their pet projects. What is the Finance Minister going to do?
The Member is making very harsh, unfounded allegations of criminal wrongdoing, which is what he said, and asking that people be fired on the basis of the fact that for the last three days we’ve been sorting through vacancy rate numbers and he’s now convinced that there is a criminal wrongdoing, which would mean, since the deputies all report to Ministers, that there was some type of complicity or conspiracy.
Very clearly, this Legislature votes positions, when they are part of the budget process, to fulfil functions in government. Once those positions are in place and they are staffed or in the process of being staffed, then they become part of the working tools and process to meet the government’s and Legislature’s mandate.
Managing those vacancies is a legitimate government management tool that is used in every corporation, every business in the world. It is done properly. There are checks and balances in place.
There are questions about some of the numbers. The Member is throwing around big numbers and big accusations when the reality is we will be able to lay out adequately, I believe, where all the positions are and we are very cognizant of our responsibilities. We have accountabilities for transfers of funds over $250,000 between activities, interactivity transfers that we have to report to this House every session. We are accountable as Ministers every day that we are in this House and every day that we have the authority as Ministers for what’s happening in our departments.
To accuse senior officials of such conduct and criminal wrongdoing with absolutely no evidence I think really doesn’t add to the tenure of the debate in this House. Thank you.
The department agencies can manage their vacancies and variances by meeting their goals, delivering their programs and services while staying within their budgets. So, what that’s saying is departments can manage their money by turning around and moving human resource money over to program money. I can tell you, the Finance Minister has witnessed a claim made by senior management where they’ve chosen to use HR money for program needs.
What is the Finance Minister going to do, after I’ve just heard his last response from the last question when he sat and heard the proof, because he was there with me. Thank you.
We have collectively approved in this House every budget that comes before it that runs the Government of the Northwest Territories. This is my 19th year, so I’ve been through the budget cycle 19 times. I believe my colleague has been through that cycle 10 times. This issue of vacancies has come up periodically about what’s happening, what’s the vacancy rate and what are we doing to fill them, all legitimate questions. The Member now has taken it to another level where he’s implying that there’s some kind of conspiracy and planned wrongdoing here, and there isn’t, Mr. Speaker.
We have numbers here that we are going to be sharing with committee, that they’ve asked for, that provide the amount of detail that lay out the work that’s been done. Let me say once again, as well that managing 5,000 employees is a big job, there are management issues and they are a key resource and we need to manage all those resources, full or vacant, to carry out the work that’s necessary. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, it begs the question why do we even approve any budget if we know this? There are 571 vacancies the government is actively pursuing, but we can only find 100 on-line. We know, at the end of the day, no matter what we approved as the budget, the deputy ministers can go do an end run and move the money over to projects they want. So the reality is when the Legislature makes the decision, it just seems to be a waste of anyone’s time, including Cabinet and certainly the public. With jobs being denied to Northerners, this just doesn’t sit well.
Explain why we’re here if the deputy ministers can go change the budget at their will beyond the Legislature’s approval. Thank you.
I would ask the Member to give one shred of evidence about pet projects, about the allegations he’s making. He says, why are we even here? We’re approving a $1.6 billion budget that provides services to every man, woman and child in the Northwest Territories. That’s why we’re here. We’re here to make laws that are going to benefit our people. We’re here to provide direction and oversight of a very complex organization.
The Member has some questions and concerns about positions. We have over 5,000 jobs. He’s talking about a few hundred vacancies, which we will lay out in detail as to where they are. I think his Hyperbolus statements, once again, don’t add to the tenure of the debate and they cause confusion in the public, and his draconian request for human sacrifice based on his state of high dudgeon is not helpful. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask this question to the Minister of Finance. With the discussion of all the vacancies and when they’re going to be filled and the amount of money we approve each year, for the last 10 years I’ve been standing here and I’m still standing here asking when will the communities without RCMP or nurses have those positions filled. Each year I bring that forward and there’s no money, there’s no money. Just recently we find out there are vacant positions and still there’s no money.
When will this government have the flexibility of letting this Cabinet say, listen, they’re asking for this in Colville Lake as well as any other small community without RCMP or nurses for 10 years that I’ve been here.
Can the Minister explain to me why Colville Lake or any other small communities do not have nurses yet or an RCMP? At last count it was 10 or 11 communities without RCMP members. When?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll speak first, of course, to the fiscal reality that we face, which the Member is very conversant with and well aware of. I can also speak to the fact that there are health and safety issues for employees now. It’s no longer a case of one nurse or one RCMP, but it’s going to be two or maybe even three to cover off all of these health and safety issues, which gets back to being a significant cost factor.
We are trying to profile our resources to make sure that we provide coverage for health and social services and for the RCMP to provide that security and comfort to all members in all of the communities. But the request of actually stationing members in every community regardless of size is one that we’re not in a position to fulfill at this point. Thank you.
The Minister and I haven’t gone out for supper, but we’ve had a lot of discussions on this issue. I’m asking for a plan. In the last 10 years of being in this House and being a Member of the Legislative Assembly, when are we going to stop talking about a plan, given that we have a lot of vacancies? Let’s do one community this year, let’s do another community next year or the year after. We know from the previous Ministers and even this Cabinet, they tell us the amount of money to staff an RCMP officer or the nurse in the community.
I’m asking, when do we start the plan other than give reasons why we can’t do this? When can we have that discussion?
As it pertains to health and social services, I know that there has been, over the years, a lot of discussion, a lot of planning, a lot of creating of models of what would be an ideal staffing model in the communities for all health and social services programs and when we look at the actual numbers – and you’ve seen some of the requests that come through – they would bankrupt the government.
So every year we do business plans, every year we sit down with communities, we sit down with the departments and we go through the programs and services that are there, always within the fiscal context and we’re going to be starting that cycle again, in 54 days I believe the Member said, and we’ll be starting the work on our last budget of the 17th Legislative Assembly. Once again it will be an opportunity for us to gather around the table and look to the future as devolution will have been upon us and we will be looking forward, hopefully with a lot of hope for the future. Thank you.
The Minister has mentioned in the House the number of years, 19 years he’s been through this cycle and the number of years to get a project or to get something in in the regions or the communities. So, given that we’re close to the end of our term in this Assembly, could we look at one of the communities that does not have a nursing station, for example, or RCMP members in that community?
Imagine some communities do not have a nursing station, a position for a nurse or RCMP members in that community, and we’ve gone too long without the members living in our communities and this is our 10th year. So, certainly we could look at some of the flexibilities, given that we know now a little more information on the vacancies.
Can he be creative to look at some of these positions along with the capital infrastructure required to go into communities so people can have some of the essential, basic services and requirements that other communities take for granted? Thank you.
I can appreciate the Member’s concern and his patience and his resolute pursuit of this issue along with his other colleagues from small communities. What I would suggest, since he’s referred to and looking for hope potentially, in his mind, with the review of vacancies that the committee asked yesterday for some more detailed information and we are in the process of finalizing that information. But once that information is reviewed and we all have a common understanding of the breakdown of the numbers, which I think will meet the concern of the Members, then we can have a more informed discussion about those issues and the relationship to the issue that the Member has raised. I think we’ll see that there is not a huge fund or pot of positions that are sitting there that could be moved. Filling them is a challenge as it is, but we’ll be able to account for all of the different questions that the Members have raised when we review that information. Thank you.
