Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have some questions today for the Minister responsible for sport. With Arctic Winter Games coming up and with the Olympics on, it’s a good time for me to ask some questions about the sports that were left out of the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. It was quite a controversy last year and I know there has been some work that has been ongoing.
I would like to ask Minister McLeod if he could provide an update on arrangements for competitions for the six, I think it is, sports – I can’t remember the exact number – that were left out of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee decision to be in the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. We are very disappointed that these sports were left out of the 2016 Games that are going to be taking place in Greenland. I have been working with my territorial colleagues and other partner jurisdictions and Ministers. We have come up with a plan to have an alternate event for the sports that were excluded. We are just working on the details now. One of our partner jurisdictions has volunteered themselves as a location, so we’re just working out the details now. We are hoping to have something to report back to our territorial sport organizations and Members of the Assembly as soon as we get that information and get it all confirmed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that. The Minister has said that a location has been identified; it may not be confirmed.
I would like to ask the Minister if all the sports are going to be able to be in one location, whatever that location is, or are they going to be in several locations in 2016. Thank you.
We have heard from all sport organizations in the NWT that were excluded from 2016 and their preference was to have all the sports in one location to give them that opportunity to compete together. We had another location that was probably willing to step forward, but one of the excluded sports would not have been included in that particular venue. This location, we are anticipating that all six sports that were eliminated will be able to compete in one area. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister and I’m really glad to hear that because I know full well that it’s not the same when everybody is not together, so I’m very glad that that’s a high priority.
We allocate money through our budgets for Arctic Winter Games and Canada Games and so on. In terms of the 2016 Games for these sports that are not covered under our allocation of funds for the Arctic Winter Games, will the cost of those games be covered for these athletes? Will they be paying the same amount as if they went to the Arctic Winter Games themselves? Will that be covered through our budget and the other jurisdictions’ budgets? Thank you.
That is our intent, to try to cover off the cost of these games through our multi-sport line item budget if there is money left. We intend not to pass on the cost to the athletes. They would be paying their normal cost such as their registration. We are working hard with our other jurisdiction partners to see how we can work this out. We don’t know the exact details yet if there’s an opportunity for us to come back to this House to seek additional funding for that. That’s something we will work on and we will inform Members of that as we proceed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Madam Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I am really glad to hear that we are looking at making things as equal for these sports that aren’t part of the Arctic Winter Games as possible.
My last ask of the Minister would be, when details are a little more firm, when the location is determined and when costing perhaps has been figured out, if the Minister would provide an update to Members maybe by e-mail or letter or something just to keep us up to date.
I would be pleased to do that. We should have additional details after we meet in Fairbanks during the Arctic Winter Games that are taking place next month. There will be an opportunity there to meet with my colleagues from other jurisdictions. We should have the details ironed out a bit more and once we do have that, I do intend on informing the territorial sport organizations as well as Members of this House. I will be providing regular updates. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. On February 6th of this year, I had asked the Minister of Health about what type of protocols kick in when someone who doesn’t have authorization is visiting other people’s files. In essence, they are cyberstalking. I don’t know any other way of describing it. The only way the people find out, that I’m aware of, is purely by accident. It could be quite some time between the initial incident and by the time they stumble upon it by information being shared. My specific question is built around what type of protocols that inform those who are in charge of the system and lets them know someone is viewing who is unfairly or certainly not empowered to be visiting files.
I’d like to know what the Minister has done in a week, if he has been brought up to speed on this file, because this is an important issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the Member for his question. As I indicated, we will share those protocols with the Member. I have had the opportunity to speak to the department about the protocols that are in place, including security passwords and all the other mechanisms that are in place to ensure that the privacy is secure.
I am not aware of any breaches of this system. A breach would be a serious issue. If there are breaches, I would appreciate the Member and all of my colleagues, if they’re aware, sharing those with us so that we can quantify them, fix them and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I’m not hearing anything that actually tips off the manager or the administrator of this type of private information that a particular person is spending hours, maybe even days examining individual and private files. I haven’t heard a single word built around that fact that there’s something that informs the administrator that something wrong is going on.
Would the Minister be able to speak to that issue specifically, to find out does anything address that type of problem? I’ve been informed they’re a problem, but I’m more worried about the broader protocols at this second to that issue.
Madam Speaker, as I indicated, we take our security on our records very seriously with respect to our medical records. As I indicated, if the Member would share with me, I’d be happy to dig in and look.
We do have a significant number of protocols, which I’ve already indicated I would share with the Member and I will be sharing those with the Member. We do have a significant number of staff within the department who monitor our programs to make sure the data coming in is appropriate and that people have the appropriate access to gain access to that information. So, I will share the protocols with the Member.
Madam Speaker, I guess I’m going to ask the Minister to contradict me, because I’m going to say this is happening and I want him to tell me this isn’t how it happens.
Somebody can be viewing a particular file, who’s not authorized, for hours on end. They have access to the system because that’s their job.
Is there an electronic process that kicks in to tell the administrator that situation X is happening and they should evaluate it as such, or is it when he’s referring to protocols is that, well, they find out when they find out? That’s what I’m trying to ask. Is the system designed in any way to tell the administrator that people are searching files that they should not be? Thank you.
As I indicated, I will share those protocols with the Member so that he can understand the protocols that are in place.
Individuals who have access to our electronic medical records are those individuals who have a reason to be reviewing those files with respect to the clinical management of a patient or client. But I will share those protocols with the Member. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I do appreciate the offer and certainly the public has not heard one iota that speaks to how those protocols are triggered within the system.
Is there a computerized system that pops up, alerts the administrator that files are being searched by unauthorized people, even though they are authorized on the system at large, and indicates that they’re spending time reviewing files that they shouldn’t be? Quite frankly, I think the public deserves some clarity on this issue because potentially folks could be out there searching. We don’t know if that’s the case, so I’m boiling it down to how is the system designed, what alerts the administrator and how do we ensure private information is protected.
I don’t want to be told we’ll sit down later and talk about it. I want to be told now and I think that should be shared with the public. Thank you.
Madam Speaker, as I indicated, only individuals who require that access or require that information that are involved in the circle of care would have access to those files. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I just want to follow up from my earlier questions with the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I understand there is a report coming out on the cost-effectiveness of our respective program for greenhouse gas reductions. The Minister has obviously got the results as a result of the analysis he did in response to my questions.
What sort of contemplations are in place, are happening towards now responding to that information we have so that we can increase our cost-effectiveness on the basis of these analyses? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. To use a phrase used in this House by you, we are looking to see if we can do things better. Clearly, we started back in 2007 or thereabouts with the Greenhouse Gas Strategy. We have worked our way through or are partway through the second iteration and we’re going to be looking at what improvements can be made to our work, to the significant investments that we make to the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee and to new initiatives, and how do we look at and measure what’s most effective in achieving the various goals. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. Will the Minister also be incorporating into that some other ways of urging this to happen in a systemic way? Right now we have lots of one-off actions where we’ll replace a boiler here or subsidize somebody to do something, but we obviously need systemic actions that work across the public and private and government sector.
Will the Minister be considering some new initiatives there that, rather than nickel and diming here, actually goes towards the degree of action that we need? Mahsi.
Madam Speaker, rather than debate the details of the policy approaches, I’m not sure what suggestions the Member has in mind. For example, we would be more than willing to appear before committee with all the appropriate folks to have a discussion about those detailed issues.
Right now we are spending millions on rebate programs, support programs, incentive programs to encourage individuals and businesses to convert. As a territorial government, we have embarked upon a government-wide biomass retrofit process, in some cases with hydro as well. So we have, I believe, moved past the one-off pilot issue. There are still some pilots that we deal with. At the same time, we are fully engaged in our role at ENR to work with the development of industry for biomass, for example, in the Northwest Territories. It would probably be best to have that kind of fulsome discussion at a table where we’re not bound by the rules of the House and we can have more free-flowing discussion. Thank you.
Thanks again for the Minister’s response. I know he’d like me to answer the questions that I’m asking here, but I think that’s his job and obviously he has the resources. I’m happy to come up with my own suggestion, but he’s got a lot of professionals working for him, so I think those are the people we want to engage.
Does the Minister agree that regulatory legislative sorts of actions can be quite cost-effective – they don’t cost millions of dollars – and are a toolbox that we should be looking at to get the objectives achieved that we know we need to achieve? Mahsi.
Madam Speaker, I would encourage the Member to share his good ideas as opposed to us doing what we think is appropriate and wait for Mr. Bromley to say whether we’ve got it right, in his opinion, or not. It’s a much tougher way and much more time-consuming way to do business. I would encourage the Member to share the specifics. We can arrange a meeting, if committee is interested, and we can make this as collaborative as we can. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thanks for that, Madam Speaker. Again the Minister didn’t answer my question. There’s a whole toolbox out there of regulatory and legislative means that actually present systemic solutions to the greenhouse gas reduction challenge.
Does the Minister agree and is he willing to look into that toolbox to see what might be apt to flow in the Northwest Territories, and that would go beyond our very specific programs that we have in place to replace this boiler and building with that boiler? Thank you.
Thank you. I’m not sure if that’s code for carbon tax, but we’re prepared to look at all these tools. In fact, we have looked extensively at a carbon tax, as well, and what systemic changes are there, policy changes, legislative changes that are there when you look at our environment, our cold weather environment, the fact that we rely so heavily for diesel for heating at this point, the high cost of living within those factors. Of course, we are always looking to see what we can do, which is why we’re spending so much money on biomass, trying to advance solar, wind, batteries, we’re looking at hydro expansion, grid expansion and those type of things. So keeping in mind, as well, we have about 597 days left until the next election at this point, we have to see what is doable and possible. As well, we have one more business planning cycle that we’ll be starting probably early April, as well, which would start that final process. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. The time for oral questions has expired. Moving on, on the orders, item 9, written questions. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I request unanimous consent to return to item 6 on the Order Paper, recognition of visitors in the gallery.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was remiss earlier and I need to recognize some Pages from Frame Lake who have been working for us here this week. I know that Mr. Ramsay mentioned Chris Yurris, but he does live in Frame Lake. I don’t know if somebody doesn’t know that, so I’m going to recognize Chris Yurris. I’m going to recognize Emily Paddock and I’m going to recognize John O’Connor and thank them all for their service, and all the Pages who are doing a great job. Thank you.
I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on February 13, 2014, it shall be adjourned until Monday, February 17, 2014;
AND FURTHER, at any time prior to February 17, 2014, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Item 19, first reading of bills. Item 20, second reading of bills. Item 21, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, with Mr. Bouchard in the chair.
Ms. Bisaro, what is the wish of committee?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.
---Defeated
What is the wish of committee?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will continue with Tabled Document 22-17(5) and the opening comments to the Department of Human Resources.
