It’s hard for me to understand from the Minister, they’re doing work in this area, but they’re not tracking anything, and without statistics, how do you track this issue? The NWT coroner’s service tables an annual report that makes countless recommendations to assist this government in making strategic decisions with related addictions and death management, but sadly, a large majority of these recommendations fall on deaf ears.
Can the Minister of Health reaffirm his department’s commitment to deal with the recent seven recommendations from the office of the chief coroner on addressing prescription drug abuse in the NWT?
I, like everybody else, have just received the report and will carefully consider the seven recommendations outlined by the coroner; however, I am not prepared to speak to those details yet because we haven’t concluded that review.
To the Member’s first part of the question, we would love to track medications and whatnot in order to avoid these types of issues, but as I said, there really is no system to do that or to require professionals to put that information into a prescription monitoring system until we complete the Health Information Act. Once we have the Health Information Act done, we will be able to make amendments and put in a prescription monitoring program which all people will be required to provide updates into. Once we have that, we will be able to provide detail and have the information in the future, but until we get the Health Information Act, we don’t have the ability to do that. We are getting that done.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Minister is in error; you can track that information. This government has long-standing adjudication agreements with third-party adjudicators. Aside from the fact from cash-paying customers, they can track this information quite readily if they choose to do so.
Can the Minister indicate specifically what his office will do to improve small community clinical support network and the management of opiate prescribing and opiate addiction?
We can require individuals to put information into a prescription monitoring program, or we can, rather, ask them to do, but we cannot force them to do it at this particular point in time. Once we have the Health Information Act, it will be a requirement and they will need to put it in there. The Member is actually, in fact, wrong.
With respect to what we are doing already, the individual health authorities, as I have already said, have put in place processes to limit access to prescription medications in situations where they have concern about a potential abuser. I will go a little further. The NWT Medical Directors’ Forum is working on guidelines for controlled substances. These will be territory-wide and include the educational component. Guidelines and standards for the medical management of opiate dependence is part of the work the Medical Directors’ Forum on guidelines for controlled substances. One of our physicians has taken training for methadone and Suboxone prescriptions and the management of chronic pain. We will be using the expertise of these physicians and outside experts to further develop controlled substance education throughout the Northwest Territories.
In fact, we are doing a number of things. We take this very seriously. Obviously, we can do more. The Health Information Act will be an important tool for us making progress in this area.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. In my Member’s statement I was talking about decentralization. My questions today will be for the Premier.
With the government spending millions of dollars on housing and public works preparing for decentralization, does this government have a general overall plan of how this decentralization and these positions will go out to the regions?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Of course we have a plan. We have described it many times. We have a three-phase plan. Phase 1 was where we had departments identify positions to be decentralized. We decentralized 18 positions. Phase 2 was to decentralize through devolution. We are very close to completing that. With our new organizational design, we expect there will be approximately 90 positions that have been decentralized. Now we are entering phase 3. Once all the work on devolution is done, we have requested all of our deputy ministers to identify opportunities for decentralization. Through this budget, when it’s passed, we will have monies to go forward so that we can put in place the infrastructure so that we can decentralize positions.
I have difficulties believing the Premier when he talks about decentralization and phase 2 of devolution, which put more than 200 positions into Yellowknife and only 90 out to the regions, so how is that decentralization? It sounds like centralization to me.
What is the government’s plan going forward to decentralize positions and what is that plan specifically? We’re currently planning to build houses in certain communities. We must have a plan that we’re going to put specific positions into those communities. What is that plan?
Those positions were already in Yellowknife, so that’s why they’re here. The federal government, in negotiating the Devolution Agreement, required that those positions would have to stay where they are for at least two years, so that was the deal.
Now, as part of the business planning process going forward, we expect to have a plan within the next six months. Through the business planning process, we will identify what positions and where they will go. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, I think the Premier has devolution and decentralization mixed up and tied into a knot.
I guess my questions would be: How does the Premier expect this Assembly to complete their goal to decentralize? We haven’t accomplished that. We haven’t gotten to that point where we actually have a plan. Is the Premier committing to that six-month plan that we’re going to see how decentralization is going to roll out into the communities in this Assembly?
I know what devolution is and I know what decentralization is. Decentralization is where we take jobs and move them out into the regions, into the communities, so that people most affected by decisions are the ones that make the decisions and they’re closer to where they live. So, I know what decentralization is.
We are working on a plan. We have the Department of Finance, the Minister of Finance will be leading through the Refocusing Government Cabinet committee. He will be developing a plan. We will be building 30 houses a year in the communities. Along with increased services, we expect to have about 169 houses built over the next three years. We will have a plan so you’ll know what positions will be moved, you’ll know where they’ll be moved and where the houses will be built and, of course, along with the required office space. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I appreciate that there is a plan. My concern is that we’re already committing to building 30 houses and we haven’t completed the plan yet. Shouldn’t we have that current plan in place before we implement those houses and some of those office studies?
How do those two link? How does the government go ahead and spend millions of dollars on housing and office studies when we don’t even actually have the plan in place? How does the Premier explain that?
That’s all part of doing business. We have to get the money for houses first. In the past, every time we talked about decentralization, we said, well, we don’t have housing in the communities, we don’t have office space, so we can’t have decentralization. What we’re saying now is we’re not going to hide behind those standards of lack of housing, lack of office space. We’re going to have a plan that will tell you where we’re going to build those houses, and we’ll be able to tell you what positions and programs will be decentralized. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Recently I made a statement, obviously, about the broadband accomplishments on the reserve. I wanted to ask the Minister if he could update this House in terms of the GNWT’s involvement with the broadband initiative of the fibre optic link on the reserve. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’d like to congratulate the Hay River Reserve for the work that they’ve put into broadband and fibre on the reserve. I had the opportunity last year to go down and visit with community leaders there, and it’s very encouraging to see the work and the effort that’s been put into fibre optic in that community. I know they have some big plans, and certainly the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment were interested in helping them try to achieve those plans. Thank you.
This government promoted the idea of the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic link. It will be possible at some point, if it’s established, to link all communities across the NWT.
How is the GNWT, especially through ITI or all departments, working to ensure that communities at some point will be able to take advantage of these technologies? Mahsi.
We’re very encouraged by the signals from the federal government on the importance of growing broadband and connectivity in Canada’s North. It looks like they’re going to invest over $300 million on that initiative over the next few years.
We certainly are moving forward with the fibre optic link down the Mackenzie Valley and any opportunity we have, as a government, to continue to look at opportunities to connect communities to that system is something we are certainly interested in. I know it’s early days since the announcement by the federal government on the money for fibre in northern Canada, but certainly we will be putting our efforts into trying to get some of that funding for some of our communities here in the NWT. Thank you.
How would the department work on behalf of communities to ensure that some of those federal dollars that the federal government has committed will be available for communities in terms of establishing technology, whether broadband or fibre optics? Thank you.
On a bigger scale, I think it comes down to planning. Certainly we have to work with communities around the Northwest Territories as a government to get a plan going forward. On a smaller scale such as perhaps what the Hay River Reserve is trying to achieve, we do have some funding that we could certainly look at in the South Slave to help the Hay River Reserve achieve what they’re trying to do there with fibre optics. That’s certainly something we are interested in doing, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Before I begin I want to make note that I am certainly sorry that my passion and frustration got ahead of me earlier. I acknowledge that and I never intended to use “vexatious” as a particular word. I didn’t plan that in any way.
What that does, though, is further stress my frustration about this whole problem. There’s an apparent wall between the board of governors at Aurora College and the students, if I may describe it as a protective barrier. The letter clearly states about process, process, process.
I guess I will say this to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: under Section 7(1), the Minister can give direction to a board such as the Aurora College governors, and further, the Minister shall, under 7(2), determine the policies respecting operations of the college.
I am asking, will the Minister, who represents us through Education, Culture and Employment, tell, instruct, or direct the board of governors at Aurora College to meet with the students to hear their concerns directly and not be afraid of them by instructing them to follow process, process, process? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have already made a commitment in the House that I will be meeting with the board of governors’ chair and also the president, both of them together, to highlight the Member’s concern that the board of governors should be meeting with the students.
I don’t want to be in a position to dictate to the board of governors or the district education councils or authorities to tell them what to do. We have to work hand in hand. We have to work closely together between the departments and agencies, so we continue to strengthen the relationship we have with the agencies and DEAs and DECs and the board of governors as well.
I made a commitment and I will follow through with that commitment. Mahsi.
The Minister just said, “I don’t want to be in a position…to tell them what to do.” Let me remind the Minister, once again, that he’s in charge and if he doesn’t want to be in charge, that’s okay, because there’s probably an opening over here if he doesn’t want to tell them what to do.
Under Section 7, once again, the Minister has the authority to provide them direction. Under Section 7(2), they can provide direction through policy. So if he’s not interested, I’m not sure what the problem is.
The letter he received was cc’d to him, went to me, and said basically they will get to it when they get to it through process. Here is an occasion to get down to the level of the students, meet with them, get involved with them and find out what’s important to the students.
Will the Minister stop talking about this administrative, bureaucratic talk and say yes, I’m going out there today and telling the president and the chair of the board of governors that you will meet with the students and today we’re going to do business differently? Thank you very much.
Yes, I did make a commitment to sit down with the board of governors. Mahsi.
The Minister is in possession of the same letter I am that they wrote to me on February 6th. They basically say they’re not going to meet with them. The only way they meet with them is when they bump into them at the store or on the street, if they run across them in another meeting. There is no formal commitment. If anything, there is a commitment saying we’re not interested.
So, the Minister is saying he is going to meet with them. What exactly is he going to tell the college that they’re going to do and how are they going to do it?
This is an area that I need to have a discussion with the board of governors of the college, having a direct dialogue with the board of governors and the students. We have to have an open dialogue. That’s a discussion we need to have with the board of governors, the board chairs and the president. You know I have the authority, but I need to sit down with them first to see what kind of discussions they’ve had in the past and how we can move forward. Those are discussions, and I’ve made a commitment in the House to proceed with that and I’m going to do it, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I guess I’m going to say, in short, if this board, be it the chairperson, the board of governors and the president refuse to meet with the students, is the Minister prepared to start with a new slate of governance to find a group of individuals that care enough about their students to hold meetings with them? Thank you.
Mr. Hawkins, that’s technically a hypothetical question, if all these things happen what would the Minister be prepared to do. Could you think of some other way to reword your question? Thank you.
Madam Speaker, I don’t think it’s worth it.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today are also addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to follow up on some of the concerns raised in my Member’s statement.
On October 7th the Minister made a statement in this House and in that statement he announced a wage or subsidy program for early childhood practitioners. I recognize that our child care staff tend to be poorly paid. They are certainly on the low end of the wage scale, in my estimation.
I would like to ask the Minister, first of all, how this particular approach, how a wage subsidy approach was decided on. Were daycares or preschool operators consulted? If so, when were they consulted and how many operators did he consult with? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I don’t have the breakdown of how many times we met or how many agencies, but I can provide the breakdown to the Member.
With the proposed funding that’s within the budget, we are allocating upwards of $511,000 towards this wage subsidy. There were suggestions and ideas that came forward and, again, we have to backtrack to the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, Early Childhood Development Framework, the engagement we have had with the general public, the agencies, the child care workers. They’ve told us their wage is so low, minimum $17,000 to $22,000 a year, so we felt that we needed to follow up on that so that we can have those highly skilled individuals at a going rate today.
So we are following through on what we’ve been told by parents, by our communities and we’re moving forward on that. Mahsi.
Thanks to the Minister, and I don’t disagree that we need to do something for our early childhood practitioners. They definitely are not paid what they’re worth, but I’m struggling to understand. The Minister didn’t really answer my question as to where this approach came from. I find it unlikely that the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative would have laid out this kind of an approach to increasing wages for early childhood practitioners.
My next question to the Minister has to do with how this program is going to work. I am struggling to understand just how this is going to roll out, so I’d like to ask the Minister for some details.
Will the funds go to individual teachers? Will they go to the daycare or the preschool operators? What’s the plan? Thank you.
The money that’s identified, once it’s passed through this House in the budget we will then be working with licensed early childhood centre operators to ensure the funding is applied directly to increasing of staff wages. So those are the targeted individuals, individuals with low wages so we can at least subsidize them. In 2014, in April, that’s when the $2 addition will be added on. The following year in April will be another $1 addition and the subsequent years will be based on certification, diplomas or degrees they’ve obtained will be waged at the top of this. Those are just the discussions that we’ve had.
When I mentioned the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, we spoke generally about the education of all of the Northwest Territories that covered early childhood as well. So that’s why we refer back to the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, Early Childhood Development Framework and now we’re going through education renewal. Those are some of the discussions we’ve been engaged in with the general public. Mahsi.
Thanks to the Minister for that detail. He’s taking me to my next question, which has to do with certification.
The Minister, in his statement, said we’re also putting in place a credentialing system, scholarships and incentives for early childhood development professionals. So I’d like to know from the Minister, I agree completely that we need to have our early childhood professionals certified and they need to be certified to a national standard, but I’d like to know from the Minister if, in 2016, certification is going to increase the wages of our professionals. So I’d like to know, again, how this system is going to work. I think it’s a grand idea, I think it’s needed, but I don’t understand how it’s going to work. What kind of credentialing system are we going to put in place? Thank you.
Mahsi. That’s the information and the direction that we need to work with the child care centres and especially the daycare operators. They would have a handle on how many are in the system, how many are getting their certification or diploma and the degree programs. So 2016-2017 onward we want to identify those individuals.
We have, I believe, if I’m not mistaken, approximately 30 individuals that are in the professional fields in post-secondary. Obviously, we want to attract them to the Northwest Territories to work in our centres across the Northwest Territories. So this will be an incentive for them to come back to our region, our communities to work for us. That’s the overall plan to develop some attractiveness and also some incentive for those individuals to come back to our North. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m struggling to understand the system. I guess if I’m given two years in which to get my certification but I’m also working full-time, I’m really struggling to understand how I’m supposed to accomplish that.
I have heard that there will be an on-line system or an on-line program, I guess, but for me to take stuff on-line, I think it’s going to take quite a long time. So, I’d like to know from the Minister if he has looked at the amount of time that’s going to be required for any professional to get the certification that’s required for them to get the greater wage that they deserve. Thank you.
