We could create policy on the fly here if that’s what Members like. There’s a process for dealing with policy and there’s also the Financial Administration Act that’s in place that stipulated levels of authority for contracting. There’s a Financial Administration Manual that is a part of the process. That work is actually ongoing from the Department of Finance looking at the Financial Administration Act and the FAM, as we call it, or Financial Administration Manual. That’s being looked at overall in the government how we contract. For the actual policies themselves, there are issues and questions that have been raised by Members but I can’t recall and I’d have to go back to the paperwork to see if there’s an actual letter saying a requested revision of those policies. But right now, the Financial Administration Act itself is undergoing work, as along with that is the Financial Administration Manual.
I appreciate the comments from the Premier there. What would the Premier say is the best process for Members to take here to get that review and revision happening, recognizing that of course there is a Financial Administration Act and a process described, but then there’s the actual implementation of it in a way that does not favour those with previous relationships with the government or whatever.
Let’s be clear that again, with a Territory our size and the delivery of programs as complex as they are, we go out there at times for public tender, RFPs, RFQs, sole-sourced contracts as is the example being used today. We try to deliver the programs and services that we’re expected to deliver. It is a challenging environment. We go through a number of phases and processes of ensuring that we can get the work done and even though people who have worked for the Government of the Northwest Territories in the past, they still need to earn a living if they are to remain in the Northwest Territories. So whether it’s with our government or an aboriginal government, we should recognize that. When it comes to the actual process to use and where we go, well, everything that we do as a government will flow out of the Financial Administration Act. So that would be the first big ticket item that we would look at and how we work and how we let contracts. From there our policies are formed. So I would say that avenue of the Financial Administration Act, then the manual, and then our policies. When it comes to the interpretation of those, well, that’s a day-by-day task and as Members are holding us to account on that even in today’s session.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously the proof is in the pudding. The public is very upset about the sole-sourced contracting that’s going on. There are generally many examples, and we’ve brought them to the Premier before and we’ll bring them to him again, of work that could be done by many that’s sole sourced. Last session, I believe, I raised a number of specific issues. For example, letting go identical contracts for the exact same work and the exact same time frame and letting them out on sole-sourced basis. What’s more specific than that? I’d like to ask, will the Premier be doing some sort of assessment to see what the additional cost of all this sole sourcing is and likely lower quality work than if it had been put out on a competitive basis?
I know the Member is very adept at looking at how we do things as a government and his professional expertise in areas, but he seems to cover quite an area from climate change expertise right down to now contracting, and if in fact the work that we get is quality work or not. We can debate that quality here and we do that. The issues of the work we do as a government, the nature of that work that needs to get done and the timing of that all comes into place when we make decisions. In fact, again, the Member says that the public is outraged at this or very concerned about that. Between an editorial and a number of questions in here, that’s one thing we need to deal with. Yes, we do look into those and provide information on that. But let’s be clear that at times the best experts are the ones who have experience in how we deliver programs and services. At times the best expertise would be those where the Minister or department feel confident in the work that needs to be done and the speed it needs to be done so we can get things happening with ourselves, with the federal government, with aboriginal governments and so on. So there are times when we do use that process of sole-source contracting.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From time to time this particular issue comes up and it’s a question about third-party insurance providers. The question really comes up in the context of whether or not the GNWT accesses that opportunity to help stave off some of the costs that are incurred at Stanton Hospital. Where this specifically arises is if somebody arrives at Stanton and one of the questions quite often asked was, were you hurt at work. So in other words, WCB starts to pick up some of these costs. Of course, then it doesn’t fall on the typical shoulders of our public purse because we have a WCB process that will help with those charges.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what other third-party costs we reach out to help cover some of our costs of health care.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think third-party insurance is something that we will be discussing more and more over the next number of weeks as we do public discussion on the supplementary health benefits. We have done a user profile analysis and we have learned that third-party insurance, when we are talking about third-party insurance we’re not talking about the insurance program that government could enter into but third-party insurance that every individual has access to. Third-party insurance could be WCB, but it could also be employer insurance. If you work for the government or major companies, many of the employers offer insurance as part of their package. There are some private businesses and individuals who choose to take third-party insurance for whatever reason. The information we’ve learned from our research in this area, is that for the NWT residents there are only about 40 percent of people who take advantage of third-party insurance or have third-party insurance, whereas in other provinces we think that it would be up to 70 percent or 80 percent of people at least who would have access or choose to take that, because they would need to do that because the government programs are not as generous.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. When I say this it is not directed at the Minister, it’s the problem. I want to say this can’t be actually taken lightly. People have to be well aware that we could actually be saving a lot of money out of the public purse if we considered this opportunity and in many cases a reality. Is there a policy within the Department of Health and Social Services that when somebody arrives at Stanton or any other health centres, one of the first questions in their information forms that they fill out is do you have third-party insurance that could cover these costs that work with the public health process that we would normally pick up? In essence, I want to ask if we’re asking the people who show up if they have third-party insurance.
I think the Member may be moving ahead of himself there. I guess we could always ask the individuals, but I think we should also recognize that it’s not entirely the individual’s fault in the way we have such a low rate of people having third-party insurance. We have a system where the government pays for core health care services, which is the case all across Canada and we’re not going to change that. But we have historically covered for all of the extended health benefits that an insurance company would do in southern jurisdictions. So there have been no incentives for residents to seek third-party insurance. It’s a shame, really, because those options are available and if the people needed to do it, I’m sure they would look into it more. But we have just built in this incentive and we need to have that conversation with the public.
Actually, I’ve been trying to whittle down to the exact area I’m getting to and I think we’ve now reached the point. I definitely believe heart of hearts that the public system is truly the backstop of what needs to be out there, and by no means am I suggesting that the public system should erode. What I’ve really been trying to whittle down to is this particular point: if somebody arrives at Stanton today and is in a car accident, we don’t ask them if they have third-party insurance. Yet everybody driving a car, in that car, legally, of course, is supposed to have insurance. So in other words, those insurance companies are getting off the hook because the public system is so gracious to cover their costs. But every year people’s insurance goes up and up and up on costs. So my problem really comes down to this: why does our territorial health policy not take into consideration these types of problems of saying, well, wait a minute, you’re legally mandated to have third-party insurance in this particular case such as auto insurance. Why don’t we tap into that first, because they’re already paying for it?
I’m not sure if the Member is asking me about requiring people to have auto insurance. I’m thinking that he’s concentrating on the health insurance. No, we don’t have a system right now where a person goes into...unless they don’t have NWT health care, in which case we’d be interested in how they’re going to pay for it out of their health insurance coverage or their own pocket. As we have the system now, we do not ask people whether they have third-party insurance, because they have never really had to because the GNWT covers for all of their health care if they are eligible under specific conditions or if they’re seniors or if they’re indigent. In fact, we top up those who have third-party insurance for the percentage that they’re not covered with their insurance companies. We are looking to speak to the public about the necessity to consider having third-party coverage for those who can do it. For those who are not eligible because of their condition or because they can’t afford it, then, of course, government will always be there as the safety net to those who need it the most.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all due respect, I don’t think the Minister sees what I’m trying to get at, which is the fact that I agree that the public system is there to top up, I agree that the public system is to back up the person as the backstop, and I definitely agree that the public system is the safety net provided to all our citizens. My fear is that we’re leaving potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars or even up to millions of dollars over the course of a number of years that we’re not tapping into the third-party insurance that is legally mandated. I’m not asking her to make sure that people who are driving cars have insurance. I’m telling you the cars that are supposed to be legally on the road are supposed to have insurance. That’s the issue. So there’s insurance covering them so if there’s an accident that person already has insurance for those health-related services. Why aren’t we tapping into that opportunity? That’s the issue. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
I’ll have to find out if our facilities ask in cases where the persons coming in are injured as a result of an accident and whether there might be health care coverage that they should be accessing first. They might be doing that already. I don’t know exactly how it works on the ground. I will ask what questions the providers ask when people come in.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to ask some questions to the Minister of youth. Over the weekend I had the pleasure of watching the hand games. At the hand games they had a lot of youth that were involved in the tournament. I want to ask the Minister of Youth on the involvement of youth more into the hand games, if there is some type of avenue that the communities can take to involve the youth almost on more of a territorial level youth hand games tournament with his staff working with the different organizations in the Sahtu communities.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Involving the youth in the hand games tournament would be something that I think we would encourage the communities to do and a lot of the elders. There are many programs out there that if the funding meets the criteria, then we’d be able to assist them. Thank you.
The funding in terms of accessing funding, there are various programs that Sport North and other organizations have that sometimes it becomes very difficult in terms of accessing funding for the youth. I wonder if the Minister then could possibly look at maybe one of the organizations from the Sahtu communities looking at the funding and how we can get a youth hand game tournament in the region. Again, we could have about 40 teams participating.
There are many different areas of youth funding available across the Northwest Territories. We get applications from a lot of groups that are interested in hosting different activities. Again, if it meets the criteria, we have funded a lot of youth programs in the past and this is something that working with the regions and working with the folks in the regions is something we are looking at doing again. If it fits all the criteria, then normally they would get funding, but there are many different pots out there, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Mr. Krutko on February 1, 2010, regarding the cost of physician and registered nurse visits to Tsiigehtchic.
There were eight physician visits to Tsiigehtchic between October 2008 and September 2009, typically 30 percent of these visits are made by specialists. Three visits by locum specialists cost $3,750, five visits by general practitioners cost $5,250, for an overall salary cost of $9,000 for physician visits to Tsiigehtchic for the period in question. The hourly cost for general practitioner is between $112 and $149 and the hourly cost for specialist ranges between $132 and $176.
A nurse-in-charge made 20 visits to Tsiigehtchic between October 2008 and September 2009. The total cost of nurse visits for that period is between $8,697 and $11,457, depending on the number of hours in each visit. The hourly rate for a nurse-in-charge is between $44.88 and $50.93.
In addition to the visitors, a nurse resides in Tsiigehtchic during freeze-up and breakup. For the time frame in question, a nurse was resident from October 17 to December 5, 2008, and April 20 to June 9, 2009. Salary cost for this time frame is $60,267.10. In addition to this, the nurse is provided with accommodations, which cost in total $7,000 --$4,000 for freeze-up and $3,000 for breakup. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 10, Exemptions Act, and the committee wishes to report that Bill 10 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr .Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure has reviewed Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Commissioner’s Land Act. The committee wishes to report that Bill 5 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled GNWT Response to Committee Report 2-16(4), Report of the Auditor General on Contracting for Goods and Services in the NWT. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration of Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 2, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2009-2010; Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Child and Family Services Act; Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Summary Conviction Procedures Act; Tabled Document 62-16(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2010-2011; Tabled Document 78-16(4), Supplementary Appropriation (Operations Expenditures) No. 3, 2009-2010; Tabled Document 80-16(4), Supplementary Appropriation (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 4, 2009-2010; Minister’s Statement 47-16(4), Transfer of the Public Housing Rental Subsidy; Committee Report 5-16(4), Report on the Review of the 2008-2009 Human Rights Commission Annual Report, with Mr. Bromley in the chair. By the authority given me as Speaker by Motion 12-16(4), I hereby authorize the House to sit beyond the daily hour of adjournment to consider the business before the House. Members, pursuant to our rules, I hereby appoint the Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay, to act as chair of Committee of the Whole for today as required.
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have before us, committee, consideration of Bills 2, 4 and 7, Tabled Documents 62-16(4), 78-16(4), 80-16(4), Minister’s Statement 47-16(4) and Committee Report 5-16(4). What is the wish of committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today the committee would like to consider the operations and maintenance budgets of these departments in this order, please: Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, the Department of Executive, the Legislative Assembly and, time permitting, the Department of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Alright. We’ll start with Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations after a short break.
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I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Committee, we’ve agreed to start with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Minister, do you have opening comments?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present the 2010-2011 Main Estimates for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.
The department, on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories, is responsible for representing the interests of all NWT residents at aboriginal rights tables, and through our intergovernmental relations with aboriginal, provincial, federal and territorial governments.
The core business of the department directly supports the 16th Legislative Assembly’s goal of a strong and independent North built on partnerships. This is evidenced through the partnerships that have been formalized with northern governments and our collective efforts to work on areas of common interest, find solutions for community, regional and territorial issues and most recently work towards a common vision for political development of the NWT. The department also continues to focus on doing its part to building a solid foundation for intergovernmental relations by working effectively with its federal and aboriginal partners to finalize land, resources and self-government agreements in all regions of the NWT.
In total, the department’s main estimates proposes total operating expenses of $8.18 million for the coming year, which is an increase of 17 percent, or $1.373 million, from last year’s main estimates.
Mr. Chairman, a large portion of this increase is in support of advancing the 16th Legislative Assembly’s priority of a common vision for the political development of the NWT. One-time funding of $864,000 is included in this budget to support the work of the Northern Leaders’ Forum on political development that has been established to oversee this work.
This funding will also be used to engage with NWT residents and other northern stakeholders in the development of a common vision. Through public consultations, this will provide opportunities to learn from the past as we seek to chart a course for the future of the NWT.
The Northern Leaders’ Forum is comprised of leaders from the seven regional aboriginal governments, the president of the NWT Association of Communities, myself as Premier and two Members of this Legislative Assembly, Mr. Krutko and Mr. Ramsay. Through the work of the forum we hope to provide a strong and clear common vision for the NWT that will enhance our collective ability to successfully advance key issues of importance for northern governments. Northern leaders are committed to working together and engaging with Northerners to help unify our northern voice.
Mr. Chairman, this budget also includes $210,000 in investments from two of the key strategic initiatives for the coming year to help the government achieve its vision.
As this government looks for ways to promote the NWT as a place to visit and live, the department proposes to invest $80,000 through the Maximizing Opportunities strategic initiative to undertake the initial planning work in advance of the NWT hosting the 2011 Western Premiers’ Conference. This work will include identifying potential host communities, securing venues, developing promotional material, soliciting volunteers and arranging for entertainment.
Hosting the annual Western Premiers’ Conference provides us with an opportunity to showcase the natural beauty and pristine nature of our Territory, promote economic and tourism potential and provide a financial benefit to the NWT.
Through the Managing This Land strategic initiative, a proposed $130,000 investment is included to provide the project management for a comprehensive review of all GNWT negotiating mandates that guide the GNWT’s participation at all land, resources and self-government negotiations.
This project is being undertaken to ensure consistency with the context, complexities and circumstances of evolving and new negotiations in the NWT. The resulting new or revised mandates will be responsive to lessons learned from the precedence set by finalized agreements in the NWT and elsewhere in Canada, to changing case law regarding aboriginal rights, and to new, innovative and creative governance models proposed by aboriginal parties.
While much of the project will be technical in nature, it is essential that the work undertaken be guided by a politically endorsed vision of how the NWT should be governed and the future role of the GNWT in a post self-government environment. I look forward to continuing to work closely with members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure over the coming months in developing the principles of a governance vision.
Mr. Chairman, I am confident that the proposed main estimates will enable the department to represent the interests of all NWT residents at 15 aboriginal rights tables and through our intergovernmental relations with aboriginal, provincial, federal and territorial governments.
That concludes my opening remarks. I am prepared to answer any questions committee members may have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Do you wish to bring witnesses into the House?
