Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Monday, February 25, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that the Government of the Northwest Territories immediately initiate discussions with the Government of Canada to prioritize funding for an all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley into the Sahtu;
And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories immediately initiate discussions with the Government of Canada to seek federal investment and human resource development initiatives along the lines of the Voisey’s Bay model;
And furthermore, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. 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 in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 9-17(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2013-2014; and Bill 1, Tlicho Statutes Amendment Act, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.
I would like to call the Committee of the Whole to order. The Speaker has outlined the matters before us today in Committee of the Whole. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 9-17(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2013-2014, with the continuation of deliberation of Health and Social Services. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will continue with that after a brief recess. Thank you.
Committee, I’d like to call us back to order, please. We are on the Department of Health and Social Services. I’d like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber. Mr. Beaulieu.
Yes, I would.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the table.
For the record, Mr. Beaulieu, could you please introduce your witnesses again today?
Yes, Madam Chair. To my right is Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Health and Social Services. To my left is Jeannie Mathison, director of finance, Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Members, we are on page 8-13, Health and Social Services, activity summary, directorate, operations expenditure summary, $8.599 million. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister mentioned in his earlier comments the three pilot projects they’ve got going in the area of, I believe it’s chronic disease. Just in terms of our policy development and whatnot, what are those three programs and what is the basis for the evaluation that will go into designing the then permanent chronic care strategy?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The three pilot projects are for renal care, diabetes, and mental health and addictions.
Are those terminating or being completed this fiscal year that we’re in?
They are scheduled to be completed, or the pilot completed, in April of this calendar year, 2013, and then from there we’re going to use that project to roll out the further chronic disease programs.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Next I have Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I might be actually jumping ahead of myself, but it is under directorate. Just in terms of active positions. I don’t know if Madam Chair will allow me to ask that. There’s an increment of four positions over the last fiscal year. Maybe I can ask the Minister about that.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Yes, go ahead. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Increase of four positions are three full time and one part time. Two positions, new positions from other sources. The Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative from Health Canada is a project manager, medical travel, Yellowknife; a policy officer, health benefits, Yellowknife; another position, internal transfer, resource, paid internally from existing resources, system navigator in Yellowknife. One position, a new initiative to develop clinical governance, is a chief physician advisor, which is actually a 0.75 full-time equivalent, Yellowknife.
How many of these will be located in Yellowknife?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. By the sounds of it, all of them, but I’ll refer to the Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The plan is to have three of the positions – the project manager, the policy officer, and the system navigator – in Yellowknife. Just a little explanation. The one project manager is the review of medical travel. The policy officer is a review of the health benefits and will also be located here. The system navigator, located in Yellowknife, is the person in charge of handling all of the issues that are brought forward to the system. The chief physician advisor, although we indicate Yellowknife, could actually be located anywhere in the Northwest Territories.
Just for the Minister’s last point, I think, as we determine new positions, that’s got to be one of the qualifiers. It doesn’t have to be Yellowknife all the time. Just because they’ve got the said infrastructure or whatever reasoning that their planners come up with for these new positions, they should always ask the question as part of their assessment. Can it be in the regions? Can it be in the communities? I’d like to ask the Minister if, in the future, he’s willing to consider that with his department officials.
The Health and Social Services system is a fairly decentralized operation. We do try to place positions outside Yellowknife. We do that test each time there is a position that does not necessarily have to be located near the centre. In this case, as this position works with all authorities, it can be located anywhere the individual wishes to live, depending on who applies and who gets the actual job.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Moving on. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Under infrastructure planning, I’m curious as to the detail, if the Minister can explain the infrastructure planning that falls with the Stanton Territorial Hospital. What money is involved? What money is being seeded into that master plan development and when can we start to see some details of that?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We’re looking for the infrastructure plan here. We have a little bit of detail on the capital plan with us. We are at the planning stages of the Stanton Territorial Hospital. We do have the dates on when we’re going to be rolling out the plan and when we’re going to start spending money, of course, in the actual renovation of the hospital, but that largely depends on the approval of the Legislative Assembly. I’m just going to… Bear with me, Madam Chair. The plan now is that prior to March 31, 2013, we’ll have spent $3 million on planning and in this fiscal year we will put $1 million into the budget for the planning. In 2014-2015 it will be $15 million as we get near to – sorry, sorry. Make that $5 million. I’m sorry; I’m having a little trouble seeing.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Ms. DeLancey.
But we’ll be bringing it in, in 2013, we’ll be bringing it through the capital planning process this fall.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Minister Beaulieu.
Okay. Then in 2015-2016 we’re expecting the first actual construction in the Stanton Hospital, for allocation there of $20 million. However, it’s important to note that this has to go through the capital planning process and through the House at the appropriate time when we talk about capital.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Hawkins.
What does the Minister have by way of information that he can share with Members, such as myself, with regard to the $2 million that would have been spent by this March 31st? I’m trying to see what project development, what’s guiding information, planning documents, trying to get a sense of it. At the same time, the other additional question is: Who is doing this work?
We can provide the details of the expenditures up until the end of March. As far as who is doing the work, I will have the deputy minister provide the name.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. DeLancey.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The work is being done under the direction of a steering committee that includes the department, representatives from Stanton and the Department of Public Works and Services. The actual planning study is being done by external consultants.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Have there been any consultant reports generated thus far, and can they be shared with committee Members like myself?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There are several reports. Some we may possibly be able to share. We may be able to share all the reports but this is proprietary. Some of the reports may be proprietary information. We’ll share what we can with committee.
I was going to leave it but I think I heard a good question on the side here. Wouldn’t it be proprietary information for us?
When we request reports and we RFP work with the intention that the company is doing work for the Department of Health and Social Services, for that intent, if we are to release their work beyond our own coffers, beyond Health and Social Services, then we do have to return back to the company to see if it is okay to release their work that was initially requested by us for us.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Hawkins. Good? Okay. Next I have Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. In terms of directorate here, I’m just looking at the policy communications and legislation. I just want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if there is a plan in place to create a translator program within the regional health centres to bring some of our patients from small communities into the regional hospital or even territorial hospital. If there is a translator program in place for all the Aboriginal languages in the Northwest Territories, ones that are specific to that region, Can the Minister please answer that?
