Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do many things when we advocate on behalf of the Assembly Members, as well as trying to find the balance with the direction that the boards and agencies that deliver the core of our services across the Northwest Territories. So we get involved with the Ministers and the departments to find out where things are sitting and where, for example, strategic plans are put in place or where their capital program is, and we sit down with the expertise from departments and the authorities to make that happen. Believe me, Mr. Speaker, this is all in process of trying to keep the system flowing with the fixed budgets we have to operate in. So it’s challenging to come up with all of the right pieces.
I am sure Ms Lee would love to, for example, have a nurse in every community. We’d love to have a high school in every community, but we are challenged with a budget and our legislation in place around our boards and agencies that are in place. In fact, we did try to do some work in that area and we’ve since halted that area to look at just how we try to do things and clean up some of our legislation. So we’re challenged in those areas, but I continue to work with the Ministers and their boards and agencies at times to try to come up with solutions that would work for us. Thank you.
I come to work just like many of my colleagues and have the attitude of can-do, but it seems like the response from Cabinet is can’t-do. As much as they like to think that they can, most of the responses from them are we can’t. This is why we can’t. The other thing is when it comes to budget money, it seems like they’ve got a big bag of money and then they give us these little scraps to fight over for community issues. Mr. Speaker, the issue comes down to the response of how can we help. Mr. Speaker, is there any type of policy from the Cabinet position about when an MLA raises a particular issue, that the Ministers will help take on and advocate that issue to the boards to make sure they are properly empowered to invoke these ideas? Thank you.
The process we’re involved with and the method of delivery we have in the Northwest Territories, the legislation we operate under, drives to a large degree just the work we can do for the people of the Northwest Territories with a fixed budget. I don’t go in the back room at night and start searching out the money to pay for all of the demands. The demands far outweigh the resources we have available as the Government of the Northwest Territories. So our challenge as Members of the Legislative Assembly as we are through this budget process is do what we can do with what’s available and try to plan out the rest of it as we go forward.
Let’s say the 16th Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker, has done some big changes in the way we do business. Rural and remote communities, for example, we are starting to focus on how we deliver those services; the Foundation for Change that the Minister of Health and Social Services is working on. We are talking about delivery of programs and services that will keep us sustainable. We can no longer keep making the requests without also giving us the opportunity to find the resources. We should say that for every Member that decides to make a request, they should also attach a revenue source for that so we can deliver what’s expected of us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Premier for highlighting all of Cabinet’s priorities and the issue I raised last week like Mildred Hall, Sisson’s needs renovations and those are the priorities of those school boards. As my colleagues Mr. Krutko and Mr. Menicoche have said, priorities of communities saying they want health nurses. Mr. Speaker, these are priorities that are found, they’re born, developed and brought forward from the communities to this Legislature. Those are the issues. How do we make them priorities of this House? Because Members here are trying to raise priorities in our communities and sometimes, if not most of the time, we don’t see them really reflected in the Cabinet’s budget. Thank you.
This government is very open to input as we develop the business plans of departments. We sit down with Members on the capital program. They are aware of the process. They know that for every year we put a capital plan together, there are many projects that litter that capital planning floor and we don’t have the resources to make it all happen.
Mr. Speaker, what we are putting in place in our communities is not something that should be discarded in a matter of just making a statement to say we don’t do anything. In fact, the capital plan, how we do business, shows we are working with communities to make sure that they have the authority and the resources to do it. We work with our partner the federal government, we are working with industry, we work with communities, we are working with aboriginal governments, but still we have limited resources in what we can do across the Territory. So we’re forced to then try to work in a manner that allows for the flow in the system to work. As projects are required, they are replaced.
I can say, Mr. Speaker, for example the schools in Inuvik, when I was first elected in 1995, were supposed to be replaced in 1997. We’re just starting to see that work get done now. So things at times have to wait their turn to progress and we are all working together to make sure we give the best service to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can see the D list keeps growing. Now we add discard to the list and, certainly, defend. Mr. Speaker, I haven’t heard the can-do approach. I have heard the defend, defer, delay, deflect, divide approach. Mr. Speaker, the issue really comes down to this: MLAs, including Cabinet, represent issues raised in our communities that are very, very important. I think those have to be some of the fundamentals that need to go forward, because when an MLA gets elected and they spend their four years in this Legislature, it can be boiled down to many issues are significant to a community. I can tell you from one of my colleagues, a nurse in that community is a paramount issue. That’s the kind of issue I’m talking about and that’s the type of reflection I keep asking about. Where is that can-do approach to meeting those community needs? Thank you.
You know, we talk about where it’s all at and what we’re doing for our communities and how we move things forward. Let me tell you about can-do. Mr. Speaker, in Yellowknife alone, in the capital city, the capital plan as laid out has over $85 million...
Whoa...
...for facilities. So what’s a deflect in that? Where is the deferral in that?
Can-do!
To make those projects go through, other projects had to suffer or wait in line for another year.
Aw.
So we have been stepping up to the plate. We have been delivering and we will continue to do so. It’s not a matter of rhetoric, Mr. Speaker. The proof is in the pudding and this Assembly will pass that pudding come the next day. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The time for question period has expired. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper today. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just a follow-up on my honourable colleague’s intensity with regard to his debate with Cabinet. He’s entirely right; our jobs as MLAs is to urge, influence and persuade government, and to that end we have many tools at our disposal. But the main thing that we do is to pursue the goals and interests of our constituents and communities. Just getting back to my Member’s statement, the goal of Wrigley and of mine is to see a resident nurse in Wrigley in the long term. However, I can see my way to relax this demand if at the minimum we enhance current services and get a commitment that there is a nursing position classified as a Wrigley position. Will the Minister of Health and Social Services give me the assurance and commitment she will work towards a dedicated nursing position for Wrigley as well as enhance nursing services for 2010? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated earlier, the department and authorities right now are discussing a proposal to enhance nursing services in small communities in Deh Cho. This is subject to approval by the board, so this is why I am just giving the Member as much information as I can. Mr. Speaker, I understand that he has made his desire for the community of Wrigley. We are working on the system where the regional board oversees the health and social services for the entire region. So whenever we do anything, we need to do it on a regional basis. The board has given me a proposal to consider. We are having a conversation on that. The Member has been given some information on that and we will continue to work on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’m not entirely convinced with the Minister’s answer. Once again, one of the tools at my disposal while we’re sitting here during debate of the budget is to delay the budget, Mr. Speaker, and I am prepared to go that far in order to get answers for my constituents. I want the Minister of Health and Social Services to have the same confidence as the Minister of Justice did today and say that nursing is a priority for Wrigley and Tsiigehtchic out loud, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister do that? Thank you.
Nursing coverage for Tsiigehtchic and Wrigley is my priority and I am happy to commit to do as much or more than what the Minister of Justice is doing in that regard.
Whoa...
The Minister is going to have to explain how her commitment translates into real resources for those communities. Thank you.
I have committed that in the past. We understand and we accept that the RCMP for Wrigley is based in Simpson and they have increased their visits to Wrigley and that’s the proposal we have for communities in Deh Cho and that’s what we continue to work on for the region in Beaufort-Delta. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarification, did the Minister say there was going to be a dedicated position for Wrigley in Fort Simpson? Can she answer that? As well, again, I would like to get a commitment that services, nursing services will be enhanced at least in 2010 as we work towards this dedicated position? Thank you.
Currently we have four dedicated nurses in Simpson that services Wrigley, Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake and Jean Marie River. Yes, we have a proposal that would enhance nursing coverage in Wrigley and those three communities in 2010. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, following up on my colleague’s questioning. I, too, would like a commitment from the Minister. This issue has been raised, like I say, in several different formats, not only in this House, but other venues such as the Gwich’in assemblies and the Beaufort leaders’ meeting.
Mr. Speaker, we do have to show that we really care for the people in the Northwest Territories. We talk about healthy and vibrant communities. The critical aspect of that is to have service providers there to assist the communities to make sure they are delivering those programs and services. One of the key positions in the communities is the nurse. So I’d like to get a commitment from the Minister stating how soon can she have those positions filled in the communities of Wrigley and Tsiigehtchic so we can see that responsibility function fully for those communities.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are working on a project to look at enhancing nursing services in small and remote communities. We believe the proposal we have could shed light on what we can do and do services in other communities like the Mackenzie Delta. It is something we are working on with the authority. I have always stated in this House, Mr Speaker, that we are looking to enhance our services in small communities like Tsiigehtchic, but the Member also has to understand that we, at the moment, block fund our regions and we work under a system where the authorities share the resources within the authority to stretch those resources as much as possible. Thank you.
Again, the Minister’s answer was going in the right direction until she came to the health board and their authorities. This government has the ultimate authority. This House has the ultimate authority by approving the budget. We’re going through that process now. But also we have the accountability authority through the Financial Administration Act to ensure that those boards are spending the money where they’re supposed to and not running deficits year after year after year. I think as the Minister, you’re responsible for ensuring that other acts are followed in this position such as ensuring those positions are being fulfilled. It’s critical that the Minister carry out her ministerial responsibility to direct those departments to fill those positions in those two communities and ensure they use the money they have in house and not say we’re already spending money. There are tons of vacant positions in the Beaufort region that are not being filled and the dollars are there.
So when can we see those positions being filled in Tsiigehtchic and Wrigley and ensure that dollars expended to those communities are earmarked for those communities and those positions are filled in those communities.
The Member is aware that the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority uses every dollar they have to provide those services. Vacant positions don’t mean they have money set aside sitting in the bank. Vacant positions, in fact, mean more expenditures are required because they do fill those positions with locums and casuals. Mr. Speaker, the allotment for Tsiigehtchic, for example, are being used to provide nurse coverage because they do get nursing coverage for about half of the year, which is equivalent or better than what communities that size receive in other parts of the Territories and many of them don’t have a one-hour drive access. So, Mr. Speaker, the board is clear in their understanding that our commitment is to enhance our health care coverage in small communities and we will continue to concentrate on that. Thank you.
Short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Again, Mr. Speaker, it’s a game of playing who’s got the money and who’s going to go get it.
The other thing is we are spending $285,000 in the community for social services and health care services in that community. The information I got from the Minister stipulates they spent $60,000 last year. Again, we’re short $200,000 for those health care providers. You don’t have a drug and alcohol program in Tsiigehtchic. You don’t have a full-time social worker in Tsiigehtchic. You don’t have a nurse in Tsiigehtchic. Those positions were all filled positions prior to division. I’d like to ask the Minister to fill the full-time positions. I don’t care where you find the money to supplement the $60,000 you’re spending now, regardless if it’s another $100,000, find it within, get the job done and, more importantly, get a nurse in these communities.
The Member knows that the Beaufort-Delta authority is in a deficit situation. There is no money for them to fund from within. Secondly, I’m not sure where the Member gets that we’re only spending $60,000 in Tsiigehtchic. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT spends a lot more money than $280,000 in Tsiigehtchic for health and social services. We have a full-time community health rep there; we have a full-time home support worker there; we have visiting nurses that go there for 89 days of the year; we have doctors’ services; we have a specialist service; as well, a social worker that goes there, Mr. Speaker. So there has been a lot of information provided to the Member in answer to his questions, but I guess it’s up to him how he reads that.
But, Mr. Speaker, as the Premier indicated, if it was my wish tomorrow, I would have a nurse and doctor and hospital and everything that everybody wants in every community, but, Mr. Speaker, we have a $1.4 billion budget. We already spend almost a million dollars a day providing health and social services to 40,000 residents and we are working at our backs to be fair and equitable and make sure everybody has access to health care, which we do in the Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Again, Mr. Speaker, it’s sounds like the Minister is a broken record and she basically blames everybody else but the person that’s responsible, which is ultimately the Minister who should be the one making sure that these programs and services are being delivered under the mandate that you have as a Minister, but, more importantly, not continue to say, well, the health authority has a deficit. Well, excuse me, if they have a deficit. As a Minister you should intervene and find out exactly why programs and services aren’t being delivered in communities and why they continue to run a deficit.
So I’d like to ask the Minister why is it that you continue to put the onus on the health board. Why don’t you use your authority as Minister and, basically, appoint an administrative officer to run that health board, like you’ve done in other cases, if they’re not doing the job to provide a simple thing as a nurse in the community? If they can’t do that, I don’t know what else we expect from them. So I’d like to ask the Minister, if you’re really serious about doing something, you have an opportunity to prove yourself as a Minister that you actually can accomplish something here. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Member knows that the budget we approve in the House, it is a work of our collective decisions. We work under a regional health delivery service model. I don’t think the Member is convinced of that. If we have any facts to suggest that, if we dissolve the board and hired a public administrator today, that that would get an enhanced…or have full-time positions in every community, I believe all of us would do that. Delivery of health care is much more complex. We have our challenges. It’s not just about issuing an edict tomorrow and say let there be. Mr. Speaker, we are faced with the challenges of using the resources we have fair and equitably to all of the communities. So, Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work on that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask some questions. I suppose I’ll ask some questions of the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and it gets back to some of my previous questions to the Minister of Justice. From where I sit, Mr. Speaker, I think the government is letting opportunities slip past us. I believe we’re soundly asleep at the switch oftentimes, and I think somebody has to ring the alarm clock and wake these guys up over here so that they understand that there are opportunities out there. We have to multi-task. If you’re a Minister, I don’t understand how a Minister could stand up in the House and say they have other priorities when, you know, they can’t write a letter and deal with other priorities. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI what exactly the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is doing to attract new economic activity here to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We spend a lot of money promoting the North and making different investors aware of opportunities in the North. Where possible, we take trade missions to other countries, and I’m glad that this Member is starting to support some of those initiatives so that we can go out and make the world aware of business opportunities here in the Northwest Territories. We’re doing that even without royalties from the federal government, and we are taking every advantage to partner with the federal government and, certainly, we will look for any opportunities that are out there where it will create jobs and provide benefits to the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, when I was speaking earlier I talked of other jurisdictions, other provinces and territories, for that matter, in this country that, to me, seem much more aggressive, they seem to pursue things with much more vigor and passion than our government does. I’m talking about opportunities like I mentioned earlier: federal penitentiary; I’m talking about opportunities for an increased military presence here in the North; I’m talking about the jobs that are located in Ottawa; I’m talking about the film industry, looking at innovation and technology and opportunities in that regard.
You look at the province of Saskatchewan, that’s a good example, Mr. Speaker, and I think we could take a lesson from Premier Brad Wall in Saskatchewan. The man is aggressive. They go after business opportunities. They attract people to Saskatchewan. They took Fortune Minerals from us. I know my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen was talking about the Nechalacho project and Avalon Ventures earlier today, and I’d hate to see us lose yet another opportunity, Mr. Speaker. So I’d like to ask the Minister what they are doing in regard to trying to be aggressive and get these opportunities here on the ground in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
I’m certainly pleased that you used the reference of Saskatchewan, because to attract investors you don’t just wave a magic wand and people appear. You have to have a strategy; you have to have resources; you have to have people; and you have to have programs that cost money and will attract investors into the Northwest Territories. I think that we can all borrow a page from Saskatchewan. If we had additional resources we could go out and lobby all of the different sectors that are out there that potentially are looking at building new facilities. We could lobby the federal government. We’ve been trying to promote a convention centre for the Northwest Territories, or a number of convention centres. All those things take resources and this is certainly something in the direction that we want to move into. Thank you.
