Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Justice. I’d like to follow up on my statement and ask him a few questions about whether or not we can do something about providing will and estate planning for our residents. I know it will take some time to establish a program, but in the meantime there are certainly some tools that are available to our residents, or could be available to help our residents.
I refer the Minister to the GNWT public trustee web page. It’s under the Department of Justice and it states: “The public trustee is independent from the Department of Justice. The Department makes this web section available on behalf of the public trustee. A separate website will be established in the near future.” This is a huge opportunity for Justice and the public trustee to provide information to residents on wills and on estate planning. I would like to know from the Minister when the public trustee will have its own website. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can get that level of detail for the Member. In regard to will and estate planning in the communities, we did hire a new lawyer in August of 2010. We do have a Community Outreach Program at the Department of Justice. We’ve been to all communities in the Northwest Territories with the exception of, I believe, three. In January we were again in Wrigley, Fort Simpson, Gameti and Fort Smith. When this Outreach Program is in the communities, anything that community members want to raise through that program is available to them. That includes will and estate planning for folks who need that type of assistance. So we do have that available to residents around the Northwest Territories.
On the website issue regarding the public trustee, I will get that information for the Member. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that and I appreciate his commitment to get the information. I do appreciate the fact that the government has a community outreach lawyer, but when a community outreach lawyer goes to a community, they aren’t just dealing with wills and estates. They are dealing with any legal service that a resident in a community needs and I think we need to specifically target will and estate planning. In the end, we will be saving money because the office of the public trustee will not be dealing with people who die intestate.
I’d like to know from the Minister if he would consider, he and the department, looking into a different kind of program to provide lawyers to residents. We need education and we also need access to lawyers. I think via an NGO, it’s possible we could do some of that work.
Would the Minister consider dealing with NGOs or negotiating with NGOs to provide will and estate planning assistance to our communities? Thank you.
That is a good suggestion. Another opportunity may exist through on-line information and services provided to residents across the Northwest Territories on will and estate planning. I will certainly check with my officials at the Department of Justice to see what information is out there for folks. If we can look at providing more opportunities to have questions answered with regard to will and estate planning around the territory, that is in our interest to do that. I would certainly look forward to any further discussion I could have with the member and the Standing Committee on Social Programs as we move forward to try to address her concerns. Thank you.
It’s nice to know that the Minister and I are on the same page. My next question was going to suggest that the Minister look at our neighbour to the west, the Yukon, who have some excellent information on-line. They have plain language information for residents. They have a fact sheet on estate planning, which is one of the resources that they have there and I think that’s something that we certainly could do. So I appreciate that the Minister has indicated that this is something we can do.
Is the Minister making a commitment to do some of that work and to provide some of these resources? Can he give me any indication of when we might be able to see something concrete? Thank you.
This government has made a commitment to improve services to residents around the Northwest Territories and a lot of that has to do with getting the good services available to folks on-line. I know we’ve just recently done some with legal registries; I know there’s registration now on-line at the Department of Transportation. We are making an effort in that regard, and certainly if there are examples out there and if the Yukon has an example of how that information can be put on-line and utilized by people in that territory, that’s something that we could certainly look at.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Yes, I figured that you really weren’t going to give me an answer right now, but I appreciate that you will come back to me at some point in time and advise when I might be able to expect this kind of a program.
I imagine the Minister doesn’t have this information with him, but I’ll ask the question anyway and he can hopefully get back to me. Do we have any idea of what the average cost is to the government when somebody dies intestate? Thank you.
Thank you. I don’t have that detail with me, but again, I’ll make a commitment to get that information to the Member and to the House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
The recently tabled Department of Health 2012-2013 Annual Report mentions Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus at 46.6 cases per 10,000 patients. However, on the same department website there’s an epidemiology newsletter, called Epi North 2012, Volume 22, Issue 1, which states during a similar reporting period of 16 months, field epidemiologist Katie Rutledge for the department reported laboratory results of 267 cases with 345 MRSA infections. Factoring and removing the extra four months and when you compare apples to apples and case management reporting, this leaves a disparity of these lab results reported to what is being underreported in the annual report. Can the Minister account for this difference? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s an incredibly detailed question, but I will certainly get back to the department to see if we can figure out what that discrepancy has resulted from. Thank you.
Thank you. Detail is my middle name.
Going back to the alarming statistic that, on average, one in 12 Canadian hospital patients are being infected with a superbug, if we looked at that recent table of 46.6 MRSA incidents per 10,000 cases, if my math is correct that works out to 0.06 in 12 NWT hospital patients being infected.
Can the Minister account as to why the NWT is reporting such a low number to this national Canadian statistical average? Thank you.
We obviously take these types of situations very seriously and we are doing a number of things within the department and our authorities to control infections but also report on infections. One of the things that we have done is we have defined minimum competencies and skill sets for all practitioners within our system, and we review and modernize existing infection and control standards and standards for sterilization on a regular basis. We’ve also implemented a surveillance system of reportable infections and we’re working to develop, or we have developed and implemented reporting and compliance mechanisms.
So with respect to the detailed specifics that the Member is asking, I don’t have those in front of me, but I’d be happy to go to the department and get that detail for the Member. Thank you.
That was a great paid political announcement, but it didn’t answer my question. I believe the reason why we don’t see the same numbers statistically is that we don’t reflect that in our accounting, we don’t count these superbugs. In fact, we do not report any other superbug other than Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus and there are a lot more bugs out there that make these alarming statistics.
Can the Minister indicate why his department consistently does not data collect, analyze, monitor and report these other deadly superbugs in our NWT health facilities? Thank you.
There are a number of infections that are not reportable under the Public Health Act because hospitals are required to monitor these under their own set of regulations. However, as we get copies of lab results and other things, we’re able to determine where some of these exist.
With respect to a greater level of reporting on these particular infections, certainly I’d love to have some more discussion with the Member as well as committee to find out or to improve the system that we have in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to work with the Minister on that one. I’d appreciate it.
It has been stated by many infectious disease specialists that our cleaners are, in many ways, the front-line gatekeepers against superbugs, but these days we know that with shrinking budgets and hospital demands, this department is all too easy a target for cuts.
Can the Minister indicate what his department is doing to strengthen our cleaning services in all our health care facilities to combat these superbugs? Thank you.
We have a new NWT Infection Prevention and Control Manual that was released in 2012. It contains all the standards of practice required by health care facilities to prevent and control the spread of infectious disease. The manual has been distributed throughout the Northwest Territories. Health and social services authorities have a lead responsibility to implement and audit these standards within their facilities and client service settings, but we have sent that out to all authorities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I used my Member’s statement today to talk about junior kindergarten and certainly the impact of re-profiling 7 percent of their funding model without working together with them. While I explained and it was certainly illustrated during my Member’s statement, what if we took 7 percent of the Department of ECE’s budget how they would go kicking and screaming.
Now, let’s talk about the broader picture now being forgotten about this whole situation, which are the day homes. Ironically, that’s part of the reason why this whole shift of junior kindergarten has evolved.
So, as such, what changes are now going to take effect to the day homes that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is now going to have to address? Quite frankly, there are rules that you are only allowed to have two under two; you’re only allowed to have six kids maximum. So, in essence, the government is not only taking one or two of the kids away, you’re almost destroying their funding model by potentially taking half of the kids away, which may make these day homes in Yellowknife unaffordable and certainly unfeasible Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This whole implementation of junior kindergarten has been positive news. As the Member alluded to earlier with his statement, there’s a lot of support on this particular piece of work that has been in the works for some time now, the last few years. We are mindful of the day homes, the operators in the Northwest Territories. We’re doing this for the whole Northwest Territories and the Member touched on two under two, there’s also three under three that we’re fully aware of and my department is working diligently with the operators, the day home operators and other operators within the city of Yellowknife and also in the whole Northwest Territories so we can mitigate and work and provide support to those individual operators. Taking the four-year-olds out of their facility will allow more focus on the zero to three. Those are discussions we’ve been having with the operators as well. So, we will be providing support mechanisms to those operators in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.
I’m glad the Minister has started to touch on this whole broader problem, which is he says he’s mindful of day homes and certainly he’s going to look at providing support, but let’s talk turkey. What kind of support is he actually referring to, because we all know you can do two under two, as the Minister even highlighted, you can have three under three. So potentially he’s taken 50 percent of their funding model to exist away from these day homes that are trying to provide necessary daycare and certainly family support for these young people.
So, in essence, what is the Minister really doing and how much money is this going to cost this government that he’ll have to come back to the Assembly and ask for? Thank you.
Mahsi. Those are the key detailed discussions that we are currently having with the operators to justify and find out the cost factor. As the Member knows, there are various subsidies available to the operators, whether it be the rent, the mortgage, the support mechanism is currently there to subsidize those operators. There is part of the O and M as well. Based on the discussions that we’re going to be having, we need to move forward on that and then provide feedback on what’s the best approach. Those are the discussions that we’ll continue to have with the open dialogue with them.
It was just a few days ago in this House this Minister issued an edict saying that it will be done, it shall be done, and it’s going to start this year. Not only that, he said he was going to solve a problem, which is there weren’t services available in the communities. All noble things that we support, so let’s stop focusing on these types of things.
Let’s get back to the money. If you’re going to issue these types of edicts and tell the NWT residents you’re doing this and, darn it, it’s coming, how much money is this happening and why haven’t you planned this and costed this out? Why are we sitting here having discussions when we should already know that if you’re taking 50 percent of these funding models away from these good folks at home taking care of children, what have you left them? You should know what this is going to cost before you pull the legs out from underneath them.
We have to keep in mind that we are providing free junior kindergarten across the whole Northwest Territories, and especially those 10 communities that are without licenced child care programming. The communities will definitely be benefiting from this program that we’re initiating. It’s a three-year phased approach, so the daycare, the home care operators… Again, I must emphasize that we are providing the supporting mechanism in place. It’s been there before, it’s always been there, and we’re going to enhance it further as we move forward on implementing a junior kindergarten. There is a lot of support and we’re moving forward on this.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, yet again the Minister tries to divide this as a big town against small town, against small communities, whatever the case may be. The fact is that there seems to be no plan whatsoever to cover this funding model, and it’s okay, Mr. Minister, you can say you just don’t know. When you do that and you feel better, we can all start working and building from there.
When the Minister says we’re going to enhance, let’s put the dollar on the table and tell me what type of dollar you’re going to have to come back to this Assembly and ask for, because we want to know because nobody out there knows, and all they know is they’re losing half their kids, which is their funding stream because you’re taking them away. How are they going to operate?
It was in this House that I mentioned the zero to three, what kind of funding that will be allocated based on what their needs are, whether it be the cribs and other certain necessities that are required. Those are the supports that we are going to be providing to the zero to three, the day homes, the operators in the Northwest Territories. I can lay that out to the Members again, the detailed information. I’ll be more than glad to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation. I understand that the construction of the Four Mile Creek Bridge was halted due to some environmental issues with the regulators, and I want to know what is the status now of the Four Mile Creek Bridge close to Tulita.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Transportation staff had met with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada in Norman Wells on February 18th. We presented a water management plan that was deemed acceptable by the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and with that the work order on the Four Mile Creek Bridge was lifted.
With this recent work stoppage with the Four Mile Creek Bridge, will the department or will this Minister see if it’s salvageable by this winter? I know there’s not much time left, but this is an outsider contractor coming in to work in our area. I’m not too sure what happened, but somebody goofed on this one here, so certainly it causes some concern for us in the region here.
Is this work salvageable? Can we do as much as we can before the winter road is closed?
The department, using two contractors from Tulita, started to do some dewatering on the bridge on the 22nd, this past Saturday, so the work is proceeding and the intention is to complete the work that was scheduled to complete, so we’re back to work there.
I appreciate the quickness of the Minister. I want to ask the Minister, is this bridge on schedule, on time, within budget to be completed within the scope of the project that was presented to us for allocating funding to it?
I don’t have the original schedule with me, but as I indicated, the department is working with two local companies that have the machinery under our direction. We are providing support for planning and design and any geotechnical engineering is being provided by another engineering company called TerraTek. With that, we’re hoping that the work will be on schedule, but I don’t have the exact dates with me. I don’t know if there’s been a slight adjustment or not here in the House.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I ask the Minister of Transportation, once he gets his full briefing from the department on this Four Mile Creek Bridge, if he would provide it to me and the Members of the House to know that this work will get done, will get on the books of completion, because from what I’m understanding, the work in the Sahtu will continue to increase and the bridge is important for the community and also important for the oil and gas activity that’s happening in the Tulita district.
I would be pleased to provide that information on the dates. I know that once the bridge is complete there, that would become the permanent structure that will be used for that crossing on the winter road going into the future.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to use this occasion to ask questions to the Minister responsible for Housing. Quite often I’ll have complaints sent to my office, called in or certainly e-mailed in, about health and safety issues. Whether they’re about leaky windows, heat not on, steps not shoveled, complaints all orientated to, actually, the landlord. A lot of these calls that come in, they’re all Yellowknife Housing Authority clients. It got me to thinking, does the Housing Corporation instructor work with our housing authorities to actually bring complaints forward to the rentals office against landlords that aren’t the GNWT? In my research, I’ve yet to find one complaint, but yet we have continued complaints come in all based around those types of factors, but yet the landlord of these buildings never is brought before the rentals office. But if the shoe was reversed or the situation was reversed, my goodness, they’re the first ones trying to get these folks out of there.
I’m going to ask the Minister of Housing, how often has the Housing Corporation worked with any of the authorities to take these types of landlords, that aren’t GNWT landlords, to the rentals office for dereliction of their responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act, as I’ve highlighted, and if he hasn’t, why not?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Housing, Minister R.C. McLeod.
