Until I get a recent update as to what the state of the situation is in the community of Hay River, we’re being careful as to our involvement. The fact is that the Government of the Northwest Territories’ process has been on existing facilities and, as old contracts ended, on looking at new contracts for efficiencies. We have to look at a combined services retail storage facility, thereby saving some of the cost of having separate facilities. That’s the process we look at to continue. Our preference would be to continue with that path. The RFP proved a result, and we’re hoping that things will get concluded to finalize the deal.
Mr. Speaker, without going into the merits of the concerns that have been raised, I’d like to know: at what point does the Premier think it would be appropriate to step in, to at least discuss some way the government might be able to be involved to resolve this issue?
Again, having to be careful with all the interested parties out there, we have to first see where the situation sits within the community. At that point, the department would look at reviewing its next options. We are considering what options are available now and would be prepared to sit down with the Members for the community and look at what the next processes or steps may be.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Again, I realize that those looking on from the outside might not consider this to be a big issue, but it has dragged on for a long time. It has caused division in the community. Again, not wanting to hold the contractor up but not wanting to discredit the concerns of those folks — just general townspeople who think it’s good to have a liquor retail store located in the downtown, where there are sidewalks and adequate parking and so on — could the Premier commit to attending a meeting, perhaps, with all the stakeholders and parties involved to see if there is a solution that the government could bring forward?
First of all, I will sit down with the department to get the latest update as to what’s happening and sit down with the Members as to where things are and what options may be available to us. Then we’ll decide at that point what next steps we may be taking. If it’s a meeting of that nature, then we will take that into consideration. The first step is to get the latest update and sit down with the Members.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Mr. Speaker, this is in reference to my Member’s statement. I realize that Human Resources is responsible for the graduate placement program, but I believe that the departments, and presumably their authorities, make the final decisions on hires. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services: is there a clear understanding of a northern hire preference policy within our health institutions, and how is this reinforced from time to time?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a clear understanding within our health and social services system to follow the affirmative action plan and to train and hire as many northern employees and graduates as possible.
I probably don’t need to state that the role of nurses is particularly enhanced when they are from the community and bring the local and cultural understanding and sometimes even linguistic services to their work. Is this fully appreciated by our health managers, and what is being done to ensure that this appreciation shows itself in the hiring practices?
Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. Our health authorities are encouraged to hire Northerners.
In the situation to which the Member is referring, we had one of the biggest graduating nursing classes this year from Aurora College. Out of 15 grads, I think almost all of them were offered a northern placement. Ten of them have accepted their placements in the Territories, and seven were placed at Stanton Territorial Health Authority.
I understand that not everybody who wanted to work at Stanton was offered a job at Stanton. The constituent that the Member is referring to was placed in Hay River, and unfortunately that did not work for her personal circumstances.
Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. Why are we hiring locums from afar when we have local nurses available to do the job?
I think we are talking about two different things. I do acknowledge and want to say that we could do a better job at supporting and helping the new grads coming out of college. That’s one of the reasons why not all nurse grads can be placed in a setting: they do need support, and we need to make sure that experienced nurses and staff are able to be there to help them.
On the use of locum nurses, any nurse you talk to will tell you no nurse is the same as the nurse right next to her. Nurses come with different backgrounds and different qualifications, and we have to make sure that we have the right mix of nurses. When we hire a locum nurse when there is an existing new grad nurse in the Territories, it could be because the locum nurse provides a different background that the new grad doesn’t have. Obviously, we need to make sure the new grads get the training necessary to be fully skilled at the job they’re assigned to.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the specific case I have in the back of my mind, the person had considerable experience: over a decade and a half in mental health and addictions. It seems to me it should be appropriate and should be easily slotted in. I’m wondering why we continue to hire even short-term locums from afar when we could be building the experience of our graduates here.
The Minister did acknowledge that more needs to be done. I’d like to hear exactly what is being done, then, to address that need.
First of all, we have reduced the use of locum nurses substantially. We have a larger pool of casual nurses registered with the nursing association who are available to work in the Territories. This is less costly than bringing in locums. I could provide the Member with the stats on that.
In the situation that the Member is talking about, particular to his constituent, I understand that she wanted to work in the psychiatric unit. That’s a very, very small unit, and it could be that the hospital was not able to accommodate that situation. I’d be happy to undertake seeing what other options were made available to her. I think that talking about locums and a new grad placement are separate things, and I’d be happy to look into that specific situation.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We ask residents of the Northwest Territories to go and further their education. Students at the Adult Learning Centre in Inuvik have made that commitment to further their education.
I’d like to direct my questions today to the Minister of Education on the upcoming destruction of the only facility in Inuvik that meets the needs of the Adult Learning Centre, and that’s the building that the students work out of.
I’d like to ask the Minister if his department has identified any alternate locations. What are the options that his department has come up with? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Ever since there was a petition from the students of Inuvik that came in late last year, my department has been working with the community of Inuvik and the different departments of ENR to try to find a solution, because we know that in August of 2008 there will be the closure of the facility. We’re doing what we can as a department to come up with a solution.
We’re working on some options, and we’re also working with the Beaufort-Delta Divisional Education Council, possibly using some classrooms in the interim. Also, we’ve identified an ENR building that’s going to be vacant, so we’re exploring that option as well. We’re exploring the college campus as well. Those are the options that we’re working with. Then there’s also a leased space managed by Inuvik Commercial Properties. Those are just some of the areas that we’re exploring at this point.
I think the big thing here is that we have to find a suitable location. I know for a fact they need about seven rooms. They operate on timetable schedules, so having classes in different locations throughout the community isn’t very much of an option.
Going back to the centre itself — I may have asked the Minister this before —was the engineer’s report done by DPW, or was that done by an independent engineer?
Mr. Speaker, through PWS and our department it was a contract for the inspection of the building.
We have staff who are leaving next week, and they’re coming back in September. They’re not sure if they’ve got a facility to step into when they get back.
The facility has been safe for them to occupy in June; it should be safe in September. I’d like to ask the Minister if the department would consider deferring demolishing the Adult Learning Centre until a suitable location is found.
Mr. Speaker, one of the options that we did work with was PWS having another inspection done on the actual building itself. The building is an old building, so it was a safety factor. The foundation is rotting away. At the same time, that was one of the options we were working on.
The next option, in the medium term, will be to do a lease agreement with the college campus, because we know that the students need to enter the fall school year. That’s one of the short-term solutions that we are working on. After July 30 I do believe there will be space available for them. That’s one of the areas that we are focusing on as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that. There’s a lot of uncertainty as far as students and staff go.
Inuvik is starting to remind me of Jericho in the Old Testament, but in this case you walk around the building seven times and walls come tumbling down.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if a contract has already been put out and awarded for the demolition of the Adult Learning Centre. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the building itself is scheduled to come down in August. As far as I know, it’s not out there yet, but I believe it’s in the process.
There was a request to PWS to have another inspection done on the facility itself, so we’re in the process of pursuing that. We do have some time until then, so we are looking at other options as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are to the Minister of Justice. I’d like to ask some questions about the RCMP’s DARE program.
Mr. Speaker, we all know how successful the DARE program has been in many communities. I would like to ask the Minister if he can look into having the DARE program delivered to my constituents and to students in Nunakput. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has been very successful in the North. In fact, we do have approximately 20 RCMP members who deliver the program in the communities. They are situated in Inuvik, Aklavik, Whati, Yellowknife, and Fort Smith.
There have been some programs undertaken in the Member’s riding. This was for a short period. Certainly, it’s one of the areas that we can talk about with the Member —it is a G Division area — if the community is interested.
When the officers are in the community, they get trained. It’s a specialized training area. If an individual constable would like to get training, I think the opportunity is there. Certainly, that is one of the areas the department can work with. Mahsi.
My final question for the Minister. I know the members are assigned to the different detachments. Can the Minister look into having members with DARE training appointed to Nunakput, if he can do that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we can certainly work with the one who is based out of Inuvik, who specializes in delivering the DARE program in the communities. If we can do up a schedule rotation through the communities of Sachs, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok and Tuk, I’m sure it could be pursued, depending on their rotation schedule and their line of work.
Certainly, that message will be passed on through the G Division expeditiously. Mahsi.
It’s “Uluk-HAK-tok.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to direct my next line of questions to the Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. McLeod.
I’d like to ask Minister McLeod if DPW considers the Adult Learning Centre unfit to occupy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The inspections that have been done on the facility indicate a number of safety concerns. We have advised the department that the building should be vacated and that the facility should be dismantled. Thank you.
In response to my question before, the Minister of Education said that another engineer’s study is being planned. I’d like to ask the Minister: is there a second engineer’s report or study being planned, and when can we expect the results of that?
Mr. Speaker, we did have a request to have a second opinion on the safety and structural concerns of this facility. We did hire a third party to do that for us. We recently got our results in, and they indicate that the facility has become a safety issue and that we should move forward on the recommendations.
In fact, the assessment raised the level of risk from substantial to considerable, and we’ve recommended to ECE that the building be vacated and demolished by sometime this fall. Thank you.
I think the Minister can understand my concern about a facility that these folks need in order to have a place to do their studies.
I’d like to ask the Minister if in the report there are any recommendations that may have been made by the engineers as to a temporary fix or being able to get maybe another year or two years of use out of the building until they find a suitable location for the Adult Learning Centre. Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, there was some costing assessed to see if we could do some temporary fixes to bring the facility to a stage where we could continue to use this facility. These costs were in excess of $7 million, and it’s not an option we’d like to follow.
We would prefer that ECE look at either a new facility or modular units. We were considering Arctic Tern, but I think that’s not an option anymore, not for the time being.
There are a number of options that are under review. ECE is looking at different ways to do this, and we will be working with them to try to locate another location, including the one that the Minister of Education has mentioned: the ENR building. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Yes. Thank you. Arctic Tern is not an option, and with the support of my colleagues I hope it will never be an option.
I also want to say that the Inuvik Curling Club is not an option. It was an option before, and it’s not going to be an option again.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he’d be willing to share that report with me. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, yes, we’d be happy to share that information. In fact, we’ve committed to the council of Inuvik to sit down and talk about different issues within that community, so we’ll probably be talking to them regarding this issue also. Thank you.
