I’d be happy to work with all the MLAs. Certainly, Mr. Menicoche has raised a very important issue regarding our safety and transportation, and it helps us with this issue. I will certainly work with him in terms of this constituent in the Nahendeh riding and this issue. We also offer training for drivers in terms of safety on the road. I will continue working with the Member in terms of providing safety to our travelling public.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I want to continue with the autism questioning. I just want to be clear, to make sure that everything gets on the record so parents can get access for their children for services.
As I highlighted earlier in my questions about the limited ability to receive speech and OT therapy, I wasn’t 100 per cent clear on the fact that…. Can parents access funding through the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority to obtain speech and OT therapy in the community, if it’s available and in the community to access?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not aware of parents being able to receive funding from Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority or any authority.
What I’m telling the Member is that parents can receive the services. We still have more speech therapists — or any other specialists — that the children with autism or any other disability need. They’re mostly hired by the health authorities. There is a team of people who would work with children and families to provide the services they need.
You have to understand that children with autism come with all sorts of individual and varying degrees of needs. Some children with autism are much more high-functioning than others. Children need different care at different stages of their life, and our health care system and the social service system are available to intervene as needed by different professionals that can help them.
Parents are flocking to the province of Alberta, because Alberta sees this as an issue on which they can make significant ground on this disorder by early intervention.
The issue I keep bringing up is the fact of early intervention for speech and OT therapy, which I would prefer to always fall under the umbrella of Stanton Hospital and that leadership, but it can’t happen in every case.
When I say “access private services,” I want it to be seen that I’m not advocating that’s the best or the only result. But it seems to be the only one to access extra service.
Can the Minister describe this team and how many hours are being provided as speech and OT therapy within the Stanton unit so parents can access it?
I am aware that the Alberta government has instituted intensive behavioural intervention programs. It is one of the most aggressive programs in the country, but it’s not something that’s available everywhere, and the success and merits of that Alberta program are not conclusive.
I do also believe this is an area where the federal government needs to step in to provide some comprehensive national response.
With respect to Yellowknife or the Territories, it is really hard to speak about exactly what services are available to children without knowing exactly who the child is. Autism is not a one-time, one-situation condition. It’s something a child and family have to live with throughout life.
What I’m saying is that we have programs available in schools, at hospitals, with rehab teams. Whether they need a psychologist, speech therapist or physiotherapist, the child in need and the family have to…. If the Member wants to give me the name of the person, I’d be happy to look into that, but it is a multifaceted and multistage process that the GNWT provides.
I’m finally really glad to say that I can agree with the Minister in the sense of this being a federal responsibility. I’m glad the day has come that we both see eye to eye on this issue.
The program provided through the Ministry through Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority goes down to the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities. Right now, as I understand it, there are 14 people on that list providing services only a couple of hours a week. Furthermore, there are 14 on the waiting list.
The issue really is, where is the framework and policy to develop this concept, to make sure we’re providing the best services for families and children with autism? That’s really the question: where is that framework, so we can move forward on this issue?
I have worked with parents of children with autism, and I am aware of situations in Yellowknife where certain children with autism have someone with them the entire day at school because that child needs a full-time aide every minute he is in school.
What I’m saying is it’s hard to talk about how many hours we provide a child with autism. My answer is: it depends. It depends on the needs of the child as well as what services are available. Children with autism sometimes need…. I don’t know; I’m not a professional. I think that’s all I can say for now.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
The issue keeps coming around to this, which is the framework. We need a framework so we have a baseline to work from. We don’t have to look too far — just a little south of us; Alberta — to see what they’re doing with their ABA, the Applied Behaviour Analysis, and their IBI, which is the Intensive Behaviour Intervention. Would the Minister work on a framework so we have a model developed on those principles?
Yes, I did indicate in my letter to the Member that we are working on a framework to have a coordinated intervention plan. I look forward to having this framework reviewed with the standing committee members and working to make it more concrete through our upcoming business-development process.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on a statement made by the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs earlier today and on some of the questions posed by my colleague Mr. Krutko.
I need to say that I’m extremely pleased this agreement has been signed. It allows us to go forward and get started on many of the projects we know this territory needs.
Part of the Minister’s statement was that some $140 million was going to critical transportation infrastructure. He also stated the government plans to make $6.5 million per year available to community government.
My question to the Minister is: is that all the money that’s going to community government — $6.5 million per year? That’s the only funding that’s available for community government?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Minister Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, that’s correct. The money will be distributed on an annual basis over seven years. It comes to about $26.5 million annually. It was decided that $20 million will go toward transportation projects and $6.5 million would go toward municipalities.
Thank you to the Minister for the clarification. I guess I need the clarification, then, on the money that is going to the communities.
The first priority is water treatment plants, and I have no problem with that. It then says the balance of the funding will be made available to communities to address their own priority projects. If I could get some clarification on how communities are able to use the $6.5 million they are going to get annually.
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of projects that were left over on our capital plan when we transferred the dollars to our communities. These projects are all in the area of water plants. We have met with the NWT Association of Communities and have discussed with them. They have indicated we should have these projects completed, and that the remainder of the money, as it comes forward, should be distributed to the communities on a formula basis, similar to what we’re doing with our capital money and our gas tax money.
There are a number of different areas that have been put forward as national priorities, and those are water and waste water, public transit, highways and green energy.
We really negotiated strongly for flexibility in this agreement. We also have local priorities put in place, and those are in the area of sports and culture, disaster mitigation, solid waste management, local roads and airports. Within these broad categories, each jurisdiction has to then negotiate the details of what projects will come forward.
Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Minister. It’s good information. That was the kind of information I was hoping to hear, the response that I think…. Obviously, he has worked with the communities, and that’s the response they want to hear.
To the money that’s available for transportation infrastructure. I know we have huge needs in that area, but how will a community get their projects on a list, if there is going to be a list — that famous list we all know about. If the money is being handled through either MACA or Transportation, how are communities going to be able to indicate the urgency of transportation infrastructure needs other than that of their local roads, which, I gather, come out of their own community funds?
Mr. Speaker, the methodology that is being used right now is to have each community develop a capital plan, an undertaking that has been already started. We require that information as part of our Gas Tax Agreement.
We also have transferred all the capital dollars to the communities, and they now decide what projects they want to see in their communities. It’s the same plan, the same capital projections that will come forward and will be utilized as we have the discussion with the federal minister to sign off on community projects. It will indicate what portions of dollars will come from where, and it will also indicate…. We’ll have a plan to see which ones come forward. It will be a process we don’t expect to be very complicated. Each community will have a plan. Each community will decide what projects. We have the criteria already, so that’s how we plan to move forward.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for the information. I’m gratified to hear it, and I think it’s going to be a workable process. I guess I would like to ask the Minister: if there are communities that don’t feel they have the human resource capacity to develop their own community capital plan, will the department be able to help them to finish off these plans in a timely manner so they can get their priorities known to the department?
Mr. Speaker, that’s a commitment we’ve already made through the New Deal initiative. It’s a commitment we made to all communities — that we would work with them. Some communities, however, have really been able to grab this whole initiative and move forward rather quickly. Others are struggling, and we still have to work with a number of communities. We will continue to do that. We are already doing that with some of the other funding sources that are coming forward.
Of course, there are still a number of challenges we have to continue to work toward solving, and that is in an area of capacity. Especially now that there are large amounts of capital going to each community, we really have to ensure that all the planning and all the legwork is done.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My written questions are for the Minister of Human Resources. I have two.
Now that the 2008–09 budget is completed, I would like a comprehensive list of all positions that are being deleted as a result of the budget. As part of this list I would also like to know the following:
Which position were/are vacant?
Which positions were filled as of June 16, 2008?
Which positions were identified for deletion due to sunsetting? and;
Any other standard information such as department, region and location.
Can the Minister of Human Resources also provide me with a comprehensive list of all new positions created and approved within the 2008–09 budget? Within this list I would like standard details such as position title, department, division, region and location. As well, I’d like to know the current status of the positions. Specifically, is the position currently filled?
The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to go back to Item 6 on the order paper.
The Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to Item 6 on the order paper, recognition of visitors in the gallery.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you very much, colleagues. I just wanted to say a special thanks to the pages who come from Fort Liard, Ms. Blair Kotchea and Ms. Tina Klondike. They had a nice long travel over here, and I hope they have good, safe travel home.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a written question for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding contract information with the Government of Nunavut. Please provide the following information in detail for the past three years:
How many people work in the speech-language pathology and occupational therapy unit; and further, what are the staffing levels historically, noting duration of any vacancies?
How long has this unit been providing speech and occupational therapy services to the Government of Nunavut?
Please provide the details of the contract with the Government of Nunavut, such as:
how often this unit needs to travel;
how long do they travel for;
how many staff travel;
how much money does this contract garner;
does the Government of Nunavut pay this cost when a bill is submitted;
what is the timeliness of our invoices; and
has the Government of the NWT failed to submit invoices in a timely way, or have our bills been disputed or missed?
Mr. Speaker, I have three returns to written questions.
16-16(2)
GNWT Senior Management
First, I have Return to Written Question 16-16(2), asked by Mr. Abernethy on June 2, 2008, regarding Government of the Northwest Territories senior management performance bonuses.
Performance bonuses may be provided to senior managers and those employees with executive managers’ contracts in a lump sum payment, an increase to salary, or a combination of the two. A performance bonus may be granted to an executive or senior manager who demonstrates outstanding job performance and contributes to the achievement of departmental or government-wide objectives.
Performance bonuses have not been awarded yet for the 2007–08 fiscal year. Over the four fiscal years previous to 2007–08, that is fiscal years 2003–04 to 2006–07, the following numbers of executive managers have been employed in each respective fiscal year: 14, 17, 19 and 23.
The number eligible in each year to receive a bonus is 14, 16, 19 and 21. The number of executive managers who received a bonus in each fiscal year is 14, 16, 17 and 20. The number of executive managers who did not receive a bonus in each fiscal year is zero, 1, 2 and 3.
Over the same four fiscal years the following number of senior managers have been employed in each respective fiscal year: 158, 172, 190 and 191. The number eligible in each year to receive a bonus is 145, 164, 169 and 169. The number of senior managers who received a bonus in each fiscal year is 122, 133, 134 and 145. The number of senior managers who did not receive a bonus in each fiscal year is 36, 39, 56 and 46.
18-16(2)
Capital Projects within the
Mr. Speaker, I have Return to Written Question 18-16(2), asked by Mr. Krutko on June 6, 2008, regarding capital projects within the Department of Transportation.
All transportation projects identified for funding under the Building Canada Plan have been previously referenced in the NWT Highway Strategy (Investing in Roads), the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan or the 20 Year Capital Needs Assessment. Many of the projects have also been included in the Corridors for Canada, Corridors for Canada II and Connecting Canada funding proposals to the federal government. The highway strategy and subsequent funding proposals have been previously provided to MLAs, community and aboriginal governments for comment and review. Agencies such as the NWT Business Coalition and the NWT Association of Communities were also involved in the development of these strategies.
Consultations on specific projects have also been undertaken with community and aboriginal governments. For example, in developing the Highway Strategy, the Department of Transportation for each proposed highway project established a stakeholder advisory committee comprised of individuals from local aboriginal and community organizations. These stakeholder advisory committees were also complemented by various Minister/MLA information tours and attendance at a number of aboriginal assembly and regional leadership meetings. Many of these consultations have realized letters or resolutions of support. As many of these projects have long histories attached to them, the department requires further details on which projects and time frames the Member requests supporting documents for. As these projects move forward, further consultations will be undertaken as part of the permitting process.
A mix of class “C” and “D” estimates have been used for the proposed Building Canada Plan projects. Class “C” estimates have been used for proposed projects with timelines early in the Building Canada Plan. These include Kakisa River Bridge, the city of Yellowknife bypass road and the Yellowknife combined services building. Class “D” estimates have been used for all other projects.
20-16(2)
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I have Return to Written Question 20-16(2), asked by Mr. Robert C. McLeod on June 9, 2008, regarding the wage subsidy program.
In 2007–08 a total of 219 employers accessed the wage subsidy programs comprised of Training-on-the-Job, the Youth Employment Program, Oil and Gas, and Apprenticeship Training-on-the-Job.
As of June 11, 2008, there were 365 apprentices in the NWT. Breaking it down by region, there were 40 apprentices in the Beaufort-Delta, 22 apprentices in the Sahtu, 156 apprentices in the North Slave, 123 apprentices in the South Slave and 24 apprentices in the Deh Cho. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document on active apprentices by region and community.
In 2007–08 expenditures for the wage subsidy programs comprised of Training-on-the-Job, the Youth Employment Program, Oil and Gas, and Apprenticeship Training-on-the-Job totalled $2,060,822.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Return to Written Question 20-16(2), I wish to table the following document, entitled Active Apprentices by Region and Community.
Document 72-16(2), Active Apprentices by Region and Community, tabled.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following documents, entitled Building for the Future: Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Annual Report 2005–2006; and NWT Housing Corporation Framework for Action 2008–2011.
Document 73-16(2), Building for the Future: NWT Housing Corporation 2005–2006 Annual Report, tabled.
Document 74-16(2), NWT Housing Corporation Framework for Action 2008–2011, tabled.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, June 23, 2008, I will move the following motion:
Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the following individuals be appointed by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories to the Human Rights Commission for the Northwest Territories, effective July 1, 2008:
Ms. Mary Pat Short of the town of Fort Smith, for a term of four years;
Mr. George Collins of the town of Hay River, for a term of four years;
Mr. Yacub Adam of the city of Yellowknife, for a term of four years;
and further, that the Speaker be authorized to communicate the effective dates of the appointments to the Commissioner; and furthermore, that the appointment of Ms. Tammy Rogers of the town of Inuvik be amended to a term of four years.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion.
The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
16-16(2)
Appointment of Equal
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, June 23, 2008, I will move the following motion:
Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Ms. Nitya Iyer be appointed as Equal Pay Commissioner in accordance with the Public Service Act by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories as recommended by the Legislative Assembly; and further, that the Speaker be authorized to communicate the effective date of the appointment to the Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.
Unanimous consent granted.
