Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to ask him, has the Department of Health and Social Services ever done a cost-benefit analysis on changing the residency requirement for health care coverage from six month resident per year to five months?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since I’ve become the Minister of Health and Social Services, I’ve actually had a number of constituents and other residents raise this particular issue with me, and I’ve already directed the department to begin the analysis. First, what are other jurisdictions doing, how many have moved from the 183 days to 153 days. But more importantly than just the number, how many of those are for out of province and how many of those for out of country. I’ve also asked the department to do a cost analysis on what this could bring or limit the Northwest Territories.
Given that we have a different way of collecting money in the Northwest Territories – TFF compared to how provinces raise their funds – we need to verify that a change of residency won’t affect the TFF. I’ve directed the department to do the work, and once that analysis is done, I’m happy to bring it forward for discussion with Cabinet and committee.
Does the Minister know how long it’s going to take his department to do this homework and come up with a potential proposal to this change of this residency policy?
The staff that we have doing this is the same staff that are doing things like the medical travel review and a number of other things, so it’s a little down the list. They’ve started doing the work, but my direction to them was to complete the review, package it up so that I can explain it, and it can be explained to everybody within this fiscal year.
Could the Minister also please outline for us what exactly would be required for the government to implement a change in residency requirement for health care coverage? Would it require a legislative change or regulatory change? What would be required to make this change?
It would actually take a change to policy, we believe, at this time, but as I indicated, we need to make sure that any changes to policy or residency won’t affect the TFF and ultimately affect the finances that come to the Territories as a whole. From the perspective of Health and Social Services, it’s a policy change, but I’ll be able to confirm if it will affect anything else as we conduct a review and come back to committee and Cabinet.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister if he’s contemplated how he might collect information, how he might survey people who would be in this category of wanting to spend time outside of the territory, whether it be in Canada somewhere else or in another country.
How would he be surveying, I guess, to quantify the number of people that such a policy might affect? He doesn’t need to send a survey to my house because I never go anywhere.
That’s actually incredibly difficult because they don’t have to self-identify that they’re travelling, but under the existing policy they don’t have to notify us anyway, and I don’t believe that would change. We don’t necessarily need to know the numbers. We just need to know that they are residents of the Territories for the allocated period of time. Our colleague Mr. Dolynny mentioned a report card that was recently conducted on snowbirds and travelling south. We have copies of that report and we’re using that information to help us do our research, as well, and we will incorporate the areas that were identified in that for improvement where we scored a C, which is a pass, not a fail, but we certainly can do better in that area. We’re incorporating best practices. We’re incorporating reports. We’re incorporating information and we will come back to committee and Cabinet for further discussion.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recall at the end of our last session, the federal government just approved the Building Canada Plan of which in our plans $40 million was set aside for work on the Dempster Highway at $4 million a year.
I’d like to ask the Minister, when will those funds roll out and begin on projects like the Dempster Highway widening project?
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The funds were approved and we had presented a plan to the federal government and the plan was approved, but the money for the plan and how the money is going to roll out from the federal government has yet to be determined. Unfortunately, we are still in the process of negotiating when and how the money will flow. We don’t want to spend the money up front if that’s not the way the federal government is hoping to advance the money to us, so we’re going to talk to them and then determine exactly what is acceptable and when the money starts to flow, and then hopefully there might be something later this summer or maybe even earlier this summer, but at this time we haven’t gotten that final piece of how the money will flow through as yet. Thank you.
Thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister, is his department ready with their plans to follow through with the work on the Dempster Highway Project? Thank you.
Thank you. Yes, we are. It’s essentially the same plan that we’ve been running for seven years. It is a plan that’s worth $4 million a year for the last seven years that has been spent and we thought that it would just roll into this new Corridors for Canada III. However, there seems to be a one-year gap in between. We were hoping that didn’t exist, but yes, we will be continuing to widen the road moving forward with money that comes from the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you. Will the Minister expedite the Dempster widening project so that the work will happen this summer? Thank you.
Thank you. The department will do all it can to talk to the federal government, to meet with the federal government, have discussions, try to get the agreement signed off as quickly as possible so that there is no disruption in the work that ended last summer and that we’re hoping to roll into this year. We’re doing all we can, and unfortunately, I cannot stand up here and make a commitment for the federal government as to when they will release the money. But we’re doing all we can to try to get that done as quickly as possible.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also mentioned resurfacing. I’d like to ask the Minister, why was there no funds in the operation and maintenance to resurface the Dempster Highway from Fort McPherson to Wrangling River at kilometre 173? Thank you.
Thank you. The resurfacing of that highway is, unfortunately, not in the information I have here, but my understanding was that we were continuing the work, other than all other work that needed to be done other than this widening of the highway, using that money from Corridors for Canada. I will check to see what is happening between Tsiigehtchic and Wrangling River and I’ll let the Member know. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m just going to follow up from my Member’s statement today with questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in regards to this very successful program that’s run through the NWT Skills Canada division here.
I just want to ask the Minister, does the department, working in conjunction with NWT Skills Canada, have some type of database on the successes or successful candidates or participants that obtain a job in the trade or skill that they practice and won a gold medal for, successfully obtained a job with the GNWT or industry? Do the Minister and his department have some type of database for that currently? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Through the Skills Canada office, they’re supported by federal and also our territorial government through the ECE department and industry through program and event sponsors. So this is a very successful initiative pertaining to access trades programming throughout the Northwest Territories, nationally and also international stages. So we are working closely with Skills Canada to obtain the data that they would have on those individuals that are entering the trades programming. We have our own information as well. We sponsor those individuals through labour market agreements. So we try and keep data on those individuals, but we exchange with the Skills Canada organization. Mahsi.
Thank you. I think this is an opportunity right now for government to maybe step up and take it to the next level in terms of looking at how we can think outside the box and look at all our successful candidates that have won gold medals at the territorial level and who are currently going to be representing Team NWT at the national competition here.
Would the Minister implement some type of mentorship supporting program for all of our gold medal winners or all our participants who are currently at the national level, whether they’re in Grade 9 or Grade 12, and start supporting them through the years so that at the end of their high school that they might be able to take on a career within the industry or within the GNWT or within the communities back home? Would the Minister look at creating some type of follow-up mentorship program so that we can support these successful, skilled individuals? Youth actually? Thank you.
Mahsi. First I’d just like to congratulate those individuals in the past that have obtained gold medal level, a silver medal and also bronze at the national or international level and for the Northwest Territories as well. So we have to congratulate those individuals for their hard work and continue to support them. This is an area that, federally, Canada’s Job Grant is coming and Labour Market Agreement and Labour Market Development Agreement, there are changes coming. What the Member is referring to, if we can integrate that into our discussions with the federal, how we can achieve those goals, sponsoring those individuals at the gold level. So, this is an area that we need to discuss with Skills Canada and other partners out there. Mahsi.
Thank you. I know the Minister mentioned the Canada Job Grant. I think that’s a great opportunity, a great program and as long as we can start getting by and promoting that program, but we do have some youth that are down there in Grade 9, Grade 10 and this is a great opportunity for government to step up now and say, in two or three years you’re going to be either going to post-secondary or even getting some type of career, as a government we’re willing to help you, support you, because sometimes some of these individuals might not have high math skills, high chemistry skills, but the trade and the skill that they’re in right now, they’re succeeding in that. As a government we need to enhance that, encourage that and continue to motivate them to make the skills. So that’s where I’m coming from in terms of recognizing these gold medal winners.
I guess the next question is that if the government isn’t going to be stepping up, would the government start making agreements, whether its socio-economic agreements or working with the mines, other industry, to help support them to recognize our gold medal winners, our Team NWT that’s at the nationals right now to take on this type of program and support them for the remainder of their high school years? Thank you.
Mahsi. I agree with the Member that these individuals should be recognized and supported, and that’s what we’re doing through our apprenticeship occupation certification. We’ve committed $70,000 to support Skills Canada per year. Also, in 2013-14 we provided $140,000 for Skills Canada. We’ll continue to provide those types of sponsorships for these individuals to succeed beyond just the trades access. Someday we want them to be a journeyman ticket holder so they can come back to our Northwest Territories and contribute to our society. So, yes, those are areas that we need to discuss with the new initiative that’s coming down from the feds, and the industry has been in discussion as well. So once that information is available, I will be sharing it with the standing committee. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the last question, we’ve got a lot of these youth that have the summers off and they might be looking for summer jobs.
Would the Minister possibly work with our Minister of Human Resources to look at developing some type of summer employment program, especially for the gold medal winners, so we can promote them, get them right into the working system and possibly create some type of program? Is he willing to work with the Minister of Human Resources to develop some type of program where our Team NWT national winners would be able to possibly be a priority to get some of these jobs in the summer so they can start practising that skill, that trade that they’ve excelled at? Thank you.
I will commit to working with the Department of Human Resources to establish that. Not only there, but there’s also the Housing Corporation when it comes to plumbing and different trade areas and industry as well. So we do have connections within our department and other departments as well. We need to develop a plan of action towards this so we can focus on those individuals who are in the gold, silver and bronze areas, so they can hopefully achieve their dream as well. Mahsi.
MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, a vital service in Hay River, which is the handi-van, that deals with seniors and people with disabilities to get around the community to attend medical appointments and stuff like that, has not been receiving any government funding and has seen cost increases and has pressures there. So my questions are for the Minister of Health today.
Is there any funding available to assist these people, seniors with disabilities, to get to their medical appointments and go throughout the community of Hay River?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s no question that handi-vans provide an essential service for persons with disabilities; however, the provision for transportation services for people with disabilities is beyond the core mandate of the Department of Health and Social Services. I have had an opportunity to share the concerns that have been raised by the Member and the public with the Minister of MACA, and at present there is no GNWT funding available to municipalities for transportation services. The funding that they do receive from Municipal and Community Affairs is for water and sewer, operations and maintenance, and maintenance of infrastructure.
The community government could, obviously, choose to use some of these dollars from their gas tax or community public infrastructure to purchase a van, but that obviously wouldn’t help them to operate the van. However, O and M funding from the community government could be used for this purpose, if the community government chose to.
I strongly encourage advocates of persons with disabilities to continue to work with your community governments to take full advantage of the available funding for those purposes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The difficulty with that solution is we are downloading the information to a municipality where some of these services aren’t just a municipal issue. We are dealing with people from Katlodeeche that use the service as well as the fact that this is not public transportation. This is transportation for a specialized group that need wheelchair access, that need low ramp access. So we’re not talking about public transportation, as the Minister indicates from MACA.
Is there a way that we can have all these departments, whether it’s the department for seniors, people with disabilities and MACA, to get together and find a funding solution for this handi-van?
The Northwest Territories isn’t unique to this particular challenge. Throughout Canada, many municipalities do fundraising and other initiatives to raise money to support things like handi-vans. This is a community issue. This is a community transportation issue. It happens to be citizens and residents who happen to have some challenges with existing infrastructure, like normal cabs and normal vans, but it is still a community issue and I would encourage all the communities that are affected by the downgrading of services, like the handi-van in Hay River, to work together to see if they can come to a solution or conclusion with respect to the provision of transportation services for their residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don’t quite understand the fact that the Minister of Health believes the transportation to health facilities and the need to get those people who need special transportation is not a department issue. I don’t understand the fact that this is being downloaded from private organizations to communities to find the funding.
Is this not the responsibility of the GNWT to deal with its public issues to people’s public access to medical services?
Nothing is being downloaded, because nothing has changed. The fact is, the communities have had this responsibility and they have actively pursued it in different communities. There is fundraising that can be done. Communities have always taken this action. It’s not being downloaded, because it has always been the responsibility of the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
So, Mr. Speaker, I guess the problem with the handi-van in Hay River is the fact that we found an initiative. We actually got some sponsors for the purchase of the vehicle and we got some private funding to start with. We should have first come to the government and begged and pleaded and nailed them to the cross here in this House to get the money. Now that the shortfall is coming, the government still wants to deny their responsibility here. Downloading, yeah, there’s no downloading because you aren’t providing any funding.
I am asking the Minister to commit to looking at all the different departments that are associated with this type of transportation to find a solution for the handi-van.
Is there any way the Minister can... I don’t know which Minister to ask next because every Minister says it’s somebody else’s responsibility. Is there a way the Minister can look to get the solution done?
Mr. Speaker, across this country, communities are responsible for the provision of ambulance service as well as mobility services. This is something that is consistent in Canada, it’s something that has been consistent in the Northwest Territories. All of the communities in the Northwest Territories that want to provide those services step up and meet those needs of the residents of the communities. It isn’t being downloaded because it isn’t in the mandate of the Department of Health and Social Services. As I’ve indicated, I’ve had conversations with MACA. There is money being flowed to communities that they can choose for this exact purpose if they would like to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, who is also responsible for the Giant Mine Remediation Project. I would like to follow up on some of the questions that were asked by my colleague Mr. Bromley the other day about the environmental assessment agreement for the Giant project.
In the fall of 2013, there were some excellent hearings held by the Mackenzie Land and Water Board. They produced a very well thought out decision and a whole bunch of recommendations. There was a really good response from the responsible Ministers in response to the recommendations, but that agreement is not yet signed and it has been some six months since the decision came out. In response to Mr. Bromley, Minister Miltenberger stated, “We, along with the rest of the responsible Ministers, are waiting for the lead responsible Minister from AANDC to publicly announce the agreement and the agreed upon recommendations and modifications.”
So my first question to the Minister is that this decision has been unduly delayed, and I appreciate that the Minister is waiting for the AANDC Minister to do something, but he has a responsibility, in my mind, to NWT residents. I would like to know if he is prepared to talk to the AANDC Minister and push him to make a decision in the near future. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to strongly encourage the Minister and his staff to give us the indication that we need, sign it off so we can get down to business. Thank you.
