Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today will be for the Minister of Health. At the end of March of this calendar year the Premier mentioned the Economic Action Plan 2012 and there was mention within the plan by the national Minister of Health then about Health Canada’s plan to open up offices in Yellowknife and they mentioned Iqaluit during that federal budget to enhance their presence in the North and to deliver services locally. They planned to deliver these in other jurisdictions as well. To date there has been no plan set. We have not heard anything, at least publicly, for that and very little detail for that has been published by Health Canada. Has the Minister of Health been in contact with his federal counterpart and is there an update to this announcement?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’ve had no specific discussion about any Health Canada positions being transferred into Yellowknife with the federal Minister.
I’m glad I’m also in the dark. Would the Minister indulge the House as to when he might contact the federal Minister of Health to maybe get an update of this so-called Economic Action Plan?
I’m prepared to do that after the federal budget is approved.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
QUESTION 93-17(3):
DIABETES IN THE SAHTU REGION
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, in the Sahtu there seems to be an increase of diabetes, of people who have this sickness. I want to ask the Minister if his department knows of this and do they have some kind of action plan to look at the increase of diabetes in people of the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Diabetes is a chronic disease. The department has a plan around chronic diseases which includes diabetes. We recognize that diabetes is increasing by 200 people per year across the Territories. We have not only developed a plan but are actually doing some work in healthy eating, exercises and so on that will combat diabetes.
In the communities that I represent, people are now starting to realize that there’s not only two or three people but five or six that now have diabetes in that community. Sometimes it seems to be hard to get some services, either getting them out to a facility here in Yellowknife or in Edmonton where they can take the one-week Diabetes Education Program. Not only for themselves but also for the families. Has the Minister looked at this type of program where it can be readily available for the people of the Sahtu?
The NWT Diabetes Clinic was open here in Yellowknife. We’re reviewing the reason why the Diabetes Clinic is not open right now. There is a call across the Territories to have the Diabetes Clinic reopened in Yellowknife. Also in the new health centre in the Sahtu there is a plan to have a diabetes program in there.
The diabetes issue is dangerous. It’s coming. We can feel it in the Sahtu. Eight years ago we had very few people with diabetes. Now we have higher numbers each year. It’s affecting our children in the schools. I know the Education department is doing some work. I want to ask the Minister in terms of the education awareness what his department is doing with diabetes in the Sahtu and other communities in the Northwest Territories. People are also realizing this issue of diabetes is going to be a dangerous one if we don’t take care of it.
Aside from discussing healthy eating in the schools and dropping the pop, some exercise, talking to schools about people exercising, talking about walking with people, we’re also looking at carefully expanding the home care so that people with diabetes, that more attention is paid to people’s feet. With diabetes there are a lot of preventable amputations that do occur in the health system. Each amputation costs about $80,000 and there are numbers out there indicating that about 80 percent of those are preventable. If we can step up the home care to make sure that anybody that has diabetes who ends up with ulcers on their feet that attention is paid to that immediately and then we may be able to prevent. The thought is that we may be able to prevent 80 percent of the amputations, which will save a lot of money in the system.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of the factors of the issue of diabetes is the amount of sweets children are eating or people are eating in the schools and especially with the younger children. Is the Minister working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment with the health curriculum in the high schools, when students pack in chocolate bars upon chocolate bars and pop and all the stuff that they’re drinking and eating, that risk possibly being diabetic one day at a young age. Is the Minister working with the Education department to see if this curriculum is being given the attention that it needs in the high school?
We are working with Education. We are working in the schools. We do provide some funding to the schools. We’ve done some funding directly pertaining to food and people’s hearts and so on to make sure. We’ve also had discussion at the Joint Leadership Council, which is the public administration chairs of all the authorities, about trying to introduce curriculum to health at the high school level. In the elementary or primary school there is health taught in the schools to the younger ages, but at the high school, at this time, I think there is some curriculum that needs to be developed in order to have a full health curriculum at the high school level.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today will be for the Minister of Transportation. August 20, 2011, will be forever ingrained in our history as being a very terrible day. I mean, obviously, this is the day that near Resolute a plane crash took the lives of 12 people, 12 Northerners. Early on in this Assembly I know we spoke about this at great lengths, and I did talk about this with the Transportation Minister about looking at our Aviation Memorial Program, which was not touched since 1969. That was the last time it was dealt with, and that was the Pilot’s Monument that paid homage to the engineers and aviation people of the day.
Since that point, the Minister indicated that he would look at looking into enhancing a presence for a memorial. Given the fact that this House will not resume until after that tragic day, is the Minister prepared to comment or come to this House to say his department looked at making enhancements to our Aviation Memorial Program? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. I can check with the Clerk, but I believe the issue of the Resolute crash of the First Air 737 is presently before the courts. I could ask, perhaps, the Clerk for a ruling on that before I ask Mr. Ramsay for a response.
Thank you for that. The Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. The idea conceptually of an aviation memorial and the government’s involvement in that is a good one and is something I have made a commitment to the Member previously that the government would be interested in doing.
As these things go, there are a lot of, obviously, aviation companies, businesses, families. There are a lot of issues that would have to be covered in the development of a memorial. We haven’t received a proposal from any interested party in the development of a memorial. If that was going to happen, we would certainly work with whoever it was that brought forward a proposal on a memorial. Thank you.
I appreciate the Minister’s commitment to this program as it was mentioned a number of months ago. However, like anything else, trying to get all parties together is obviously going to be a little bit tricky. Would the Minister commit to spearhead this project as a result, because a lot of the finances would come under this government? Would the Minister commit that his department would spearhead the enhancements of our Aviation Memorial Program, not only in Yellowknife but throughout the Northwest Territories?
I certainly would be interested in doing that and I will take that back to my officials at the Department of Transportation to see how that could happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Transportation.
Regarding the list of impacts and actions outlined in the Minister of Transportation’s May 31st Minister’s statement “Climate Change Adaptation,” please provide the costs resulting from impacts cited, including:
settlement of the Dempster Highway due to permafrost thaws;
increased road and gravel applications to South Slave highways;
costs associated with the delayed opening of the Tlicho winter road;
extra frost and ice removal at the Inuvik Airport;
increased de-icing glycol use at the Yellowknife Airport and construction of increased glycol storage facilities;
development and purchase of ice spray technology for use on ferries;
purchase and introduction of ice-penetrating radar to estimate ice thickness;
increased highway maintenance shift costs;
the climate change assessment study being prepared with the transportation system;
construction of test strips on Highway No. 3 between Yellowknife and Behchoko;
development of a protocol for assessing the vulnerability of airports;
preparation of a Climate Change Adaptation Plan;
organization and delivery of winter road adaptation workshops;
participation in the National Transport Canada information networks on climate change adaptation;
development of a Best Practices Guide for Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Winter Roads; and
development of a Best Practices Guide for the Construction of Transportation Infrastructure on Permafrost.
Madam Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, June 7, 2012, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation delay implementation of the proposed changes to the seniors public housing rent scales until the corporation conducts a thorough and transparent consultation process with seniors across the Northwest Territories;
And further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation develop and bring forward to the Standing Committee on Social Programs a new proposal for seniors public housing rent scales that reflects the input and concerns of seniors but still recognizes the seniors’ responsibility to contribute when appropriate;
And furthermore, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 90 days.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, June 7, 2012, I will move that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success; Tabled Document 3-17(3), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2012-2013; Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act; Committee Report 1-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2010-2011 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; Committee Report 2-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2010-2011 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report.
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We’ve got five items on today’s agenda: Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success; Tabled Document 3-17(3), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2012-2013; Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act; Committee Report 1-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2010-2011 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; and Committee Report 2-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2010- 2011 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The committee wishes to continue with deliberations of Tabled Document 3-17(3), NWT Main Estimates, with the continuation of the Housing Corporation, on to Municipal and Community Affairs, Department of Justice, as well as Health and Social Services, time permitting.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will commence after a short break.
---SHORT RECESS
Welcome back, committee. Does Minister McLeod have witnesses he’d like to bring into the Chamber?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses into the House?
Mr. McLeod, would you like to introduce your witnesses to the committee, please?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have with me, to my right, Mr. David Stewart, president and CEO of the NWT Housing Corporation; and to my left I have Mr. Jeff Anderson, vice-president, infrastructure and finance, NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Welcome back, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Anderson, to the House. We are on general comments for the NWT Housing Corporation. Next up for general comments I have from Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Before I begin I will just apologize and just reiterate anything I said yesterday just to kind of speed up the process.
Looking at the opening remarks, I just wanted to make a comment on the expenditures that were put forth for the budget here in the amount of $43.9 million. I do recall in previous discussion we talked about the lack of arrears. When arrears are not being collected, it does affect the maintenance program because that money actually goes directly into maintaining the units. When we do these expenditures and if we’re looking at putting some new units in the communities, I hope it does go on a needs assessment or areas where possibly there are some clients who are not paying their arrears because they feel that their units do need the maintenance and they don’t feel comfortable doing that. That’s one comment I wanted to make.
A good comment is the $325,000 for the homelessness position. Speaking with the Alternatives North group that came in today to give a presentation to us earlier in this government, they had mentioned that housing was one of the contributing factors to homelessness in the NWT. Looking at the business plans we see before us, or actually that we had during the business planning session, a lot of good action was taking place and I did make comments back then when your department came and sat before the committee. It’s really nice to see that you have taken the initiative with this and are going to move forward.
The Rent Supplement Program, the $1.2 million, I’m glad to see that it does say in here that there is $500 per month for a two-year period, so that really will help some individuals out, especially in some of the communities that are really going to need it shortly. I’m thinking specifically of Inuvik, of course, and the situation we’re in. I’m not sure when the starting date is on that, but I’ll let constituents know back home about that funding program. I guess based on the applications the department receives, they’ll be looking at increasing that or not.
The funds that were allocated to the SAFE program are a really good move forward.
In terms of the home ownership program, I know I did have some discussions with some constituents back home who have been previously approved for the home ownership program, and then having to revise their application and then not being able to get a home because it didn’t require the needs of that certain individual or family. I think there needs to be some change in how that’s developed, especially if they do meet the requirements but there’s no place open for them. I do know we do have some vacancies in some of the communities. If they are vacant, there should be an opportunity to utilize those units.
From last night there were a lot of good comments made by my fellow colleagues. I just want to touch on those as the main ones I wanted to discuss without having to reiterate some of my fellow colleague’s comments. With that said, I just want to thank the Minister and his staff for coming back today and for getting through this department. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. For general comments we have Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I’ll start with some of my issues and concerns and support towards housing.
One of the things I support is this new rental scale program. It’s built on encouraging people to stay working, where the old system was a deterrent to be working. If you made a certain income, because of your income you were discouraged because the rent went to high amounts. The maximum amounts are quite a bit less now, so there’s an incentive to stay working. You are contributing to the economy yet taking advantage of public housing.
One of the other issues I know that’s a concern in my area is senior housing and the amount of senior housing available. We are seeing a high demand for seniors housing and multiple units. I’m just interested in seeing where the department is going with that. Especially as our population ages, we are going to see more and more demands for that. Thankfully, some of that is the Northwest Territories and keeping a lot of seniors that typically used to travel south or move south once they became retirement age. Now we’re seeing them stay in the North, spending their retirement in the North. I think that’s a positive spin, but it’s also putting pressure on our senior housing and, obviously, our health care system as well.
Another situation that we have that we’re concerned with in the Hay River area is homelessness, I guess. A homeless shelter for men would be an added, additional area of concern, which I know Housing has had some dealings with. That’s an area that I’m hoping that we’re going to be able to work with Housing on some of those issues in the near future.
Getting back to the rental scale program, also I would like to see the department set up a tracking system on how this is being implemented and how effective it is, as well as doing a review after a year, 18 months, two years, whatever they deem adequate to indicate what some of the results are as far as financially and arrears-wise, as well as the effectiveness of the program and be willing to tweak the program wherever possible to make it more effective.
One of the other issues that are coming up with seniors housing is seniors having to pay for public housing. In the Hay River area, we’ve had some meetings. It’s an area of debate. There are several seniors, quite a few seniors that feel that they are willing to pay a little bit. Often with a claim: as long as it’s fair and equitable for everybody. There are some that are probably against it as well. In that area, I’m kind of torn and sitting on the fence because there is a 50/50 split, I think, in supporting or not supporting seniors having to pay housing.
Those are some of my initial concerns with the housing programs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
