Debates of June 6, 2006 (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize one of the CHO grads, Monique Laing, from Behchoko.

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Along with her, her children and husband. Mahsi.

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Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we have missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the House. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It is always nice to have an audience.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today, I talked about this government’s role, how it is particularly significant right now with the increased potential of resource development in relation to small business. Mr. Speaker, we have gone through some processes here. We have divided RWED. We have Industry, Tourism and Investment. We have consolidated the BDIC, the Business Development Investment Corporation. We have undertaken all these various exercises at some degree of energy and expense. I was wondering if the Minister today could articulate for us how those changes have translated into increased, better and effective support for small business. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Return To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member has mentioned, one of the first tasks for us after the division of the department was to work with the newly created Business Development Investment Corporation. Essentially, that pulled together the various arms of our government that had been lending money, providing business programming, whether it was, at the time, RWED proper or BCC or the Development Corporation. We pulled them together under one roof and created what we feel is enabling legislation that allows for more flexibility and lending. It will allow us to be better able to partner with other organizations like Aboriginal Business Canada. It was a problem in past partnering and levering additional funds from the federal government. It was difficult under the past legislation. So we set up this legislative framework.

The next step was to do an evaluation of our programs that we were currently delivering to understand if they were working well. If they weren’t working, to talk about the kinds of improvements that we could make. That business program review has taken about just short of a year. We are now at the stage where the review will come back to me and I will get a chance to look at that. I will be in front of committee in the September business planning process to talk about improvements and to talk about some of the things we are proposing to do to ensure that we do make a difference and make sure our programs are relevant, accessible and more comprehensive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will certainly look forward to hearing of the results of that business program review. Mr. Speaker, time is of the essence. There are opportunities that are going to become apparent and are emerging right now in the North. There is a time frame. There is a window on some of these opportunities. The time is of the essence. I want to stress that to the Minister. Is there anything else that the Minister sees his department being able to do through any of these organizations that could assist small business? I understand that there is a cap on how much money small businesses can borrow, but there are other investors out there. At the Meet the North conference, we met investors from foreign countries actually looking to invest in the North. There are lending institutions out there. Interest rates are still low. What else can this government do to try and facilitate matching opportunities to needs here in the North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

There certainly are a number of things. I would like to talk to committee about them. Just off the top of my head, I think, obviously, capital is always scarce. I think, in past, we’ve had a difficulty in freeing up some of that capital. Oftentimes, when you have the government bank have successful loans that are working well, they are reluctant to move them off to the chartered banks. But I think that we should be looking to take our successful loans and make sure the chartered banks get involved where possible so that we can free up more capital to then go out to other potential lenders.

I think we also need to have a discussion around our grant programs. They have essentially been decimated from somewhere in the neighbourhood of $10 million in the '90s to about $1.5 million a year. I think there is still a place for grants, but it probably isn’t in the larger centres. I think there is some merit in having the grants be targeted in our smallest communities and try to ensure that our loan programs are more effective in the larger centres. I think, for the bigger loans, many of the market-driven opportunities are going to be in our biggest communities. We need to make sure that we have capital that is freed up. There are a number of things that I would like to talk about. We will have to have this discussion around the cap of $2 million in programming for any individual. I look forward to that discussion as well. I think there are a number of things we will talk about in September. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that the Minister recognizes that there is still a place for grants to businesses for start-up costs and things like that. I certainly think when you look at Hay River, you see many success stories that you can point to, businesses now that are manufacturing things, that are employing northerners, that are putting out quality products and are, in fact, shipping northern products to the South and bringing that money back into the Northwest Territories.

Part of that grant money used to come from the federal government in the form of the Economic Development Agreement. It was a matched funding program between the federal and territorial government where you could also access or stack it with grant programs that were available. What is the status of any discussions with the federal government about a new Economic Development Agreement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I met with Jim Prentice -- it must be about a month ago now -- to discuss this specific issue, the need for a long-term, permanent EDA, Economic Development Agreement, in the Northwest Territories. I made him very much aware that we would have preferred the SINED funds be handled by either the territorial government or northern interests and see the decisions made here at home, but we had accepted that the existing SINED funds were going to be rolled out, DIAND making the decisions. As long as there was some consideration of our priorities, we could live with that for the existing three years of this program. But post this SINED program, we were insistent that we need to see an Economic Development Agreement like FedNor or like western economic diversification that the other provinces and other regions have. That is something that we will continue to discuss. He knows the ask. I am hopeful that he will be responsive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister this final question then. If his department has given any consideration to hosting some type of venue where businesses that are interested in starting up or expanding what they are already doing, finding out where they can get support services for their company, additional capital, things like that, has the Minister’s department considered hosting or facilitating any such a gathering here in the North, given the timing and the imminent development that lies ahead? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 61-15(5): Support For Small Business

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of regional economic development conferences that have either been hosted or are in the planning stages and not necessarily headed up by our department, but our department has participated in and will continue to participate in these. It is something that I am certainly prepared to discuss. I think, as this business program review comes forward and we talk about improvements, there is some merit to pulling business interests and stakeholders together to discuss what we are thinking needs to be done. So that is something that we can certainly consider, but we will also, and I would urge Members that if there are regional efforts that are coming together, if there are participants coming forward with suggestions or ideas, bring them forward to me. We are certainly prepared to discuss them and consider them. I think it does make a lot of sense to bring the various different stakeholders together. As the Member indicates, for some of these resource development projects, time is of the essence and there is some urgency here. We need to make sure we are supportive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I talked about the government’s obvious undervalue of service agencies by not allowing these organizations like YACCS to pay their employees fair marketing competitive market wages, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. What is the Minister prepared to do to assist YACCS and other organizations like them to ensure that they are able to offer competitive and attractive salaries and compensation packages to hire and keep trained staff in order to continue the high quality of essential services they offer to our community and to our people? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we place a very high value on the work that non-government organizations do. As a government, we have done a lot of work, along with the Member’s opposite, on boards and agencies to try to look at how we rationalize that whole area of service. As well, we have developed a third-party accountability framework which is now in place that we are working on and using as a government. As we look at dealing with some of these issues, we have moved into multi-year funding contracts. When it comes to YACCS, we are working with them on a number of their issues including their issues that arise periodically with collective bargaining. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I heard a great response there, we put a high value on the work that they do, we rationalize it and support them, and we are working with them. So I guess my question now to the Minister is, how are we going to rationalize, support and respect the high value of service that they offer when there is a $500,000 plus wage parity gap between what their employees as a collective receive and what they should be paid in fair market value throughout other government agencies? How is the Minister going to address this gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been in correspondence with and in contact with YACCS. They have indicated to us their need for additional funding. We are in the middle of the business planning process and coming forward in government and as a department with a number of forced growth items dealing with NGOs. That whole area is one of the areas that we are looking at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear that the Minister is talking to YACCS through correspondence, as he pointed out. I am glad he mentioned business plans are coming forward to address forced growth problems. So going back to the $500,000 gap, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister is well versed in this so we don’t have to go into too much detail, can the Minister lay out some of the plans to meet wage parity in this upcoming business plan? What is the mandate he is giving his department to address this problem? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have just indicated, the issue of forced growth, NGOs, how they are funded, how do we build in the ability to recognize cost of living and other forced growth factors has been laid out in broad form to the third-party accountability. People from YACCS have written to myself. I have replied to them. We have a business plan process underway. We are including their requests along with a whole other range of NGOs that we deal with as part of our business planning submission. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that was one of the best answers I have heard from this Minister in my three years of the Assembly. He is talking about bridging the gap, addressing forced growth problems, cost of living and including the requests. So I guess, all of that said, everything I needed to hear about what it was we are bridging the gap on. So the bottom line is, will wage parity be addressed in this business plan? I can guarantee you, there aren’t many people who are against this problem. Will he address it? Will he tell this House today that he is going to ensure that YACCS is valued, as well as other service agencies, by delivering on that commitment of including forced growth, cost of living and including that request in this upcoming business plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 62-15(5): Assistance To NGOs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to think that every answer I give is one of my best answers.

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I think that is truly documented in Hansard. Mr. Speaker, I have indicated the process that we are engaged in as a government with YACCS, NGOs, the business plan process, and that is the process that we are going to continue to follow to its logical conclusion, along with the Member’s input. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent. Back in February, I brought up the issue of the inequities that exist between day cares that are operating out of government-owned facilities and those who have to pay their own way. In terms of operating costs, it is an $80,000 to $90,000 per year advantage. I would like to ask the Minister today what exactly that he and his department have done since February when this issue was brought up to address the inequities? What have they done to address the issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When this issue was first raised and the government was challenged to do a review of all charity leases, that was undertaken by Public Works. The information was brought to Cabinet. At that point, Cabinet decided that we should have a look and have a consistent approach across government for our charity leases. That work is underway and is expected to be completed later this summer. It will be considered at that point by Cabinet, so it is not one department doing one thing and another department doing another. We intend to look and see if there is a consistent approach that all departments can take.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was four months ago. By the sounds of the Minister’s response, it is going to be another three or four months until they get some kind of determination on charity leases and what a level playing field might look like. Mr. Speaker, the inaction of the government to level the playing field may indeed cause the closing of more day cares here in Yellowknife. I know the Minister was listening when I spoke of the hundred or so children that are on waitlists currently in Yellowknife awaiting space in day cares. I would like to ask the Minister this: Aside from writing a letter to the honourable Diane Finley with his counterparts in Nunavut and the Yukon, what are his plans for getting more day care spaces in Yellowknife? Exactly what are the plans in that area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are hoping, through the business planning process, to be able to build on the federal government’s addition of $100 monthly to all parents with children under the age of six by increasing the user subsidies in the next business planning process. That should then allow day cares to increase their charges to parents. That should help to alleviate the problems that day cares may face with funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister, is there any additional federal dollars that will be coming to the Northwest Territories in the immediate future to address day care issues? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will be a number of federal dollars coming starting July 1st. Families with children under six will start to receive $100 a month for each child. So, arguably, that is federal money that is coming to the North. That money could easily be used by parents to help resolve financial issues at their day cares. I would expect that day cares would increase their rates to take advantage of the fact that that money is now available to parents. As I said, through the business planning process we’re hoping to be able to increase user subsidies and provide additional funding that way to parents who are looking for day cares, and then that should, again, provide for opportunities for day cares to find money through user fees.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister, are there any federal dollars, substantial federal dollars -- and I’m talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars -- that are going to be coming to this government in the near future? I’m not talking about the $100 a month to help families offset day care costs; I’m talking about contributions from the federal government, former commitments or new commitments, whatever the case may be. Is there new money coming? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 63-15(5): Inequities In Day Care Support