Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise today to recognize the nearly 400 athletes, coaches, cultural performers and staff who represented the Northwest Territories at the 2010 Arctic Winter Games.
It was my pleasure to attend the games this year along with a number of my colleagues who were there to cheer for Team NWT. I wish to thank those Members for supporting our youth and volunteers.
Mr. Speaker, although there were many highlights during the games, and all of our teams and competitors did very well, a few events really stand out.
The NWT Speed Skating Team dominated the field because of their excellent preparation and coaching. In doing so, they proudly demonstrated a sense of fair play and sportsmanship that was second to none. They were gracious, courteous and helpful to their competitors and acted as excellent ambassadors for the NWT. I was very impressed with the maturity and dedication to their sport that these young athletes show.
During the games, I received word of a convoy of 10 vehicles driven by parents with elders who traveled from Deline to Grande Prairie to support their athletes. That is team support that most coaches can only dream of. Especially since, because of uncharacteristic warm weather, it was questionable whether the ice roads would still be open when they had to return to Deline.
Mr. Speaker, MACA has a great tradition of recognizing parents and other family members who travel to the games to support our team at an
appreciation breakfast. This is our way of saying thank you for those many early morning practices, long weekend competitions, fundraising and countless other duties family members carry out to support their youth in sport.
This year MACA was pleased to host more than 200 supporters at the breakfast. It was a phenomenal turnout and a good indication of how important sport and physical activity programs are in our communities.
Mr. Speaker, the 2010 Arctic Winter Games Host Committee and its nearly 3,000 volunteers did a fabulous job in Grande Prairie. This group included a small but dedicated group of volunteer officials from the NWT. They were outstanding hosts and organizers and showed us all why Northerners have such a great sporting tradition.
To Team NWT Chef de Mission Doug Rentmeister and his mission staff, coaches and other support staff -- thank you. You did an excellent job. I would also like to recognize the contributions made by MACA staff before and during the games.
Mr. Speaker, Team NWT included nearly 400 athletes, cultural participants, coaches and mission staff from 27 communities. Many of the athletes took home medals, 107 ulus to be exact, but all of them were champions for their hard work and dedication to a healthy lifestyle.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating all participants. We are looking forward to the 2010 Games in Whitehorse, Yukon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, life is never dull in this building. Something is always happening. Sometimes we know it’s going to happen, sometimes we don’t, but there is never also any shortage of opinions no matter what the topic.
Today I, along with other Members, will speak to the controversial issue of changes to our Supplementary Health Benefits Program. I feel like we’re jumping from the frying pan into the fire. We’ve spent the last several months sizzling in the pan over the very controversial bridge issue and we will now jump into the fire with the supplementary health benefits issue.
Just so everybody is aware, we’re debating this issue because of a policy decision made by Cabinet in the 15th Assembly, the previous Assembly. The Executive of the current 16th Assembly has decided that the policy decision should now come into force, so here we are. As the 16th Assembly we seem to be destined to bear the burden of our predecessors’ actions.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, in her statement yesterday, said that changes will expand access to the program for those who do not currently have access. The changes will make the program more fair and equitable and that it will be a step towards poverty reduction and addressing cost of living for our residents.
I agree with all of those statements. I’ve never disagreed with the philosophy behind the Cabinet policy decision or with the rationale for making changes to the Supp Health Program. We do need to ensure that all NWT residents have access to extended health benefits. At the moment some do not have that access. We do need to make the program fair and equitable and at the moment it is not.
My problem regarding the changes has been, and continues to be, with the way in which the changes will be made. About a month ago the Department of Health and Social Services released a discussion paper; a paper intended to allow NWT residents to consider the changes to the Supp Health Benefits Program and provide their input or comments. This week, consultation via town hall meetings began.
It all sounds good except that, like the first time around a year ago, the schedule for consultation and implementation is all wrong. There simply is not enough time in the schedule to get the public’s views for the department to consider the input and develop a draft plan, to review the draft with members of the public, and then to have the three months identified by the Minister to prepare for implementation on September 1st.
There must be a second round of consultation to adequately consult with those affected by these changes. Implementation must be delayed to at least November 1st, preferably January 1st, 2011.
Ms. Bisaro, your time for your Member’s statement has expired. Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak yet again on the issue of developing new policies on supplementary health coverage in the NWT. I support the intent to begin delivering coverage to all people of the North. Unfortunately, I still do not know how many new people this involves or what the estimated costs are.
I support concerns raised about how the department is proceeding. First -- and on a point that is repeatedly being raised by public client groups, individuals, families, constituents, and committee -- is the expected expedited time frame that the Minister is insisting upon. We have an informed and experienced public on this issue and they need a full opportunity to contribute in an iterative fashion to the development of this important work. They have my support and I equally insist that the Minister recognize this call. New information was provided just yesterday. Consultation must proceed through the fall, not 10 years from now, as the Minister likes to say, but through this fall for implementation in January 2011; 10 months from now.
Philosophically I disagree with the main approach being taken. We have a tax system that could and may already provide, through federal transfers, the resources needed to cover supp health benefits. Government’s refusal to acknowledge and use this mechanism is leading to an ever more grossly deformed distribution of wealth and the rise of the super-rich. Continuing to ignore this responsibility contributes to the ongoing distortion and lack of resources for government to provide basic services that our public rightfully demands. Using the tax system to support the program simplifies administration, reduces costs and avoids the expensive and often justified difficulty of collecting payments.
The Minister proposes so-called net income thresholds, such as $30,000 or $50,000, used to define when those with supplementary health issues will have to pay for benefits. Let’s be clear, these thresholds are not net income in the common understanding of the term. They are really gross income. Net income is pre-tax income from which a few miscellaneous deductions are made, such as northern benefits. If the department insists on this approach, it requires a critical look at what proportion the payments will be of real take-home pay to estimate actual impacts on the well-being of people.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Further, income on its own is not a good measure of an individual’s or a family’s ability to pay. Families must also juggle housing challenges, higher cost of living in some areas, unequal access to income, other health issues and debts.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I hear little from the Minister about how she is reducing costs and increasing efficiencies for supplementary health. Pharmaceuticals are acknowledged as a big part of the bill, yet we are still awaiting action on bulk purchasing and other opportunities to manage these costs further. I have heard nothing yet about how we will encourage or insist on third-party insurance coverage.
Mr. Speaker, we can do better. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, in 1993 the Assembly of First Nations declared the month of March to be Aboriginal Languages Month. Celebrations of aboriginal languages have occurred every year since. In the NWT the community teaching and learning centres are celebrating with a variety of events. In its press release to recognize this month, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment assured the language communities that the GNWT is committed to continue its support of language and cultural activities.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is hosting an Aboriginal Languages Symposium next week, and as chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, I am pleased to be co-chairing the event with Minister Jackson Lafferty. The presentations and workshops will lead to identification of steps that will be taken in the future to keep our languages alive.
Mr. Speaker, maintaining our languages is very important. It seems that we have spent a great deal of time and money supporting energy initiatives and renewable resources to preserve our environment. We must apply that same level of commitment to preserving and renewing our languages. These languages hold our aboriginal culture, our uniqueness in the North and link us to our past so that we can enrich our future.
It seems that our neighbour, Nunavut, has been diligent with its work on preserving Inuit languages. In its 2010-2011 budget speech, Minister of Finance Keith Peterson made commitments to fulfil the intent of Nunavut’s Official Languages Act and Inuit Language Protection Act. The Nunavut Language Summit was held in early February and Nunavut has already scheduled an Inuit Language Standardization Symposium for this fall.
Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to next week’s Aboriginal Languages Symposium when people concerned about languages will gather together at the Aboriginal Languages Symposium and their discussions will lead to strategies to support and strengthen our languages. I also look forward to the government showing its commitment to language revitalization in its 2011-12 budget, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, today would like to speak about the supplementary health benefits review. Mr. Speaker, the Hay River Seniors’ Society has met to discuss the supplementary health benefits consultation, and I had the benefit of attending two sessions with the seniors.
Hay River is the second largest community in the Northwest Territories and is the home of many seniors who have retired after careers served there and some have ended their careers after serving in various other northern communities. Hay River has long been considered an ideal place to retire due to the somewhat lower cost of living. So while still in the NWT, seniors found retiring here to be an affordable option.
Hay River has a very active seniors' community and many continue to serve in various capacities and contribute very valuable services through volunteer organizations. At the meeting held on March 17th, which was well attended, various opinions and concerns were expressed. Firstly, the supplementary health benefits currently available to seniors over the age of 60 in the Northwest Territories are greatly appreciated. Seniors understand that life expectancies are increasing and that the demographic of seniors in the NWT is growing.
As the GNWT grapples with the sustainability and affordability of services in general, seniors wish their voices to be heard. The survey and consultation efforts really come down to a question of whether or not the provision of supplementary health benefits to NWT seniors should in any way be contingent upon or prorated by way of an income or means test.
The cost of living in the North is higher than in any other jurisdiction. Seniors mostly live on fixed incomes. The longer that seniors can remain healthy and independent both physically and financially, the longer more costly care by the public is avoided. Seniors contribute to their communities in ways that are difficult to quantify or place a monetary value on.
The exodus of seniors from the North looking for a more affordable place to live would diminish an already declining NWT population. This would negatively affect the transfer from Canada. The GNWT expends resources in attempting to attract people to live, work and invest in the North, with limited success, Mr. Speaker. Equal attention should be paid to the efforts to retain the people that we already have. The NWT emphasizes and adheres to a principle of respect for elders.
Based on the above, it is the position of the Hay River Seniors’ Society that the GNWT…
Mr. Speaker, I am running out of time here. I would just like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement, please.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Mr. Speaker, based on the above, it is the position of the Hay River Seniors’ Society that the GNWT should place a high priority on the allocation of sufficient financial resources to support all NWT seniors not covered through other government programs for the provision of the existing supplementary health benefits regardless of their economic position or circumstances. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Public discussions started on Monday with respect to the proposed Supplemental Health Program that the Department of Health and Social Services would like to implement. As predicted, residents are very concerned with the approach that the department is taking.
I would like to share with you one e-mail that a constituent, Cornelius Van Dyke recently sent to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Van Dyke has agreed to let me read it here today.
Minister Lee, I had an opportunity to hear a representative from your department discuss this government’s plans for the supplementary health benefits plan on Thursday night. This presentation was exclusively directed on discussing how the government currently pays for and how it might in future pay for the supplementary health benefits. Discussion about what would be covered under the revised plan and how it would affect individuals was deflected to a later discussion at an unnamed time.
Since the ancient Greeks introduced the concept of a democratic government system, governments have generally moved slowly and carefully before introducing changes which would affect the governed populous. There are many instances over the extended time of unpopular changes resulting in the ultimate change in the government.
Your haste to bring in the changes to the Supplementary Health Benefits Plan is totally unreasonable. You have set an introduction date which does not allow reasonable discussion about the changes. It does not allow for reasonable give and take of varying points of view brought to the discussion by a wide selection of individuals and stakeholders. It does not allow the government to change its policies to accommodate the discussions and recommendations arrived at as a result of consultation with the affected people and stakeholders prior to the stated implementation date. It does not respond to the democratic rights of the population of the Northwest Territories and it does not reflect the exercises of its responsibilities by the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Your insistence that the implementation date for the changes to the supplementary health benefits will not be changed implied the hidden agenda and a disregard of the input by the people of the Northwest Territories.
I urge you to change the direction you are taking with this proposal. Careful consideration of all aspects of the proposed changes will result in a better product. Take the time needed for this careful consideration.
Yours truly, Cornelius Van Dyke, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with Mr. Van Dyke completely and have made statements and questions in this House asking the same questions. Clearly, the Minister is not listening or hearing the people. As such, later today I will once again be asking questions and hope that the Minister sees reason and decides to do what is right, just and for the public good. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to join a number of my colleagues today in speaking about the proposed changes to supplementary health benefits. The Minister is very quick to say there will be winners in these proposed changes. There will be, Mr. Speaker, but when someone wins, someone else is bound to lose. If the department and the government want to truly live up to the statement that all families should have fair and equal access to Government of the Northwest Territories funded programs and assist with the cost of uninsured health services, then they are going to have to fully explain to residents how the proposed changes are not fair or equitable and, in fact, Mr. Speaker, what the government is proposing seems predetermined, not having changed much since the last time we had this debate over a year ago in this House.
Let’s be honest with our residents. This is a tax on the sick, those who are most vulnerable, and a direct attack on our seniors, most of whom are on a fixed income. If the Minister wants to address the gap that exists, then find a way to do that. But, Mr. Speaker, changes cannot be made on the backs of the sick and the elderly.
Income thresholds cannot be predetermined. Just because a household has an income of $50,000 a year, these thresholds do not take into account the ability to pay. The Minister knows full well that the cost of living is one of the biggest issues facing our residents. She even chairs the Strategic Initiatives Committee on the Cost of Living. Why would she, of all people, be looking to put the screws to people who are sick, elderly, and already facing exorbitant costs to living here in the Northwest Territories?
A $50,000-a-year family income here in the Northwest Territories is very much different than a $50,000 family income in southern Canada. After paying food, bills, a mortgage, car payment, most middle income families here do not have anything left. Under the Minister’s plan, God help them if one of them should get sick.
How can the Minister say what is being proposed is fair to everyone? The Non-Insured Health Benefits for aboriginal residents is funded by the federal government and, obviously, out of our realm of responsibility. However, the Extended Health Benefits Program for Metis persons is funded by this government. No changes are being proposed to this program.
I am not and do not believe there should be any changes to this program, but please stop using the words “fair” and “equitable” when it’s just not a reality.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to once again speak about homeownership repairs for elders in Tu Nedhe. I have spoken on numerous occasions in this House and, if I ask the elders in my riding, there seems to be very little happening in the way of getting action for them on this matter.
Another winter has almost passed and many of the elders who own their own homes have endured another winter with inadequate homes due to much needed housing repairs. In many of these cases, the elders live alone, have limited income and limited education, so they rely heavily on the support and assistance of the NWT Housing Corporation staff and the repair programs they deliver.
When you look at the overall picture of elders owning their own homes, there really are not that many. With a limited number of units, I have asked why the NWT Housing Corporation does not seem to have the ability to help these elders.
I think this is a program development and policy issue. Prior to the development of new programs introduced about five years ago, over a four-year period the NWT Housing Corporation had reduced the core need in housing by 4 percent. That was headed in the right direction. Since the corporation introduced the new programs, the core need across the NWT has increased by 3 percent. The Minister must look at why this has occurred. Why did the core needs increase?
As I mentioned a few times previously, while waiting for repairs to be done on their homes, some of the elders have passed away. You would think that with seniors there should be more urgency placed on their needs for home repairs. Let’s show some respect to our elders and assist them before the houses they are living in are completely dilapidated.
Later today I will have questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation on this matter.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the 16th Assembly made a decision to change our capital planning process and approval of the main estimates. Now we approve our capital estimates in the fall session and the main estimates are being approved in the spring session.
One of the fundamental reasons for that was for the infrastructure departments to be able to take advantage of the construction season, logistical challenges such as taking advantage of the ice roads, and ensuring that we are able to construct in a reasonable time and allow for the contractors and service providers to be able to take advantage of the highway season. In most cases most of our raw materials go into our communities on ice roads. This gets a fair price by allowing the contractors more time to be able to bid on these contracts.
All the departments have come on board on this initiative except for one of the major infrastructures in this government: the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. I believe they are a major infrastructure department who should also consider this change.
In the last number of weeks going back to my constituents, elders’ homes are being repaired in March. Homes are being jacked up in the middle of winter. This has an effect on the foundations of those homes. I sat down with a 96-year-old elder in Fort McPherson who was sitting at home, had nowhere else to go, and was in her home while they were changing the windows in her unit because she had no alternative place to go. They changed the door on her house and then left the scene of construction. She tried to get out of her home and couldn’t because her door was blocked because the house had shifted. These types of things have an effect on winter construction.
I believe that we have to be realistic and have to try to take advantage of the main construction season, which should be during the summer months when we have warm weather and are able to jack up the house without having to worry about damaging anything like septic tanks and shifting houses.
At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of the Housing Corporation if the department has considered the changes that all the other infrastructure departments have done and if he will consider doing the same thing.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak about the importance of our younger generation caring for the elders. I’ve heard from a number of constituents on this subject. One man gave an example of a young person who could not stay with his grandparents or they would have to start paying rent. As well, he said that he had to quit his job to care for his mother when she was on her deathbed and because when he moved into her home her rent increased based on his income. He asked the departments to work together, rather than work against each other, to develop policies that accommodate more than just one generation of families sharing one house.
Until elders enter extended care facilities, if they do, they will continue to live in their present home. It may be a home that they own or rent. In many cases they will live alone and, rightly so, rent free. Those who own their own home find it difficult to maintain a house on one pension. In the Sahtu where the elders could share their houses with children or grandchildren, they are discouraged from doing so. The household would have to pay rent geared to the children’s income.
I would like to suggest that an incentive in the form of a reduced rental rate from the NWT Housing Corporation or a subsidy or payment for provisions of care from Health and Social Services should be considered. I think that some adults, singles or small families would choose to live with their parents or grandparents. There are many advantages to such arrangements.
Family contact is very important to our culture and elders should have families around them. Recently in the Sahtu there has been a case where an elder died all alone and this is very sad. It is unacceptable in our culture. Elders can stay in their homes longer if someone is sharing their home and checking on their well-being every day. As well, a younger generation can provide help with things like picking up groceries, getting elders to appointments at the health centre and ensuring medications are taken. Elders still have much to contribute, such as being there when children return from school and perhaps some cooking and sharing their cultural values, traditional skills and aboriginal languages.
I believe the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation should review the rental rates for extended families to provide an incentive for adult children to share a home with parents or elders. I’m not supporting overcrowding in our homes, but many of the rental homes have been built to house four or five or six people. Such a change in policy might be cost effective and free up some housing stock and continue our traditions of caring for the elders.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m rising today to lend my voice to the many expressions of concern made here today by our Members about the Minister of Health’s proposal for changing supplementary health benefits. Thus far the Minister seems to have her decision already made up to rush the consultations through to stakeholders regarding how they feel. The process seems to change on the run. I wish the Minister could establish a realistic schedule and process that spells out to everyone in a way that we can understand, rather than what the Minister has already told us they’re going to do.
The process that the Minister is currently engaged in now is not getting positive reviews, other than her staff telling her everything’s going swimmingly. On the ground, seniors and other people will tell you that everything is not so well here.
As well, my concerns extend to how this process has been worked to ensure the people who are not presently covered and not eligible for current programs get covered immediately, so they do not face continued postponement. These are what we call the working poor. The Minister is quick to remind everyone and blame everyone in this Assembly that the implementation of the policy changes are done truly on the shoulders of Members. Members have not stopped the Minister from engaging and implementing a program that could cover the working poor. It’s the Minister’s fault that this has not been done, not ours.
Those changes could be done today without any delay and I have no doubt that would be warmly received and certainly supported in this Assembly to help our working poor. For the last two years there’s been more time and frustration talking about playing with the Supplementary Health Benefits Program to rearrange what will end up doing nothing but making everybody mad.
I don’t understand this Minister’s definition of fairness. I don’t think anybody understands this Minister’s definition of fairness, other than the fact that there’s a philosophy of taking something that’s been treasured by many, taken away to give to others. Any parent can tell you that if you have two children, when you take something away and just to give it to the other child, it is not reasonable parenting. Why does the Minister think that this is Health Benefits 101, to take from one group to give to the other? This is insanity and a ridiculous initiative that needs to stop today.
There has to be a better way to do this. As I’ve said several times, this Minister could bring forward a proposal in detail to this House to cover the working poor and I guarantee you it would be warmly received in this House and in this Territory.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a couple of hardworking Pages today from the constituency of Frame Lake: brother and sister Stuart Hamre and Martha Hamre have been working very hard for us this week.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I spoke about homeownership repairs for elders in Tu Nedhe. I’d like to follow up my statement with questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. As mentioned in my statement, when you look at the numbers of units in Tu Nedhe owned by elders, they are not many. I also mentioned the housing issues in this sector of our population should be treated with more urgency. I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit to separating elders core need from other families so that the Housing Corporation can focus on elders’ housing issues.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can inform the Member that we do have new management in the South Slave and they are in the process of targeting seniors based on visits to the community. They do want to have better communication and a lot of communication with seniors, and they’ll work with the seniors to assist them in processing their applications and provide translation as needed.
To help kick-start this initiative and gather some good baseline information on the elders’ housing situation in Tu Nedhe, will the Minister agree to direct his staff to visit each of the elders’ households in Tu Nedhe?
Mr. Speaker, the staff are planning on targeting seniors and if that means meeting with them, having one-on-ones with them in their home with translation provided, then that’s the direction that they’re going to take from now on. I would like to make it quite clear that this initiative is targeted at seniors and the ones who are not able to get around as well as they’d like to. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, with the short construction season, in addition to Lutselk'e being a barge community, will the Minister commit to ensuring that the staff get the much needed materials into Lutselk'e to address the elders’ housing issues in Lutselk'e? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the program intake starts in September and we do use that to try and get the applications approved as quickly as possible and have the materials either brought in by winter road or during the beginning of the barge season. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope that means Lutselk'e is getting a winter road.
---Laughter
Mr. Speaker, we’re nearing the end of this government and I think it’s important, in the area of homeownership and the area of housing, that we develop some sort of elders’ housing strategy. Would the Minister commit to starting or completing some sort of an elders’ housing strategy to address the housing issues for the elders across the Territories? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I meant delivery to those communities that are accessible by winter road. I thought I would clarify that.
Mr. Speaker, recognizing the importance of housing to seniors and some of the conditions of some of the houses, the Housing Corp has taken some programs on to assist seniors with their housing. This is just another step in the whole process. I think it’s a positive step and I think it’s something that the seniors will welcome, you know, with the preventative maintenance where once they’re on the list, they continue to get the program every year. So we recognize the importance of improving the delivery of service to seniors and we’re taking steps to address that. Thank you.
