Can we have some order in the House? I asked a question of the Minister and I’m having problems hearing her answer.
Next question to the Minister: is there is a prescribed list that Health Canada has regarding NIHB benefits? I’d like to know if we are going to have a prescribed list for supplementary health so that we have consistency in regard to what programs are going to be offered, who is getting the program, and making sure we have a fair process. I think that’s what I’d like to ask the Minister, but more about ensuring that we have consistency in these programs.
I have to agree with you that there has to be some sort of threshold, whether it’s regarding income thresholds or whatever. The same thing applies to NIHB programs through the Indian branch. If you have a benefit with the government or whatnot, they’ll take that off before you’re allowed to access the Non-Insured Health Benefit Program.
I’d just like to get some understanding from the Minister that we also will be looking to these different programs to ensure that they are compatible and that we’re not having something that’s basically more lucrative than what’s being offered to other programs we already have.
The Member is absolutely right; we want to have consistency across the programs that our extended health benefits should be in line with what is covered under NIHB. The improvement to NIHB, if needed, should be advanced as well. But those programs should go up together. I’m not sure if our extended health benefits are much more lucrative than the other.
The point is, we need to open this discussion so that people understand what the extended health benefits are. These are extra benefits that are being provided and there are some people in our system who are not able to access that at all. Should we not be considering how we could bring them on? That’s the discussion we’re having.
In most of our programs we do allow for some sort of income testing, regardless if it’s the Fuel Subsidy Program in regard to the seniors maintenance repair program. So we do that already in existing programs. I’d just like to know if we’re also going to be looking at the whole area of looking at income testing and, more importantly, so that they all conform with other programs we have which are income tested.
Right now my focus is on working on the Supplementary Health Benefits Program so that there is fairness and equity in that. I need people out there to know that the government’s plan and intention is to provide coverage to those who need it, that we will continue to provide the Extended Health Care Benefits Program and we will continue to work and have programs that are comparable, if not better, than what’s provided in the rest of Canada. But in the rest of Canada there are no extended health benefits that either don’t charge premiums or has some kind of user pay and there is a very strict income testing. Not only do they test income, they look at all of your assets before you could ask the government to pay for your drug coverage and eye glasses and dental.
So, Mr. Speaker, for people out there, I don’t want the seniors or anybody to think that they’re going to have their benefits taken away. What we are saying is that anybody who can’t afford it, the government should still be there to look after them, but we do want to build in an incentive for people to look at insurance and private insurance first. We don’t want to be in a situation where we have a built-in incentive for people to get out of insurance coverage when they already had it because our plan is more lucrative, and also that we need to build in some personal responsibility to our extended health care benefits, because it is very important, it is very valuable, it is very expensive, and it has to be a partnership between our residents and our government. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to follow up with the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Minister did indicate to the House that March is National Nutrition Month. I want to ask the Minister in terms of going back to the issue of having traditional foods at the Stanton Territorial Hospital and other facilities. I want to ask the Minister in terms of instructing her officials to start looking at possible ways of having the traditional foods such as fish, for example, starting to be served at the hospital for clients who are of aboriginal descent who are at the hospital there.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I did undertake to look into this last week. I have to be honest; I haven’t had a chance to have a direct discussion on that issue as of yet, but I will undertake to talk to my deputy minister, who is also the PA of the hospital, as well as the Aboriginal Elders Advisory Committee there and see how we can accommodate providing fish and other traditional food at the hospital. Thank you.
I look forward to if there is any type of update the Minister can give later on.
Mr. Speaker, I spoke to the chair of the Elders Council, Mr. Paulette, and he said that they are very much in support of this. Actually, after we had our discussion here in the House, Mr. Paulette called me and said that the jam is in terms of the bureaucracy in the system and how to get this traditional food into the system. So that’s why I’m asking the Minister if she can have some discussions with her officials to clear the way to get the issue of the fish into the hospitals, in terms of probably within a month or so.
Yes, I will do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got a question for the Minister of Transportation. Earlier today a media release went out that there will be a press conference or media event held this afternoon at 2:30 at the Lahm Ridge Tower. I’d like to ask the Minister -- we have media facilities here at the Legislative Assembly -- why that event was held off site at the Lahm Ridge Tower and not here at the Legislative Assembly, pertaining to the Deh Cho Bridge. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, good question, indeed. Mr. Speaker, usually, if there’s going to be a briefing of a political nature or the Minister is going to be involved or MLAs are going to be involved, we’d hold it here. This is a technical briefing provided by our staff, our officials, and it’s more convenient to have it at that facility. That’s the reason for holding it there. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it must be quite a popular event considering I haven’t seen much for media here in the building today. I’d like to ask the Minister whether or not Members could be given a copy or a transcript of what transpires at the media briefing, technical briefing that was held this afternoon so that we can compare what the government’s telling the media and what they’re telling us. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there is some suggestion in that comment. However, Mr. Speaker, we’ve given the information to the Member already. He has it. We could give it to him again. It’s the same briefing we provided to the Members yesterday. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister whether or not the financial disposition of the project will be discussed during this technical briefing with the media. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this is a technical briefing on the construction of the bridge and that’s what the contents of the briefing will be referred to. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m a bit surprised that the government wouldn’t be talking about the financial disposition of the project. I’d like to ask the Minister who’s providing the briefing. Is it the deputy minister of the project management team at this technical briefing? Thank you.
The Members have requested that we provide more information to the public and the Members have requested that we have better communication. We’re trying to do that. We have informed the Members that we would do a technical briefing. We have worked hard to get it prepared. The information will be provided by our officials, including the deputy ministers. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation when the department and the government plan on having a briefing with the media on the financial disposition of this project. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We haven’t scheduled such a briefing as of yet. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, most of the issues surrounding this project are financial in nature, and I think it would be incumbent upon the government to schedule a briefing with the local media here in the Northwest Territories to let the public know what exactly is happening with this project. I’d like to ask the Minister, if a briefing hasn’t been scheduled, when might a financial briefing be available to the media. Thank you.
We’ve made a number of commitments in this House to provide information and briefings. We will continue to honour that. Once we get all the pieces of this project confirmed and the plans laid out, we will commit to doing that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, when might that be? Are we talking a week? Are we talking a month? Are we talking three months, Mr. Speaker? I’m wondering if the Minister could be a little bit more specific when the government is going to have all the pieces wrapped up so that they can go to the local media with the financial situation that is at play with the Deh Cho Bridge Project. Thank you.
We don’t have a date scheduled for a briefing of that nature, but I would expect it to be by the end March that we would have provisions and be ready to provide that kind of detail. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ENR. I want to ask the Minister regarding the deal with the Yellowknives First Nation on the caribou issue. The Minister did indicate to the House that there was an offer and I want to know if the offer was taken. Is there a deal or no deal?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That process is underway. In fact, I’ve been involved in some communications this afternoon about that very issue and there’s been contact with the Yellowknives and the deputy. I am hopeful there will be a re-engagement and we’ll be able to show some progress here in the near future. Thank you.
In terms of showing some progress in the near future, is there a time frame between the two parties and seeing if we can come to an arrangement that is satisfactory that would put this issue to rest until a long-term solution is found?
I’m hopeful at this juncture that there will be a discussion between the Yellowknives, Chief Sangris, and the deputy minister and we’ll see if we can come to a meeting of the minds.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of dentistry services in Nahendeh.
Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 150 signatures of Nahendeh residents and, Mr. Speaker, the petitioners request that the Department of Health and Social Services take the steps necessary to establish a full-time dentist position in the community of Fort Simpson. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document titled NWT Power Corporation Report of the NTPC Review Panel, January 2010. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has recently expanded the NWT Beverage Container Program to now include milk and milk substitutes and liquid milk and milk substitutes product containers;
AND WHEREAS Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly have identified a vision and goals for the Northwest Territories that references healthy, educated people with a focus on prevention by promoting healthy choices and lifestyles;
AND WHEREAS the NWT Food Guide clearly identifies the need for children and adolescents to consume up to four servings of milk or milk substitutes each day to aid in the development of strong bones and teeth;
AND WHEREAS milk contains some naturally occurring and healthier forms of sugar, and also contains nutrients such as protein, calcium and Vitamins A and D;
AND WHEREAS drinks with added and highly refined sugar generally don’t have such healthy nutrients and are higher in calories because of all the extra sugar which can lead to weight gain, tooth decay or other health risks;
AND WHEREAS it is widely acknowledged that residents of the Northwest Territories already contend with an extremely high cost of living;
AND WHEREAS the changes to the Beverage Container Program include the introduction of a refundable deposit and a non-refundable handling fee on milk containers that will increase costs and negatively impact individuals and families who rely on milk as a nutritious staple;
AND WHEREAS the handling fees, which makes up approximately 43 percent of the total surcharge, are non-refundable and will lead to increased costs for all consumers;
AND WHEREAS approximately 30 million beverage containers were returned in 2009 and only 1.5 million milk containers are projected to be returned in 2010, which would be less than 5 percent of all containers returned under this program;
AND WHEREAS the government is already providing financial assistance to NWT-based municipalities, organizations, businesses and individuals to develop innovative, alternative and progressive methods of recycling paper products;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Government of the Northwest Territories take immediate action to alter the Beverage Container Program by eliminating the collection of the non-refundable handling fee for milk containers and provide a corresponding and suitable level of financial assistance to the Environment Fund, if required, to assist in covering program expenses and improvements to waste reduction and recovery programs. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s Nutrition Month and I think it’s a good idea to piggyback a boost to nutrition onto a great new green initiative and I want to start by saying I really appreciate adding milk containers to the Waste Reduction Program. It’s something that’s been called for by our public and this is good of the government to respond.
The unintended side effect, though, Mr. Speaker, is to tax nutrition and that is one unintended result, because there is a price spread between the amount of deposits paid on milk containers and the amount refunded. Milk or equivalent products is the single most nutrient for our children and one that we do not want to become less accessible than it already is in our communities.
We heard in my colleague Mr. Menicoche’s statement this morning about dental health and how that’s related to other health issues, that we do have programs out there that are directly addressed by accessible milk for families.
By the government’s figures detailing the revenues, rates of returns and operating costs, the total cost of closing this price gap would be about $70,000 to $75,000. We don’t want to tax nutrition and we don’t have to if we assign the funds already approved to eliminate this effect.
In the recent budget, we approved an additional $400,000 towards food programs in ECE. So the money is there and can be assigned to meet this comparatively minor cost, I suspect, in any department.
The government wants the commitment made in the Environment Fund for programs to be revenue neutral. This is a good goal which, overall, I think we all support and I certainly do, but we also have a record and a precedence of subsidizing costs through programs like the Wastepaper Product Recycling Program. There is an initiative there where we support the development of recycling and reusing those products and keeping them out of the waste stream. So we are on good record of having a precedent here.
Mr. Speaker, we have the funds approved for enhancing nutrition, we have the precedence of the Wastepaper Program, we have the opportunity to apply approved resources directly to ensuring nutrition and preventing the added cost of basic living for our families, basic and healthy living for our families. So thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be closely following any further debate.
