Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We invest about $6 million annually in community counselling positions across the Northwest Territories and community counselling services.
With respect to the exact position in Fort Liard, I’m not actually aware of the position in Fort Liard or whether or not it’s vacant, so I will have to have a conversation with the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority to get a status update, which I will share with the Member and I’ll work with the authority to figure out how to get an incumbent into that position.
I think one of the issues last fall, as well, was a matter of who does the recruitment. I know that we’ve got the Department of Human Resources, but is the health authority doing their own recruitment?
The Department of Human Resources provides technical expertise in competitions but the health authority is certainly involved in every competition for any incumbent of their organization, so it’s a combined effort.
I guess one of the other issues in the small communities and hiring professionals is the high turnover rate. I was wondering if the department has been addressing this, have been looking at this, and finding some alternate strategies in order to keep longer term employees in the small and remote communities.
During the last fiscal year, the Department of Health and Social Services took over the health human resources unit from the Department of Human Resources. That unit is now in the department and they’re developing a comprehensive human resources plan for the department and working with the authorities, as well, so we’re hoping to come up with some useful and beneficial programs that will help recruit and retain Northerners throughout the Northwest Territories, whether that’s training people or bringing people in, it should include both of them. We are going to be coming forward with that strategy.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Is that something similar to what Human Resources is doing with the Regional Recruitment Strategy? Is that what the Department of Health and Social Services is looking at right now?
We’re looking for ways to recruit and retain health and allied health professionals throughout the Northwest Territories that may involve a variety of programs. We haven’t really determined all the details at this point. But the Regional Recruitment Program is available to all departments, boards and agencies, so if we have positions that don’t have a statutory requirement, we could certainly engage the Department of Human Resources to utilize the Regional Recruitment Program as it stands now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about radon gas and its prevalence in the NWT. We are all aware that climate change is occurring throughout the world, but mostly so in the NWT. We have seen the temperature rise, affecting the permafrost in some instances, as permafrost is indeed melting. My question is to the Minister of the Housing Corporation.
When was the last round of testing for radon done in the NWT communities by the Housing Corporation? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for Housing, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because of the fact that most of our inventory is above ground, it’s really not a factor at this point. Plans are being put into place to look at our inventory and we want to develop some plans to do some testing for radon gas in some of the NWT Housing Corporation homes. That way we’ll have a better idea of the risks that are there and whether there is a presence of radon gas or not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What is being done to make sure the public is aware of the dangers of radon gas and how to prevent radon exposure and how to test for it?
This is something that’s starting to develop and is a concern. It is an issue we will have to have a look at. Once we educate ourselves more on the potential risks of this, we will start educating the public out there.
I wanted to use this opportunity to assure the public that our tenants, at this point, there is really not a big risk. Most of our units being above ground helps lessen that risk. As we get into new construction, units are sealed fairly well and, again, that limits the chance for radon gas to accumulate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his reply. I know there are test kits that people can get in stores for about fifty bucks that could be made available.
Will the Minister provide leadership and start a program for spot checks for radon in NWT communities and provide the results? I understand the Minister and the department is indeed taking measures to do tests, but when and where will those tests happen? Mahsi.
Again, it is early in the stages. Once we do start the testing, we will be providing the Member and committee with updates as we go forward on this. Again, I just want to assure the public out there that this isn’t a crisis and they don’t need to run out and buy gas masks or anything like that. It is under control and the Housing Corporation will ensure that there is no risk to the tenants in our units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The commercial builders, especially in office and apartment buildings with enclosed foundations, have to test for radon and publish the results. If not, why not? Mahsi.
I’m not sure if the Member was asking if we have done the tests yet or he wants us to publish the results of the test. As I’ve said, we haven’t started the testing yet. Once we do start the testing, if there is an opportunity for us to publish the results or put the results on our website, we will look at that option and see where we go from there. If the opportunity is there, I will assure the Member that we will do our best to ensure the Member and the public are informed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement I talked about some of the illicit drug use in the Northwest Territories and how we have organizations outside of the NWT and within the NWT that are combating the drug dealers and drug use and high risk behaviours in the Northwest Territories.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice, with such incidents happening in the Northwest Territories and we’re seeing an increase of illicit drugs coming into the North by road, by plane, by boat, however it comes in, what is the Minister’s department doing to crack down on the influx of these types of drugs coming into the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question. Certainly, the prevalence of drugs in the Northwest Territories is something that is a very serious concern for us. We handle the enforcement of the drug trade through the RCMP “G” Division. They do an excellent job for us in trying to combat the amount of drugs that enter the territory. We’ve had some very high profile drug busts here in Yellowknife recently and also in Hay River. We also have the canine unit that helps in that regard as well. I know the RCMP work on a multijurisdictional approach because the drugs have to come from somewhere to get into the NWT. So the RCMP are continuously working with their counterparts in southern Canada and other parts of northern Canada to combat the illegal drug trade here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
I could get into more details in terms of drug use. This might come up as a written question at some point or the Minister could possibly give me a commitment to get some stats on how many of our crime-related offences are related specifically to illicit drugs that we don’t normally see in the Northwest Territories.
Would he be willing to get me that information or let me know what kind of percentage we are looking at for type of crimes committed in the Northwest Territories that are specifically associated and relate to illicit drug use? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We can certainly look at putting those statistics together for the Member and other Members of the House. Thank you.
Just recently in Inuvik, we opened up an emergency shelter that allowed more time for the RCMP officers to do other types of work rather than deal with public intoxication and things like that. Shortly after the emergency shelter kicked into effect, there was a big drug bust in the community, which meant that the RCMP had more time to actually conduct their business and go out and do more important work. With that said, we’re putting a lot of resources into all these crimes that are associated with illicit drug use. If we put more money into prevention, we can prevent the drugs from coming up here before we have to deal with the issue at hand.
Would the Minister be willing to provide more resources for airport checks and screening as well as access roads and screening to combat these types of issues, especially with transportation companies that actually bring up goods, not through the post office or mail system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
During the winter months with the advance of the winter road season in the Northwest Territories, I do know the RCMP are very diligent on stepping up their efforts to look at drugs that are being transported on the winter road system in the NWT.
Also, we have the Not Us! campaign. Important to all of this discussion today in the House is everybody has a role to play in trying to stop the trade of illicit drugs in the Northwest Territories today. We have the Crime Stoppers program, as well, and people can anonymously, if they are aware of illegal activity in their community, a 1-800 number to identify that type of illegal activity.
Again, it is up to all of us to try to stamp out the trade of illicit drugs here in the Northwest Territories. I do know the RCMP do a good job for us and they are out there, but they certainly need all of our help in trying to combat illegal drugs in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make reference to this TV program that I watch, it’s called Border Patrol, and they have an RCMP canine unit that goes around sniffing bags and things like that. We know when we’re getting people coming up to the North. When the ice roads go in, there’s a lot of traffic when that happens. The same with Inuvik when we have a big activity coming up, we have transportation vehicles coming to the Northwest Territories.
Would the Minister look at committing and dedicating those canine units at the busiest times of the year to do spot checks within our Northwest Territories communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do know that those units are deployed, as the Member suggests, already. As far as a schedule or whatnot, again, I’d have to go back to the department. We wouldn’t want to publicize when a canine unit would be on a specific ice road here in the Northwest Territories, for obvious reasons. But certainly I do know that during the winter months, when the winter roads are in use, that the RCMP do step up their efforts on our winter road system. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I raised a number of concerns on differing statistical numbers between Stats Canada and the GNWT pertaining to the subject of tobacco. However, what is most concerning, according to our public accounts, is that our actual tobacco collection is way off from the 2013 Main Estimates by a whopping $1.7 million. My questions will be for the Minister of Finance today.
Can the Minister offer an explanation why the data for smoking, smoking rates by population and daily average smoking rates, for example, differ between what the Government of the Northwest Territories reports and what Statistics Canada reports? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In dealings with the federal government over the years on issues of statistics, the one thing that has always stuck in my mind when we’re trying to get accurate numbers is that we are such a small jurisdiction that they consider us, in many cases, statistically insignificant when it comes to determining national trends and numbers. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish I could accept that as a response, but I guess that’s what we’ll get from the Minister.
Can the Minister inform the House what type of census or controlled survey occurs in the Northwest Territories that monitors and reports on tobacco purchase, use, tax collection and audits on a yearly basis? Where can one find all this information publicly? Thank you.
I listened to many issues raised in the Member’s statement and his questions and his interest in getting a lot of detailed information, so I’ll take that question as notice. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ENR in regards to the environmental protection in working in the area of Sahtu in regards to the economic development that has happened there. I want to ask the Minister in regards to the work that needs to get up there in regards to environmental issues.
Has the Minister commissioned studies in regards to some of the environmental concerns that are coming up with the hydraulic fracking?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are still working on what we see as some needed improvements to fracking practices. That work is still working its way through the process. We’ve received some feedback from committee and we’re looking at bringing forward revisions reflecting the changes that were recommended as well as the fact that we are now going to be our own regulator.
We’ve laid out the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, which is a broad framing document with some very critical principles. We have money that we’ve allocated through the Environmental Research Fund to start doing baseline work on groundwater and wildlife, and we’ve had meetings with industry to make use of what they do on wildlife and groundwater monitoring that is project and site-specific that we want to make sure that we include in the work that we do so that we have as comprehensive amount of baseline data as possible. Thank you.
Thank you. Can the Minister inform the House and me as to when he expects an official policy, framework policy, to the work that he’s doing that would look at hydraulic fracking in the North?
As has been pointed out by the Minister of ITI, after April 1st we will be the regulator and he will be the Minister responsible. The NEB’s existing policies and guidelines will stay in effect and the work that we are doing, in terms of reviewing fracking as a government that we’ve been looking at now for a number of months, will come forward sometime after April, that will look at improving upon what is currently there. But in the meantime, the National Energy Board policies and filing guidelines are what will be the policies of the day. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting things that the Minister pointed out was baseline studies in the Sahtu because of the ecological sensitivity of our area. Are some of the baseline studies near completion, and I take it that that’s going to be used as guidelines for the policy that could come ahead in the next couple of months or so. Are the specific baseline studies being worked on and computed as we go through this whole new exploration on hydraulic fracking?
Regional baseline studies are going to take some time. We have initiated that process. We are looking, as I had indicated as well, as trying to build off and use the work that has been done with industry, the work that they’ve done on wildlife and groundwater, and we’re going to continue to invest money over the coming years to get that baseline work complete.
In the meantime, the work on fracking that has been done, that we’ve initiated a couple of months ago, is going to continue and we expect early in April to be able to bring that forward for some public feedback as well as industry feedback. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the public feedback, I’m wondering if the Minister would consider working with the Department of ITI to look at possibly a summit for the elders for the traditional knowledge and information that they have on the land. That’s good feedback with the elders’ knowledge in developing future policies and guidelines to the hydraulic fracking work that’s being done in the Sahtu.
