Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement of earlier today on naturopathic medicine, in particular naturopathic doctors. I know the Department of Health and Social Services is working on some regulations and some legislation now for kind of an umbrella legislation to cover a wide variety of professionals. I am wondering what it would take to get the naturopathic doctors included in that legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; we are considering an omnibus legislation on various health or allied health professions and it is possible that this could be inputted in that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that it is possible that it can. I am wondering what it would take to get it included in the first round. Can we actually get the naturopathic doctors included in this legislation that will be coming forward at some point either later in this Assembly or early in the next one? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I need to caution the Member and anybody else who is discussing this naturopathic medicine, that we do not refer to anybody as a doctor. That is actually the issue in question, because under the NWT legislation, no one other than a doctor, physician or surgeon is allowed to call themselves a doctor. Naturopathic doctors are not recognized as doctors in the Territories and of they were to call themselves a doctor, that is illegal. That is an issue here. I need to let the Members know, and the public know, the naturopathic medicine, people can practice that right now without regulation, it is just that they cannot call themselves doctors. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister nicely gave us the reason why we need to get these positions in regulation. There are naturopathic doctors in at least five provinces in Canada. There is a Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors and these people that we are referring to do take a significant amount of education, often degree based. So, clearly, we need to get them into regulation which would protect their titles and would allow them to use the titles that they have worked so hard to get over the last couple of years or over the years.
In the regulation, Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that the regulations that are going to be covered through this legislation will cover things like scope of practice so we know what kind of practice these individuals can legally do in the Northwest Territories. Right now, the individuals she is talking about, their scope of practice is undefined. Would the Minister commit to including the naturopathic medical providers in the legislation and include a scope of practice so everybody can have a sense of comfort as to what these people can provide in the Northwest Territories?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to just reiterate that the department is reviewing the possibility of including this group of practitioners into omnibus allied health professional legislation. Each of them have very, very few numbers and this has been in the works and it will take some time to develop, but it is under review.
Secondly, it’s the Medical Profession Act in the Northwest Territories that defines who are doctors and who can call themselves doctors, so there is conflicting legislation that we need to work through.
The third thing is what is important is that for those people who are practicing naturopathic medicine, they are allowed to practice that as they exist now. So no one is interfering with their practices. They could have clients, they could do the work, because I have been getting lots of letters from the general public who would like to continue to have that practice offered to them. I want to assure them that they can continue to have that. It is just that those people who are practicing this field cannot call themselves doctors. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again she is explaining so clearly why we need to get this into regulation legislation. It’s my understanding that this legislation, if it comes through, will protect titles, it will require people to have a licensure in another jurisdiction and those types of things, but it doesn’t talk about scope of practice. The Minister does say that they will be able to practice here in the Northwest Territories, but what comfort do both patients and providers have that their role is understood and they have to operate within some set parameters?
We need some scope of practice work done on this as well. I was wondering if the Minister could commit, as they move forward with legislation, that will include these naturopathic medical providers. Will it include some definition around scope of practice for the safety of our residents and the providers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I think the Member is drawing a clear picture of the complexities involved in this. Our staff has met with the people that practice naturopathic medicine in the Territories. They were advised that they should continue to keep their licence in other jurisdictions, then they can continue to practice naturopath medicine here. They can continue to provide services to their clients. It is just that they cannot call themselves a doctor. In order to do that, we need to do some more work. We will continue to do that, but this will be something that would require more work and it is under review. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance questions on my Member’s statement on our Member of Parliament’s private member’s bill, C-530. What is our government’s position on this current legislation that is before the House of Commons? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our government has a clear position on the borrowing limit and as with the Member of Parliament, we both think there’s a need to have our borrowing limit adjusted. We are working on a government-to-government basis with the federal government to in fact engage and conclude that process hopefully by April. At the same time, the Member of Parliament has a private member’s bill that is now before the House of Parliament raising the same issue, but we are continuing to focus our attention on trying to conclude our arrangements and discussions with the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you. I’d just like to ask the Minister maybe if he can explain that to the public that’s out there. What exactly composes our current debt limit? I think it was about almost $500 million right now. Thank you.
Thank you. Our current borrowing limit is a specific number. It’s $575 million. The $575 million is good for another four years after which it will revert at this point back down to $500 million. Of that money, about $350 million is what we call self-financing debt, which is debt of the Housing Corporation, Power Corporation and the bridge when it comes on-line. It will be paying a majority of its own way as well. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Should this bill pass, what would be the benefits to our Territory as a whole? Thank you.
Thank you. As we fully intend to conclude the discussions with the federal government hopefully by next month, that’s the target date that both our government and the federal government have agreed to. Similar with intent to the private member’s bill, it would see a revised borrowing limit that will reflect the fact that we are a mature and responsible government, and we are now on the path of devolution with the agreement-in-principle and that we need the flexibility in our borrowing limit to be able to manage our affairs more effectively. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This bill will also be long term. I would presume it would necessarily cancel out our previous agreement with the federal government of a borrowing limit. Thank you.
Thank you. The route for a private member’s bill is fraught with many challenges and hurdles to clear. It has made some fairly good progress. It’s now before a committee after second reading. If, for example, a federal election comes, then the bill will die on the Order Paper. In the meantime, I think we want to keep our attention firmly fixed on the work that we’re doing with the federal government in terms of trying to resolve the borrowing limit. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs getting back to my Member’s statement where I talked about Northland Trailer Park located here in Yellowknife, home to 1,100 people. Approximately 600 children live there as well. They’ve had intermittent water service in that trailer park for the last three weeks. Sometimes the water comes on for a couple of hours a day. There’s no set schedule. Some residents of that trailer park have been without water for one week -- a full week without water. We’re talking about elderly people, disabled people, day homes. The situation is getting dire, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of MACA what exactly is MACA doing to stay in touch with the federal government on accessing the necessary funding to see the infrastructure get replaced at that trailer park. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through the Infrastructure Minister, he’s on three occasions raised the issue with his counterparts in Ottawa and I know that Minister Bob McLeod has raised the issue. The answer they got back was the projects were still being looked at and if they decided to proceed with the projects, then the organization would be given a formal response to submit the formal application. Thank you.
Thank you. Obviously, time is of the essence. It looks like there might be a federal election sometime in May. I’d like to ask the Minister what plans are in the works to ramp up the efforts to ensure that that federal funding does become available so that we can get the infrastructure replaced in that trailer park this coming summer. Thank you.
Thank you. It was the City that submitted the proposal and we as a government had supported the City’s proposal. We, as a department over at MACA, had supported the City’s proposal. So we would have to be in contact with the City and see if anything is being heard or what’s the status on the proposal. Thank you.
Thank you. The situation at that trailer park is very serious. The frequency of line breaks is happening more often and, again, we’re probably only months away from a catastrophic line failure at that trailer park. I’d like to ask the Minister if he would entertain even talking to his federal counterpart in Ottawa or even going to Ottawa himself with pictures and stories of people who have been without water at that trailer park for three weeks, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’d take that challenge on and try to get this federal funding for the City of Yellowknife and for the residents of Northland Trailer Park. Thank you.
Thank you. It’s unfortunate of the situation out in Northland. I had an opportunity, earlier this winter, to meet with the residents out in Northland along with MLA Bisaro and Mayor Van Tighem and we had a very informative meeting. They outlined very eloquently the amount of problems that they’re facing out in Northland and we understand, I mean they understand it’s a privately held corporation, but we as a government are doing what we can to support the City’s application for accessing some of the funding that could be available. But I will assure the Member that I’ll do what I can to try and send word to Ottawa or meet with my counterparts in Ottawa and see if there are any opportunities there to advance the application. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m wondering if the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has considered any alternative funding that our government might be able to provide to the City of Yellowknife so that the infrastructure can get replaced at that trailer park this coming summer. There’s got to be another approach. Have we thought of everything that we possibly can in order to get that done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Municipal and Community Affairs doesn’t have a mandate to fund condominium corporations. I mean, we recognize the fact that they are facing some challenges out there and we’re working with the City to try do what we can to advance the proposal that they’ve sent down to Ottawa. Again, it is a privately held corporation and we understand that there are a lot of issues out there and we’re hopeful we can do what we can to help the residents of Northland access some funding so they’d be able to get on with some overdue and needed repairs. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. They bounce around a little bit, but I’d like to follow up on my statement about the Taltson project and some of the implications.
I’m glad to see this project being reviewed, but given that there have been early indications, the early studies showing that all of the power produced by the Taltson project could be absorbed effectively within the local and regional communities in the South Slave, will the Premier ensure that the hydro corporations, whoever is doing the review of the Taltson project now, ensures that it focuses on meeting local and regional markets that both efficiently displace fossil fuel and help to reduce the cost of living and doing business in that region? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we’ve done our work around the previous draft Hydro Strategy and beginning to look at that strategy once again, the issues of connectivity in the grid, to greenhouse gases, to helping reduce the cost of living are all those pieces that will be looked at as we look forward to a solution that will work for an expansion to the Taltson.
I appreciate those comments from the Premier. I think it’s a better way of going about business, a good comprehensive approach. I’ve noticed that many of our development projects that are proceeding are happening slowly, often with five to 10-year time frames, perhaps even longer. With this is an opportunity for suitable hydro development options to be proposed and considered and assisted. Yet we seem to either go for the huge, get-rich-quick schemes, like the Taltson to the mines, or we sit idly by and allow time to pass so that they’re finessed into using diesel generation. Will the Premier commit, will he direct our Hydro Corporation, our Energy Corporation to start assisting in identifying options for these projects on the appropriate scale that will ultimately leave a legacy for our communities?
In fact, the Power Corporation with the new chair and the new president/CEO are beginning to look at the ways the Power Corporation can be more involved across our Territory with the customer base, whether it’s residential or industry side, to look at a balance and to see how we can be more proactive in looking to the solutions that we may be able to find here in the Territory and provide that it meets a number of targets that we would set towards a Greenhouse Gas Strategy, towards reducing the cost of living in the North and being sustainable.
I again appreciate the comments from the Premier. The Premier mentioned the greenhouse gas already. I’m wondering, could the Premier confirm what I’ve heard, I believe from the Minister of Finance before, that GNWT does indeed have the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from development in the NWT should they choose to use it.
I believe that is affirmative that, yes, as we begin to look at that area and establish our strategies and implementation of those strategies, we are able to put targets in place and the requirements to meet those. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources along with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment are working on coming forward with a strategy as soon as this summer, I believe.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve often been told that only the federal government can regulate industry proposals through the environmental review process, but here we now have evidence that there are two ways to skin a cat, so I appreciate that. Will the Premier ensure that in fact the Greenhouse Gas Strategy does include the ability to regulate carbon emissions from the development project as one of the key tools obviously required in such a strategy?
The work that’s being done with the consultations that need to go out, with the work with Members of this Assembly, all the avenues I think we’ve had discussions about will be looked at in one degree or another, but the final product needs to go through our system of working with committee members and getting feedback from the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
