Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I’ve been a bit concerned about the contaminated sites and waste sites in Tu Nedhe. I want to know what the plan is for this government, GNWT, to work with the federal government in cleaning up the contaminated waste sites in the NWT. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a shared responsibility with the federal government. We have a responsibility for those sites that are on Commissioner’s land. The majority of contaminated sites are on federal Crown land. So if the Member has specific questions about those that fall directly within our jurisdiction, we can talk about those in detail.
The broader issue of contaminated sites is one that part of the negotiations for the devolution in taking over of authorities. It’s a significant part of that discussion. As well, one of the concerns, as I’ve indicated earlier, is that we understand, and what we’re starting to hear is that with the federal government looking at restraint, that they’re withdrawing money, that in fact the areas like contaminated sites and the money that’s currently there are going to be impacted. How much, we don’t know specifically at this point. So we will have to see what’s possible.
That’s a general statement. If the Member has specific questions about sites, I’d be happy to sit down with him to look at what the specifics are. Thank you.
Thank you. I think that would be a good start, to have the Department of Environment and Natural Resources look at the sites that the GNWT is responsible for. I think if we start there and recognize a shared responsibility between the federal government and the GNWT on contaminated sites that may be outside the community, some of them, maybe not all of them, but there are also contaminated sites that are the responsibility of the GNWT. To identify those and determine what the plan is I guess is what I’m asking the Minister. Thank you.
When I look at the list that ENR has and that the Government of the Northwest Territories has responsibility for, there are five in Fort Resolution that I have on a list here. As well, I think there are two in Lutselk’e. Thank you.
Can the Minister tell me when the department plans to start the process of cleaning up those seven sites for now? Although my understanding from the community is there are more contaminated sites than that, but that would be, like I said, a good start. What’s the plan to start?
I’ll have to commit to get back to the Member. The information that I have before me indicates that three of the sites in Fort Resolution there is work being done in terms of excavation and clean-up. The two in Lutselk’e I don’t have any information that would indicate to me what state they are in in the process. I will commit to get the Member an update on all those seven sites.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
There seems to be a bit of a difference between what the community thinks the clean-up should be and what the government thinks the clean-up should be. The community in Lutselk’e feels that the one contaminated site that’s been a bit of an issue is more contaminated than the government feels. I was wondering if the Minister could ensure that the officials from ENR do a bit of a community consultation, at least with Lutselk’e, before they do the complete scope of work on the clean-up.
There are the two sites: the tank farm and the power plant. I will get the information, I will get an update, I will share that with the Member and then I’ll seek his feedback to see about if what’s being proposed looks like it’s going to meet the requirements or if there are other things that need to be included.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. It’s in regard to my Member’s statement and under the Human Rights Act there are certain obligations we have as governments to ensure that we also do not discriminate or harass our clients, whether it’s social housing or whatnot. Under the act it’s clear that it’s against the law to discriminate against a tenant, rental applicant, based on the personal characteristics or grounds. I mentioned the whole area of race, religion, age, disability, sex, gender, marital status, political beliefs, social conditions, and individuals who may have a criminal record.
It has come to my attention that individuals are being refused from even being able to pick up an application to fill out the application to apply for housing, especially with the local housing authority. I’d like to ask the Minister what we are doing to ensure that we are living up to our obligations under the Human Rights Act to ensure that we are not discriminating against tenants from picking up applications.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m unaware of the situation the Member speaks of. If we have cases where individuals are refused applications, I would like to know the details so I can follow up with it, because we wouldn’t condone that type of treatment to those that want to apply for public housing.
This has come to my attention not once but several times. I believe that we do have an obligation under the Human Rights Act as a government to fulfill our obligations as providers of services and to ensure that we are not discriminating clients. What is the Housing Corporation doing to ensure that front-line workers, whether it’s housing authorities and staff, are aware of their obligations under the Human Rights Act?
Our front-line workers at the LHOs have been doing what they do for a long time and they’re well aware of all the issues out there. Again, without knowing the particulars of the issue that the Member is raising, once I find out the particulars I will be able to follow up. I can assure him that all our front-line workers are well aware of their responsibilities and take them very seriously.
These are serious allegations and I hope the Minister will take some leadership here. These allegations where an individual cannot go into a housing authority and pick up an application, is told that we will not give you an application, are against the Human Rights Act. I’d like to ask the Minister if he can write a letter to the local housing authorities making them aware that they cannot discriminate an individual from picking up an application and they have every right to fill out that application and process it. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could commit to writing that letter.
The Minister will show some leadership but the Minister has to know what he’s dealing with. Without knowing the particulars, again, I can follow up with it once I know the particulars.
I would mention that if tenants out there feel like they’re being discriminated against, there is a process to go through the Human Rights Commission if they feel like they’ve been discriminated against. They have that avenue. Again, I will commit to following up on the issue that the Member is saying because we do take it very seriously. We wouldn’t want to see anybody denied an application because of previous tenancy.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take the Minister’s advice and suggest that all tenants who are having this situation do go to the Human Rights Commission and file their complaints and maybe that’s the only place they’re going to get some reprieve here. I’d like to ask the Minister again, will you consider writing a letter to your local housing authorities and making them aware of the Human Rights Act and that it is a discriminatory matter if you are not allowing people to pick up an application?
I will commit to the Member that I’ll follow up on it, and if I need to, I will make all the LHOs aware of their responsibilities. I don’t think I’d be telling them anything new. I think they’re all well aware of their responsibilities.
Like I said, they’ve been doing this work for a long time. They know what they’re up against. I would like to speak to the Member and get the details of the issues of the cases that he’s raising so that I can follow up on them, because I wasn’t aware of this issue until the Member raised it in the House today.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we were children and our parents put us to bed and said, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite,” I didn’t know there was such a thing as bedbugs. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
We’ve heard media reports and we’ve had a press conference held by the former Minister of Health and Social Services about the fact that bedbugs have now arrived in the Northwest Territories. This is a serious and costly problem. I have heard of apartment buildings, I have heard of people in public housing here in Yellowknife. It’s so insidious you don’t even want to name names of where you’ve actually heard these things are. And they are so transportable: on people’s shoes, on their socks, on their clothes, on their suitcases. I’d like to know what initiative is this government taking to address this, what I consider to be a public health issue, as a government to address bedbugs in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are protocols that are fairly standard in terms of how you deal with these type of infestations and when they occur. We become aware of them. We work with building owners or whoever’s necessary, and pest control people, to look at the steps for proper eradication.
This is fairly new to the Northwest Territories, I think. At least that’s what we’re told. Does this government have a specific policy initiative, some means to assist people that may encounter this situation? It is not an inexpensive solution. Do bedbugs pose a health risk?
Bedbugs do not spread disease and are not considered a public health hazard in terms of spreading disease. There are ways to deal with them. There are eradication methods, pest control systems in place to help deal with those type of infestations. We will work with, as I indicated, communities, businesses, building managers, to assist and make sure the proper steps are taken with properly qualified pest control folks.
We read in last week’s Hub, I guess, that this has become a problem or has been identified as a problem in certain buildings in Hay River, as well. Unfortunately, it started off in Yellowknife. It seems they seem to have migrated from Yellowknife outwards. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what the point of contact is in our communities for finding out what we can do. Where is the information? Where is the awareness? Where can people access the support that he speaks of?
In Hay River it would be the folks that work in the hospital that deal with environmental health issues. Here it would be the same. With your local health centre, if there are no environmental health officials available. The folks in the health centres, the trained staff, nurses and such would be the first point of contact.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To curb the spread of infestations of bedbugs in the Northwest Territories, will public health officials, environmental health inspectors, be prepared to issue work orders to insist that buildings known to have infestations address the problem and not leave it unattended so that the situation gets worse and it spreads to more places? Will work orders similar to what would be issued by a fire marshal or any kind of health inspector work order, will those type of work orders relate to this matter?
There’s a range of intervention that we have possible and I believe that is one of them. We try to work collaboratively and proactively with those that are involved, so we’ll follow that process. If it comes down to that type of final decision, I believe that, yes, we have the authority to do that.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Ms. Bisaro on March 7, 2011, regarding nutrition and healthy eating programs.
Provide a list of all the nutrition or healthy eating or healthy foods programs run by the GNWT across all the departments.
The Government of the Northwest Territories supports various school-based healthy eating and nutrition programs and initiatives. The Department of Health and Social Services is currently developing an overall NWT Healthy Eating and Nutrition Strategy, of which the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is a partner. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the Listing of Nutrition, Healthy Eating and Healthy Foods Programs.
The departments of Education, Culture and Employment, and Health and Social Services, as well as Health Canada and the Public Healthy Agency of Canada also provide funding to support a variety of NWT community wellness programs. These programs work to improve the well-being of NWT children, families and communities. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the Listing of NWT Community Wellness Programs.
Provide the amount of funding on an annual basis attached to each of these programs.
The GNWT has been able to utilize a combination of federal, external and territorial funding sources to support and promote children’s health in school-based settings. Drop the Pop and Together for Healthy Learning are federally funded under the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative through the collaborative efforts of HSS and ECE under the broader umbrella of the Healthy Choices Framework. Funding information is provided in the tabled document Listing of Nutrition, Healthy Eating and Healthy Foods Programs.
Provide the anticipated sunset or termination date for each of these programs.
The anticipated sunset or termination dates vary for the different GNWT school-based nutrition and healthy eating programs. Drop the Pop and Together for Healthy Learning are ongoing annually, dependent on the availability and approval of use of federal funds to continue these programs. The SipSmartNWT project funding from Canadian Partnerships Against Cancer (CLASP) will sunset March 31, 2012. Healthy Food for Learning and ASA attendance projects that did sunset on March 31, 2011. The Healthy Promotion Fund is ongoing annually, however, funding is based on eligible applications received from school-based organizations and varies considerably from year to year. This is not a school-based program per se, but can be accessed by schools based on eligibility.
Provide the criteria which determines who is eligible for funding under each of these programs.
Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the Eligibility Criteria for Nutrition, Healthy Eating and Healthy Foods Programs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of funding for upgrades to the Liard Highway.
The petition contains 462 signatures of Northwest Territories residents and the petitioners request that the Department of Transportation and the Government of the Northwest Territories reinstate funding for upgrades to Highway No. 7, the Liard Highway, beginning in fiscal year 2012-2013.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to present a petition dealing with the matter of saving the Joe Greenland Centre.
The petition contains 291 signatures of Northwest Territories residents. The petitioners request that the government leaders continue to provide 24-hour residential support services at the Joe Greenland Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
