I want to restate, as well, my answer. This is a federal government INAC process. It’s their work. For the most part, they’ve treated the territorial governments and the other groups as stakeholders. The only thing that has now changed is the fact that we’ve signed an agreement-in-principle that indicates that within the next couple of years we’re going to be taking over, as Northerners, jurisdiction and authority over land, water, and resource development and that we don’t want any major surprises. We have our position clear on the website. I can commit to the Member that we can pull together a package of the work that’s been done, the correspondence that’s been shared back and forth, but we have to be very clear that this is not our process. We’ve laid out very clearly our position and the federal government has not fully engaged us on what they intend to do.
There was a letter submitted May 9th to the Premier of the Northwest Territories that recommended some 40 suggestions on the amendment process and things that need to be considered in light of the land claim agreements, the Tlicho land claim, and the whole element of independency of regulatory boards from the political arms of the Government of the Northwest Territories or the federal government. I’d like to know the government’s positions on those amendment areas and have we responded to the letter from Alternatives North, who was working with the Gwich’in Tribal Council, Tlicho Government, and the Aboriginal governments, to recommend these suggestions prior to tomorrow’s deadline.
The Government of the Northwest Territories has a position that is clear. We support the current structures. We have recommended against any changes. We are of the opinion that we are better served by the structure that is here, properly funded with proper policy clarity and adequate funding to represent our interests. The biggest point being we don’t want any major upheaval since we are now in the process of taking over those authorities. If there are changes that need to be made, then Northerners will make those changes collectively after we take over those responsibilities. It’s not appropriate at this point to have the federal government still insisting that they’re going to reshape our world, because in Ottawa they think that there are problems here, when we haven’t really been fully engaged.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to share the information that his department has, especially the list of items that were recommended for amendments to the Mackenzie Valley Resources Act. Also to share that with Members of this House and the Standing Committee on Economic Development so that we can also have input and get a better understanding of what’s been suggested and what is being suggested for amendments.
I believe in my first question I already made that commitment.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I asked the Minister of Health and Social Services about the Minister’s response to the motion in the House passed earlier this year dealing with the review of the Leishman incident at Stanton Territorial Hospital. The Minister has responded by establishing an external review conducted by Dr. Douglas Perry from Alberta, which is, in my opinion, a good first step. However, I notice that this review will be conducted under the Evidence Act. Specifically, statements made by the hospital staff will have protection of the Evidence Act and will not be made public, nor will they be shared with the mother; who, by the way, e-mailed me this morning indicating frustration that this will not be more of a public review. Given the importance of learning from this incident, can the Minister advise me as to why he chose not to have a more public review?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The intent was to provide the information requested. There was a motion passed; a need to have a better understanding of what took place during the particular incident. The use of the Evidence Act is a way to allow people to come forward to be able to disclose with some certainty that they can speak frankly. That’s why that process was chosen. We want to do this expeditiously. We want to do it. This initiative has been dragged on for some considerable time. We have a very qualified individual to do it and the intent is to do it in a timely way to make sure that all the information was there. We’re not intending to re-open. We’re looking at what has happened, what has been done, what has been pulled together so far, and review to see if in fact there are issues of concern.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his response. When I reviewed the unedited Hansard from yesterday, the Minister said, “I’ve already committed to share the results of this review with the committee. We’ll look at what those recommendations are, what they say and, as well, we’ll be able to review what he proposes as a response.” Does this mean that the Minister will share more than just the recommendations with committee and the mother, and that he will also share information upon which those recommendations are based, and if not, why?
I indicated that I would share with the committee the report and the recommendations and will do that on a confidential basis.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Abernethy.
I’m good, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sadly, as highlighted earlier today, our community has lost another youth and it’s attributed to drug use. The thing is, I continue, as many other Members here continue, to cite the issue of we need a detox centre here in Yellowknife, and if not here in Yellowknife, then somewhere in the Northwest Territories. The Minister doesn’t have to take my word for it, of course. There’s always Justice Vertes or the YK Chamber, the NWT coroner or perhaps even Stanton committee’s position on the need for these types of facilities.
My question directly to the Minister of Health and Social Services is: what is his department doing to establish a very specific style of treatment, which is a detox centre, targeted to attack and help beat the drug addictions that are associated with things like crystal meth, such as prescription abuse, as well as alcohol abuse? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This area has seen a considerable evolution over the last five or six years or so. There was initially a report done, called the State of Emergency, that decried the state of alcohol and drug services in the Northwest Territories, and there was tens of millions of dollars, and dozens of positions added, and significant restructuring done to improve the level of service. There was a subsequent follow-up report a number of years later called Staying the Course, which said that the path chosen was the right one, that they had to make some adjustments, but we have to keep going down the path that would lead to those final long-term improvements.
Since that time, things have continued to evolve. There have been other issues that have come to light, other concerns been brought, and now there is a subsequent review that’s currently being considered and a response being worked on that’s going to lay out what we think, as a government, as a department, as a way forward to deal with some of the broader issues that relate to mental health and addictions issues, including the Member’s concern about further intuitional development and bricks and mortar facilities. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, today I’m asking not just for bricks and mortar, because I think ultimately that is the long-term solution, but today I really need to hear the Minister commit to when will a plan be put forward to address this. I appreciate the review is looking back as to what was done, but I’m sorry to say that we have a number of experts, I would definitely define them as, who have all said the same thing, which is we need these types of resources available today rather than sitting and waiting.
I’m so passionate about this issue. It doesn’t just have to be here in Yellowknife. We could establish a detox centre anywhere in the Northwest Territories, because as far as I’m concerned, if we’re treating people, it doesn’t matter where it is, as long as we are.
Mr. Speaker, the last point I want to emphasize on this issue is the state at play at this very moment is if you have a child who has a crack problem, you have to be sent to one of the regular local programs and fail at that program before the Department of Health and Social Services will refer you to the appropriate targeted program in the South. Mr. Speaker, I believe we can establish this here anywhere in the North. I’m just happy to hear if we could get it done. Mr. Speaker, that’s my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services, is when can we bring a plan to the table that really focuses in on real results. Thank you.
Let me just set a quick context for the response. Yesterday I gave a fiscal update in this House that pointed to the extreme constraints that we, like just about every other government, are under in terms of managing our dollars and meeting our needs, and our ability to have new programs added on are minimal to none in the life of this government. We will have a plan in the life of this government that lays out what we recommend are steps to be taken in the coming years. With the addictions and mental health services, we will have a renewed strategic plan for Health and Social Services by the August Assembly that will lay out as a system how we intend to move forward, including that area, and that plan will be there. Everything we do, including things like this, midwifery services, the 101 other very good issues that we should be putting money to will be dependent on the resources we have available. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, undeniably, I’ll say that you could step out of this building and get away from the throes of what the impression of what the world really wants in this building to actually getting on the street to what the real citizens will tell you, and undoubtedly, I will tell you that they will say the Northwest Territories needs a detox centre.
Mr. Speaker, it’s true that some types of demons in the drug and alcohol areas that they may require specific programming, and perhaps on-the-land programs are more appropriate for those types of problems, but, Mr. Speaker, jails aren’t always the solution, and I think that’s the issue Justice Vertes was trying to say. As he highlighted clearly, he said if it was the solution, America would be the safest place in the world, which it isn’t, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, will these results, as highlighted by the Minister in his last answers, will they come with a commitment from this government to support them if it comes forward and says build a detox centre? Because we need to focus in on real results that deliver true results which are a priority of the citizens of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
If we walk outside the confines of this building we will also find that we need thousands of housing units, that we need babies to be born healthy, that we need parents that are actively engaged in the upbringing of their children, that we need employment. There are lots of issues.
This particular issue will be brought forward. There will be options laid out there and recommendations. It will be the job of the incoming 17th Assembly in the budget process for 2012-13 to decide how they want to move forward, what their priorities are, and what we can afford. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have to explain to the Minister how paralyzing drug and alcohol problems are to people of the North, but the reality here is this government could make that commitment today and not hope that the new Assembly will take care of what rightly is the responsibility of the legislators of today, which is to deal with this particular problem.
The last thing I’ll say, Mr. Speaker, is forcing people to Stanton is not the appropriate place. Forcing people to jails is not the appropriate place. That’s why I’m here today asking the Minister if he will commit. If this report says that we should build a detox centre, as all the other experts have highlighted earlier said we need, will this government get behind that, stand behind that and make the appropriate investment that speaks to that need? Thank you.
That’s a lot of ifs with four months left and a clear decision by this Assembly that we’re not going to make any major commitments in the last few days of an Assembly. We will do the work. The budget is set for this year and we will lay that out. We’re doing transition planning.
The other thing we ought to keep in mind, Mr. Speaker, the Member keeps talking about a treatment centre. We can’t lose sight of the fact that we still don’t do enough on the prevention side. That if we just accept the fact that people are going to keep drinking and we’re just going to keep building facilities to try to fix them once they’re addicted, or put them in the hospital and give them dialysis and kidney transplants once they’re so sick that there’s no other alternative, then we will truly never have enough money. I can tell you that right now. I said that five years ago when I was Health Minister and I’ll tell you again today, we don’t have enough money to keep fixing things or people when they’re broken or damaged. We have to get onto the prevention, because we do not have the money. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the need to work with the leadership in the Beaufort-Delta to ensure that the $150 million commitment to building the Tuk-Inuvik highway appears on the upcoming federal budget. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Transportation update the Assembly on the steps that he and his officials are taking to make this a reality for the residents of the Beaufort-Delta? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The news for the $150 million was very exciting indeed. I think it took a lot of work, and of course the work wasn’t only carried out by myself. We had the mayors of Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik very involved with presenting the case and building up the arguments why this road needed to be done. We had the Inuvialuit government onside. Of course, the MLAs raised the profile of this issue many times in this House. We had our Premier meeting with the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers across the floor here, or on this side of the House, that met with the different Cabinet Ministers to raise the issue. The Department of Transportation played a role and this resulted in some dollars being flagged. Unfortunately, this process was never completely ratified.
We certainly don’t want to lose momentum on this initiative. We have already talked with the working group; as recently as this morning there was a meeting. We fully intend to engage with the federal Minister as soon as we know who the appointment will be. That’s going to happen in the next little while, we understand, and the folks in Ottawa will be getting back together in June. We have our documents drafted. We want to indicate that this initiative should carry forward. We want to be able to meet with the new Minister. We will, of course, be extending an invitation to the Minister and we will look how we can fully engage, keep everybody involved, and keep this whole initiative moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister almost answered all of my questions there. I understand we’re still waiting for the Prime Minister to announce his Cabinet and there is some slippage in the engaging of the federal government. I’d like some assurances from the Minister that he and his officials are ready to hit the ground running to engage the new federal Minister of Transportation at the earliest opportunity. Thank you.
I think the Members of this House did a very good job over the last while about raising the profile of our infrastructure needs across the Territories. We have a motion in this House indicating that the Mackenzie Valley Highway is very important to us, and we want to see that flagged as one of our top priorities. Our government has put together a Federal Engagement Strategy that lays out a number of areas where we’d like to see investment. The Mackenzie Valley Highway is very high on this list. We’ve shared that information with the federal government. We’ve had private meetings with the different Ministers. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Lawrence Canon at the time when he was Transportation and Infrastructure Minister. We’ve talked with Chuck Strahl, John Baird, and we’ve had very good support from Minister Leona Aglukkaq over the last while and we expect we’ll have good support from her ongoing.
We have drafted our documents, we have our letters ready. We just need to know who is the person that will be working with us on this as the new Minister, and I fully intend to engage as soon as possible. Thank you.
I also referenced the hard work that the leadership in the Beaufort-Delta has put in to ensuring that Canada’s national highway system reaches coast to coast to coast. Can the Minister assure the Assembly that he will engage with the Beaufort-Delta leadership in advancing this project, which are a pivotal partner on the whole road itself, and bring them down to Ottawa to help talk to the federal government on this issue? Thank you.
We’re very eager to travel to Ottawa. There are a lot of issues we want to talk about. There is still an application from the Northwest Territories to the Green Fund. The City of Yellowknife had a submission on behalf of the Northland Trailer Court. There was a hydro line applied for that we haven’t received any response. There are many issues that we need to tackle. There are issues about infrastructure, ongoing stable funding for long-term investment, and there’s also the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and more specifically now, the $150 million that was flagged in the last budget. We want to carry that forward and we fully intend to travel to Ottawa.
Of course, if there’s an opportunity to bring any additional delegates or additional people that are involved in this project with us, we’ll do so. Having said that, at the end of the day, the Minister usually dictates who he is willing to meet with. However, we’ll put in the request. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to the Minister with all the projects that he mentioned, not all the projects, they’re not going to be fully funded. The $150 million was put in the federal budget by the federal government, but it was not ratified. All of the other projects weren’t in the budget. Mr. Speaker, we just want to make sure that the $150 million gets allocated properly to the Tuk-Inuvik highway in making sure that the Minister goes down on that approach.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister also consider taking some EDI members to Ottawa with him for this meeting? Thank you.
As the Minister I can’t only focus on a certain part of the Northwest Territories. I have other responsibilities. I would not be doing justice if I didn’t speak about long-term stable funding for infrastructure, and Mr. Menicoche would be very disappointed if I didn’t raise Highway No. 7, Highway No. 6, other highways, the Bear River Bridge, the Peel River Bridge and those initiatives that need attention. I think we have to be able to address all the different needs across the Territories, and at the same time focusing on some of the areas that have moved forward.
It’s been very exciting in the life of this government to be able to move discussions on the Mackenzie Valley Highway forward. We’ve managed to get the federal government to come onside and invest jointly with us on the work that needs to be done, the PDRs, and more specifically now, some indication that they’re willing to put dollars up for construction. We need to know what the long-term plan is; we need to be able to work around it if it’s going to be still an investment they’re willing to move forward. So there’s lots of work that has to be done, Mr. Speaker, and we certainly can commit that we’ll continue to push it forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement talked about women in Yellowknife who are working on behalf of NWT women and homelessness, and I’d like to ask some questions of the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services about the government’s homelessness framework. I’ve been trying for some months, actually more than 12, to try and get some information on the updating of the homelessness framework, but I was recently advised that no update is in the works. So I’d like to ask the Minister if he can advise when this homelessness framework will be reviewed, revised and updated so that it is more suitable to our current needs. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From what I understand, there’s a homelessness interdepartmental government homelessness working group. As well, there’s a strategy and framework that’s led by the Homelessness Coalition in Yellowknife. So that work is underway, and I don’t have a specific time that I could give the Member as to when that particular initiative will be concluded. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. I’m a little surprised to hear that we have a Homelessness Coalition led by the City of Yellowknife, which basically works for facilities within the city of Yellowknife, that that is leading a strategy, which, if I understand the Minister correctly, is going to be GNWT strategy or policy. So I’d like to ask the Minister, if my understanding is correct, could he explain what he meant by the strategy is being developed by the Homelessness Coalition? Thank you.
This particular document will have application, we believe, outside of the city of Yellowknife. It’s an issue in the city. We have our own interdepartmental working group, as well, that looks at concerns of homelessness outside of the city of Yellowknife. Thank you.
Thank you. I’m getting more and more confused all the time. So it now sounds like we have a strategy that’s going to apply to the city of Yellowknife, which may be useful outside the city of Yellowknife for the rest of the Territories, but we have something else which is going to determine stuff outside Yellowknife. I really don’t understand the answer.
The Minister mentioned an interdepartmental homelessness committee, which sounds rather like the committee doesn’t have a home, but I believe they work on the issue of homelessness. I’d like to know from the Minister what their function is and how often they meet. Thank you.
They meet on an ongoing basis. They’ve fed their work into the business planning process. It includes departments like Health, MACA, Housing, to name some that have a role to play, and we look at funding for the City of Yellowknife, the shelters that are out there and homelessness in the smaller communities where there is no other capacity, and we try to deal with things on a one-by-one case basis. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. I think, again, I’m not exactly sure that I understand what their function and role is. The Minister mentioned one of situations that this group deals with and I believe that’s the Homelessness Assistance Fund, which is supposed to help people. As I read from a document, “the Homelessness Assistance Fund supports and prevents individuals from becoming homeless in the NWT.” If that’s the case, I need to ask the Minister why in recent months a family of four was basically refused a minor amount of funding, $600 I believe, which would have kept them from being tossed out of their current housing. Thank you.
