Mr. Speaker, I want to let the Members know that when the department looks at major refits of our ferries or operations, we do very meticulous planning in terms of things that are happening and what needs to happen.
I took on the job in October. I had to look at what things had to get done. I asked these serious questions. The department has looked at this type of operation that needs to happen. Safety is number one. I do sympathize with the people in Wrigley and other communities. I have faced similar situations, and we’re doing everything within our means to make sure that the ferry is in before the track and field event does take place.
However, our first priority, again, is safety. If we do not do an adequate job, we would come to this situation again in the middle of our operations, and that’s something that we’re not entertaining right now.
Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister: is there an expected operating date when the repairs will be completed, and could they convey the progress to the community of Wrigley as they see it? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I've informed my officials to keep the community of Wrigley informed in terms of the dates. We're working very hard to ensure that the ferry operation is in the waters by the end of this month, and have it tested, have it inspected, have it checked off okay so that we could help out the community of Wrigley. Certainly we'll do everything in our powers to make sure this happens and put some smiles on some of the children in Wrigley.
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I know he was well practised in the swimming actions there. I'm interested if our ferries are dead in the water without a fuel supply. Other than that response, has the Minister ensured, given the volatility of fuel supplies and the increasing uncertainty, that our communities have developed effective emergency management plans to deal with that situation?
The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, the issue of oil, fuel, and the associated costs, and supply is certainly something that we wrestle with on a daily basis. Today I think the price of oil is pegged at over $1.28. All our communities across the North face the challenges of not only the high costs but the additional costs of transportation and having it delivered to our communities. In most cases our communities are responsible for their own supply. There is a market in most of the communities.
We, on the other hand, as a government look after the supply and storage and sale in 15 communities across the North. More recently we've also incorporated supply for the Power Corporation, and that's brought on an additional 20 sites, which has given us a lot more flexibility in terms of economies of scale.
We have had numerous discussions with suppliers across the North, and we have looked at alternate methods of getting the fuel into the communities, especially the communities on the north end of the Northwest Territories, from Norman Wells north along the river system in the Beaufort area. We are looking at markets in California and also in Asia that will allow us to have flexibility. If there’s a short supply in one area, that will allow us to go to a different area. So we've had quite a bit of discussion.
In terms of an emergency fuel supply it's something that's always, of course, an issue. We deal with it on a situation-by-situation basis. However, we've not had that situation in isolated communities. It's something we continue to work on.
All our communities are responsible for energy plans, and this is something that they would look at also. We've had a number of communities move forward on those plans, and we continue to work on that.
Mr. Speaker, I'll take that as a no, in effect.
The Minister has not ensured that there are emergency plans. Every community in the Northwest Territories faces this potential. I'm talking about the declining ability of global production to meet global demand, and of course, we're totally dependent on demand. As per my Member's statement there's solid evidence that that concern is increasing.
I'm looking for a commitment from the Minister. Will the Minister commit to do more than just discussing it and actually put in place emergency plans if communities are faced with a complete lack of fuel supply, oil in particular?
Mr. Speaker, I don't know how he got a no out of what I thought was a yes.
All our communities have an adequate supply. We have the ability to make alternate arrangements if there is a situation where there is a need. We've not encountered that. We have new sources of supply that don't lock us into one source. We're flexible, and our fuel provider has indicated to us that there are a number of different areas where they can get the fuel from, so it's not an issue.
An emergency fuel supply at this point I don't think is something we need to do. We have adequate facilities in each community that will provide that fuel, and to have a commitment to say that we will have an emergency supply is just something that we're not ready to do at this point.
Thank you for those remarks. I'm not necessarily insisting that we have an emergency fuel supply, but I would like to know that the communities have some plan to deal with a complete shortage. Even if they do have an emergency supply, perhaps it won't be enough to get them through a period of time when the oil shortage occurs.
In 1973, of course, we experienced that with gasoline, but now with peak oil, we're on the declining side. We’re on the other side of 50 per cent of the fuel oil availability in the world, so this is a real situation. We're entering sort of a new era, if you will, and that's what these agencies are realizing, and I think we need to be progressive.
So, again, will the Minister commit to encouraging, promoting emergency preparedness plans for serious and significant disruptions in oil supplies by the communities?
Mr. Speaker, we do have all communities working on an integrated sustainability plan for the long term, and part of that plan is to have the capital plan included, the human resource plan and also a community energy plan. Thirty-two communities have already completed their portion of the capital process and the capital plans. We have eight communities that are working on energy plans.
Now, we have a system where we have resources and will continue to support the communities to look at other sources of fuel. At this point we have not indicated and earmarked any sort of alternate energy or additional fuel sources that we would specifically term as emergency. It's something we'd like to have at some point. At this point we're not in the position to have the communities specifically earmark alternate energy or an alternate fuel system in case of an emergency. That's something that would have to come down the road.
Final short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for those remarks, Minister. Of course, this is a real situation. Inuvik failed to get their fuel supply last year, and the surrounding communities suffered accordingly. Residents paid more and so on. But it wasn't a real shortage, and that's obviously a real possibility.
For the Minister's information, catastrophic events are going up by about an order of magnitude around the world, both in costs and frequency, so we can expect this to be a real situation.
I understand that we're losing our emergency preparedness coordinator. I'm asking that the Minister reconsider that. Will the Minister reconsider that position in light of this increasing need for emergency preparedness? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I fully recognize that there have been emergency situations and that fuel is of short supply. Incidents happen across the world. We have not yet encountered that in the Northwest Territories. We’ve had situations where some fuel suppliers were not able to get the supply that they required. They were able to work around it. We provided support and will continue to do that.
We recently met with some of the people that deliver the fuel and talked about looking at new methods and new sources and trying to rectify the situation that happened last year. We are not in a position right now to reconsider the position that has been targeted for reduction. We are, on the other hand, hiring and creating a new position titled sustainability coordinator, which will be funded through gas tax dollars. It will provide direct support to the communities that will continue to work on this plan. There are four different areas, but all communities are working on it, and this will help them complete those documents.
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about the fact that I get calls from constituents on a fairly consistent basis talking about their frustration with getting information on retirement options and support for planning their retirement and then acquiring the pension benefits that are due to them. There are certainly examples of private- and public-sector industry standards in this area. I want to make sure that our public service is entitled to, and is receiving, that same level of service that anyone else would expect.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources what kind of support is available now in the Department of Human Resources for people who are wanting to plan for their retirement options.
The Minister of Human Resources.
We have pension specialists within the Department of Human Resources who are available to assist. Also, all employees are encouraged to take pre-retirement training programs through their department.
Is the pre-retirement program that was advertised and sent out to all government recipients — the one that costs $400 — intended for people planning to retire? Does our government expect retiring employees to pay $400 to learn about their retirement options?
Mr. Speaker, our government is very supportive of pre-retirement planning. Generally, if the training is approved by the supervisor, we pay for their costs. If there is a cost associated with the pre-retirement training program — and I should point out that many of the courses we put on through our GNWT training calendar have costs associated with them — we would cover those costs if they’re approved by our supervisors.
Just so I understand: if an employee was coming up for retirement and wanted to take the two-day pre-retirement course and there was a fee of $400, the territorial government might or might not pay for that, depending on the approval of the manager of that employee. Is that correct?
Mr. Speaker, generally, we encourage employees to take the pre-retirement training earlier in their careers rather than a year or six months before the time to retire, and generally, we pay for one pre-retirement training course per employee.
Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Speaker, in information I was able to get from the Department of Human Resources, they said there’s currently a backlog of requests for personalized pension counselling. I’d like to know what the nature of that backlog is and why, for a department with 125 employees in headquarters, there would be a backlog.
I guess there are a number of reasons for the backlog. Our government workforce is aging. I think 40 per cent of our employees are eligible to retire within the next ten years, so I would expect that is the reason for the backlog.
Mr. Speaker, would the Department of ECE perhaps consider increasing income support allocations in the small communities?
The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has recently increased our income security program to meet the needs of the community — the demands of the high cost of living in the community: the clothing, the food, the shelter. So we did increase in that area. That is one area that has been highlighted from our previous visit to the communities. So that has been initiated.
That was quick, Mr. Minister. Thank you.
Would the government, perhaps the Minister of ECE, consider setting the task force to study homelessness in the smaller communities?
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. We are going into a different line of questioning here. I will allow the Minister to answer. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. To deal with the isolated small communities, those particularly without road access, we do provide funding for shelters or programming, and certainly my department can work with the Member to highlight what we have done, what we have currently in the program. I can certainly assist with those communities based on their needs to deal with homelessness. So we do have programs available for that.
Supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have none at this time.
Mr. Speaker, in regard to my Member’s statement in the area of people with disabilities that live in small communities and the challenges that they face — more importantly, the lack of houses in our communities to accommodate people with disabilities — this government has taken steps to look at barrier-free houses. I know that the Member for Yellowknife mentioned that there were the eight units built here in Yellowknife. In regard to barrier-free houses, we have built houses in seniors’ housing which are barrier-free. We have built seniors’ facilities which are barrier-free. We have the expertise in-house to do that, yet we seem to have a problem accommodating people in small communities, to be able to facilitate them with the adequate housing that they need which are barrier-free.
I have been in contact with the Minister on a particular matter in Fort McPherson, about an individual and his son who is in a wheelchair. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly what is his department doing to look at barrier-free houses in small communities to accommodate people with disabilities?
The Minister Responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, we intend to follow the same process in all communities where there is an identified need. As we are working with communities to look at the housing configuration as to what is most appropriate, I do agree with the government that there are some things that should probably become standard design for all houses — things like three-foot doorways and access for an event, if something happens if an individual is in the house. So the Member has raised some good points.
Mr. Speaker, as government our public infrastructure is aging; we have to replace it. I think this is probably a good time to build that concept into reality, build it into our business plan, build it into our housing strategies and initiatives. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly how soon can we see some of these initiatives put in place, knowing we are expending money already to basically do upgrades on public housing units by way of retrofits? Will you consider looking at those retrofit dollars, at those facilities for renovating, to see if we can implement some of these projects in communities where you have individuals who are disabled, in a wheelchair, or perhaps have mobility problems that we need to accommodate?
Once we conclude this budget process, we’re going to be moving almost immediately into the business planning process for 2009–2010. We’d be willing and interested to come forward in the business plan. We could discuss those issues as well, sit down with the Chair of the Social Programs and the other Members to look at how we can make changes to the program delivery to better reflect the needs and issues raised by the Member.
Mr. Speaker, also in my Member’s statement I took issue with regard to the residency clause that’s in place for individuals who are born and raised in their home communities. They’re band members in those communities, but if they leave the community for less than a year and come back to the home community, they have to wait three months before they can get into public housing. Yet there are vacancies.
I’d like to ask the Minister: is there a possibility that the Minister or the department can make special exemptions for people who are disabled, people who have already been in public housing within that year when there are vacancies on the board so that they don’t have to wait three months before they can get public housing? I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s able to do anything in that area.
Mr. Speaker, the Member has raised another good point. In the case that he’s referring to, there has been contact made with the community, and I believe the three-month residency has been waived in that particular instance.
Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Most jurisdictions in Canada, the provinces and whatnot, have a housing strategy. Part of that strategy looks at seniors’ housing, family homes, retirement homes, disabled housing, homeless shelters. They look at every type of housing that’s out there. So I’d like to ask the Minister: would his department take on a strategic plan to look at the holistic process for housing from the time you’re born until the time you pass away — 80 to 90 years of housing that people go through? I think it’s about time this government took on that initiative. I think we won’t have these problems in our communities with housing for the disabled, accommodating people with disabilities or mobility problems such as aging.
The Housing Corporation just released their Framework for Action to lay out the plan for the next number of years. It’s been to the appropriate committee. We’ve received feedback with some suggestions that we’re going to look at. We’re going to look at improving that document as we move forward. There will be the business planning process coming up as well that will allow us to further refine that document.
The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke to the proposed demolition of the Learning Centre in Inuvik. I would like to pose my questions today to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I’d like to ask: what’s the status of the adult Learning Centre right now? When is it slated for demolition?
The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
