Before we begin, colleagues, I would refer to Written Question 14-16(2) asked yesterday by the Member for Tu Nedhe. Rule 39(1) states that written questions are intended to provide Members the opportunity to seek detailed, complex and lengthy information from a Minister on a matter that would not be reasonably assumed to be within the present knowledge of the Minister.
It is my view that the written question submitted by the Member for Tu Nedhe does not meet that definition of a written question, because the information should be properly within the Minister’s present knowledge.
Therefore, I rule Written Question 14-16(2) out of order and direct that it be removed from the Orders of the Day. Members are reminded that written questions should not be used as an extension to oral questions.
Thank you, colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity today as the lead Minister to provide an update on the activities of the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee. The Refocusing Government initiative is one of five strategic initiatives that form the backbone of our government’s strategic plan. These five strategic initiatives have their foundation in the vision, goals and priorities we developed as a Caucus.
The actions planned under this initiative are to conduct program review, change the GNWT’s approach to infrastructure, improve human resource management in the Northwest Territories, improve service delivery and manage the cost of government.
This initiative and its actions will advance us toward our goal of becoming a more efficient and effective government by addressing priorities identified by Caucus under this goal. The strengthening-service-delivery action will also contribute to the 16th Legislative Assembly’s goal of sustainable, vibrant and safe communities.
Significant work on this initiative begins this year. We are improving service delivery by beginning the work to implement structural change to boards and agencies in the Northwest Territories. In order to advance our priority of ensuring a more service-oriented approach by the GNWT, we need to have boards and related administrative structures that facilitate working together and allow for flexibility to respond to regional priorities. We also can’t have our limited resources tied up in duplicate administrative efforts when these resources would be more effectively used for programming.
We are developing plans to create multi-purpose boards, integrating health and social services, education and housing programs at the regional level and at the community level where appropriate. This work will build off the successes of the service model in the Tlicho region and will impact all areas and communities of the Northwest Territories.
We will bring forward our detailed implementation plans for structural reform by the fall and begin the process of transition. The effort to implement the types of changes we are developing will be considerable. We need to ensure that the GNWT equips the new board with integrated policy, regulatory and legislative approaches and that its financial and administrative systems align from the community to the Cabinet. We expect the new board structure will be operational by April 1, 2010.
There are a number of other activities of the Refocusing Government committee that I would like to briefly touch on. A program review office will be established whose overall objective is to ensure that programs are meeting their objectives and that government resources are being used efficiently, consistent with the Assembly’s priority. In addition to developing a framework for a disciplined system of program evaluation, a number of priorities for target review has also been identified for this year.
We have also initiated work on changing our government’s approach to infrastructure, including identifying options for improving efficiency in the delivery of infrastructure projects. This work is being coordinated by Minister Michael McLeod, and he will be providing additional information on other elements of the project.
As part of the managing-the-cost-of-government action, we are examining additional approaches to ensure the cost-effectiveness of government operations. An early priority is to examine options related to lowering costs for travel, such as negotiating discount fares to southern destinations, expanded use of on-line bookings or implementing changes that would lower booking fees and allow the GNWT to access lower fees.
This year we will also begin other work under the improved-service-and-delivery action in addition to board reform. We are taking steps to ensure appropriate support for non-government organizations, which play an important role in delivering services to residents. This will begin this year as we complete our NGO funding policy, identify potential support to different components of the sector and prepare training materials for staff working to support the government’s relationship with NGOs.
We are making investments to improve official languages services by piloting a single-window service centre for French and for one or more aboriginal languages. These activities will enhance the GNWT’s capacity to deliver public services in the official languages, while members of the NWT official languages communities will have improved access to GNWT public services.
While this provides some highlights for the initial actions we are working on for the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee, it is not everything we hoped to accomplish. We are examining additional options for improving service delivery at the community, regional and territorial levels as we take steps to ensure that services delivered at the community level are of equal quality in all places.
More work is also needed to continue to improve human resource management, and activities are being developed to improve public service capacity in the Northwest Territories and examine innovative approaches to public service delivery. Our employees are critical to our success, and we need to confront our recruitment and retention challenges in our ever-changing labour markets.
As lead Minister for the Refocusing Government initiative, I am confident these initiatives will lead to a positive change for people across the Northwest Territories and help bring our territory closer to our long-term vision.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Hon. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to announce that the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association have reached a tentative four-year collective agreement.
The negotiations began in April 2008 and were concluded last week. The meetings were positive, and both parties are pleased with the agreement.
This agreement makes a number of important changes that assist us in improving overall administration. Ratification of the tentative agreement is recommended, and the process will be concluded by June 16, 2008.
Ministers’ statements, the Hon. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, in the last ten years we have witnessed an incredible surge in the Northwest Territories’ economy driven by strong investment in non-renewable resource development and, in particular, diamond mining and oil and gas exploration. The prospects of the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project promise even greater economic potential for the future.
As a government we are working to ensure economic development is managed in a way that fosters continued growth, builds business capacity and will allow NWT residents to benefit fully from their participation in the resource sector. It is to this end that I am announcing today the creation of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy to serve as a forum to which we can identify initiatives and practices that will position our residents and businesses to benefit from the enormous potential our future holds.
I have been working closely with the president of the NWT Chamber of Commerce to develop a structure and process that will foster an ongoing dialogue between my office and representatives and leaders of the NWT’s wide-ranging private sector and business communities. I have also invited local and community chambers to participate as members of this panel along with industry representatives, including NWT Tourism, NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines and the newly formed Aboriginal Business Association. The size of the panel will be up to 12 people.
The GNWT relies on the input of key stakeholders in the development of its policies, strategies, programs and initiatives. As the Minister of ITI it is my intent to call on this ministerial panel in coming years as a resource that will help to ensure that benefits from the economic development of the Northwest Territories are maximized for all NWT residents, their families, businesses, and communities.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. The honourable Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the Hon. Floyd Roland will be absent from the House for the remainder of the week to attend the Western Premiers’ Conference in Prince Albert.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just on the outskirts of Inuvik there’s a gravel quarry, and this quarry was transferred from the federal government to the territorial government a number of years ago. Since then the GNWT has harvested hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of gravel. There are two pits there. We call them the upper pit and the lower pit. They’ve harvested that from the lower pit, and this pit is within the municipal boundaries of the town of Inuvik.
A little while ago there was an MOU being worked on by the Town of Inuvik and the Department of Transportation. After many discussions and drafts and dialogue back and forth, the Town of Inuvik thought they had an MOU, an agreement, in place. Apparently, this is not the case.
In the first draft they had, there were a few issues that the town had with the MOU. They brought those back to Transportation. They managed to get six of their questions answered. The seventh question was on the setback from the road, which was 100 feet, and that dialogue went on back and forth for quite a while.
During breakfast in Inuvik with the current Minister, the superintendent of Transportation and the mayor, we got the understanding that we had a gentleman’s agreement as to the final condition on the MOU. Apparently, we were one gentleman short in that meeting, because the draft went out and came back to the Town of Inuvik with more conditions and more stipulations on it.
My understanding is that the MOU is just an understanding between the Town of Inuvik and the Department of Transportation as to access and all the other stuff with the gravel pit, and for it to get to the point of where it is now is just not acceptable to the Town of Inuvik. We understood we had an agreement, and I think the Minister would agree with me on that. The last remaining condition on the MOU we thought we had taken care of, but now there are, like, 33 more conditions and sections in the whole document. I think the legal department got their hands on it and made a mountain out of a molehill.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the process surrounding the potential job reductions in our public service. I want to restate the disbelief on the part of my constituents who got notices and then approached me, having to be told I had no idea their jobs were potentially affected — people who had worked, many of them, for the GNWT for over 20 years. It was bewildering to have to tell them I did not know their jobs were impacted.
The normal process for any job loss in a Member’s riding would be a letter from the relevant Minister giving the name, job title and reasons why the position was being eliminated. After employees had received their notification, it took three weeks for the GNWT to respond to Members, giving them a list of the positions affected in their constituencies. Naturally, then came the request for some kind of explanation why things were handled the way they were.
I want to provide some examples of some very valid concerns that have been raised with me and for which I did not have an answer. If there are four people working in one shop, all doing relatively the same function, why would the GNWT tell them they’re all affected employees and then conduct a competition to fill three of the positions? Would it not have been better to canvass the four employees to see if anyone wanted voluntary separation or early retirement? Early retirement might cost the government if they were offering retirement without any penalty to pension benefits, but how would that cost compare to the severance they would be paying to the employee who was being eliminated? Those are answers we don’t have.
What grounds would be used to decide the three successful candidates? If they were all equal, would it be based on merit? Would it be based on seniority? If it was based on seniority, potentially you’d be losing employees with fewer years of service and soon thereafter losing the employee who had the seniority, perhaps even six to 12 months later. All this while we say we are struggling to recruit and retain workers and keep some status as an employer of choice.
Let me provide another curious scenario. An employee receives notification of being affected. They have the credentials to provide a service that’s similar to a lot of other people who work in the same shop. They are in the prime of their career. Another employee with similar experience and qualifications comes forward and asks for voluntary separation, assuming that the affected employee would then be able to fill that position. In my mind, that would solve a problem for two employees: the one who wanted to leave and the one who wanted to stay. But the employee requesting voluntary separation is denied the request. Then the question arises: what was the motivation for the position-eliminating in the first place? Was it cost savings, or were the reductions a licence to remove employees no longer wanted for some other reason?
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I’ve asked before and have not got an answer, what recourse does the affected employee have? In fact, the government could be cited for wrongful dismissal. How many employees without the benefit of the protection and the advocacy of their union in this instance would have the resources to seek a legal opinion and take the GNWT on? What kind of unbearable work environment would that create for them going forward?
These are real cases. They are questions I don’t have answers for. I’ve tried to pursue some answers from the Minister of Human Resources, but I have not had satisfactory responses. Again, today, I will try to get some clear indication about the process by which these affected positions were identified.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, it’s been raised a number of times in this House that the 2 per cent cost-escalator cap by Indian and Northern Affairs has placed significant difficulty on our hospital and physician services we provide to status Inuit, Indian and Metis people. Today I wish to state for the record that I’m also very concerned about the failure of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to acknowledge their fiduciary responsibility to provide health care to status aboriginal peoples of the North.
It is also concerning to me that the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is, by placing an annual expenditure growth cap of 2 per cent, effectively downloading its fiduciary responsibility, its treaty responsibility, to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Over the last nine years the total difference between the GNWT on what they’re paying for health care costs for eligible aboriginal people and what the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is willing to pay is approaching $100 million.
Over the last five years the amount owed to the GNWT has ranged from $12.2 million to nearly $16 million per year. This works out to an average funding shortfall of approximately $15 million a year. Using a rough cost of $100,000 per PY, that is enough money annually to fund 150 government positions. This is money that could be used to fund things like that teachers’ agreement the Minister just announced, nurses, a daycare program. As well, it could have helped protect the laid-off folks we all know about today. This $15 million could have mitigated some of these unpalatable budget reductions we’re seeing before this House as we continue to go through them. We are in no position to be subsidizing our federal government, especially in light of our financial situation.
An agreement needs to be moved forward, and an agreement needs to be negotiated. We need to start to do something today, because if the federal government is not willing to pay for their treaty rights — that’s right, their fiduciary rights to northern aboriginal people and to Inuit people — then we should start talking about and negotiating to give the Department of Health back to them, because that is truly their responsibility. These are negotiated treaty rights, and they’re guaranteed.
So in closing, I will have questions for the Deputy Premier, because I think this problem goes to the highest office of this Assembly. Somebody, if we are owed that type of money, should be….
Your time for the Member’s statement has expired, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak again today about Stanton Territorial Hospital. Yesterday I spoke about the fact that the hospital has built up an accrued deficit of $11.5 million over the past few years. I questioned the Minister yesterday in regard to what plan the government had to address the deficit, and she mentioned the fact that it will be coming before the House under Supplementary Appropriation No. 4 during the life of this session. I look forward to her disclosing what the government’s plan is at the appropriate time.
I want to talk today about what I see as a lack of accountability and a lack of due diligence in the oversight and operation of what is supposedly the flagship of our health care system. Mr. Speaker, not only has the hospital amassed this huge deficit of $11.5 million, the Minister stated yesterday that FMBS has been paying the payroll at our hospital for the past 12 pay periods — roughly equivalent to six months. If FMBS is paying the $4 million to $4.5 million in payroll every month, what is the hospital doing with the money that was budgeted or allocated for salaries? If FMBS is paying the payroll, how could they ever get that money back? We’re talking about in excess of $20 million and counting. Where is that money going to come from, especially in this lean time of reductions?
Mr. Speaker, the employees are going to continue to get paid at the hospital. That’s a certainty. It’ll come from somewhere. However, what this leads me to believe is that, again, there are some very serious problems in the governance, management and direction that the hospital is being operated under. The Minister said yesterday that she has hired or appointed a public administrator who would have a very broad mandate to look into everything from management to programs, the development of a master plan, human resources and the deficit. Thankfully, the Minister admits there are problems there. But how are these problems going to be addressed in a three-month time frame? The problems run deep.
At the appropriate time today I will have some more questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mahsi.
The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I briefly mentioned homelessness in the smaller communities. Today I want to say that this is an issue common to many northern communities. Some people end up in larger centres like Yellowknife and Edmonton, but we do have some who fall through the cracks and are homeless in their own home communities. Even though I have heard new budget pledges to build new, affordable houses, we are concerned that there will still be homelessness for some.
I’ll be asking the Minister responsible for public housing if the department has any reliable information on the number of homeless individuals in the smaller communities and if that issue has ever been addressed by senior departmental managers.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to talk about the Highway No. 1 emergency road closure on May 4 and 5, 2008. There were a couple of washouts that caused great inconvenience and distress to Nahendeh travellers. I do want to say that I do recognize the travelling public and safety of transportation infrastructure is key. But what happened in this instance is that information to the travelling public was very lacking. I don’t believe there was any strategy in place for this road closure, for this emergency.
Many constituents called my office repeatedly, stating that they had no answers. They had no knowledge of when the road was going to be opened or resumed or if it had, indeed, been closed.
For instance, I had two busloads of children returning to Fort Simpson from a hockey tournament in Grande Prairie. They had phoned ahead. Everything seemed to be fine. They arrived in Hay River only to be told the road was closed. They were quite infuriated, because they did phone ahead. Somebody should have informed them at that time that there were potential problems on the road. They would have made alternative arrangements to drive back to Fort Simpson, which they did, Mr. Speaker. They waited around and tried phoning people all day. They made many, many calls to the Transportation offices in Hay River and Fort Simpson but didn’t get any answers. So they made a decision to drive from Hay River back to Grande Prairie over to Fort St. John up to Fort Liard and back to Fort Simpson, that way having an extra two days of travel and 17 hours of inconvenience just to get the children and the parents and the coaches back to Fort Simpson.
Once again I’d just like to reiterate, Mr. Speaker, that a better, more efficient communications strategy, on-time updates and a contact point or call centre would have alleviated this. Not knowing is the worst thing for people, and timeliness of information is also important. This is an incident that my constituents are not happy about to this date. I did get a response from the department, but the events did not correspond to the report given to me.
Mr. Speaker, I think we can go back and forth on this issue, but I think it’s more useful to me that the Minister….
Mr. Menicoche, your time for the Member’s statement has expired.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
I think we can go back and forth and dispute facts, but it’s more useful to me and my constituents that the Minister of Transportation be aware of this. I look forward to a better prepared communication strategy for the next event.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about the impact the diamond mines have in my Tu Nedhe riding. One of the positive impacts is increased employment for Tu Nedhe residents. Though there are some opportunities for the diamond mines when you look the big picture, the community is very marginal.
Mr. Speaker, the reality is that a good majority of the residents who wish to remain and work in their communities are faced with bleak employment opportunities. I know that employment activity in the communities is a function of natural market and economic forces, but I believe the government has a role to play not only as a regulator but to facilitate and initiate employment opportunities.
Mr. Speaker, according to the most recent stats from the 2006 statistics, the employment rate in Lutselk’e is only 48 per cent, with a 30 per cent unemployment rate. In Fort Resolution the employment rate is a low 44 per cent, with a 24 per cent unemployment rate. By comparison, the employment rate for the NWT is 69 per cent, with a 10 per cent unemployment rate. As you can see, the unemployment rate is two and a half times as high in Fort Resolution, and in Lutselk’e it’s almost three times the rate of the NWT.
Education levels look to be a large factor if unemployment rates are examined further. Eighty-six per cent of the unemployed people in Lutselk’e and 50 per cent of those unemployed in Fort Resolution do not have high school diplomas. Currently in Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e, industry and local government are the two main agents providing employment. Perhaps the GNWT could play a bigger role in this area.
Later today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on career and employment development for Tu Nedhe communities.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, I was going to talk about something different today, but after hearing the lead Minister responsible for the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee, I thought I would talk about his statement instead. I’m happy to see the government is moving forward with refocusing government. I’m happy to hear that the government is planning on conducting program reviews. I’m happy to hear that the government is planning to change the GNWT’s approach to infrastructure. I’m also happy they’re going to be improving human resource management, improving service delivery and managing the cost of the government.
Unfortunately, I think these things should have been done before this budget came forward. These are the types of things we were hoping to hear and hoping to see prior to the budget coming forward. When the Premier came and talked to us about the need to change the way we do business, change the way the government operates, we were hoping to see that.
What we see with the budget that has come forward is cuts, cuts, cuts, and we don’t see these types of things. It would have been better for all of us — it would have been better for the people of the Northwest Territories — if we had held off on many of the budget cuts we’re proposing now and gone through this process the Minister was talking about today rather than jumping into cuts immediately. I would love to see this government take back this budget and give us a status quo budget for the next couple of months, another interim budget so they could have the opportunity and the time they require to actually follow these processes and come forward with a decent, responsible budget that will allow the Northwest Territories to prosper.
Ultimately, though, I’m quite happy to hear what the Minister had to say. I think it’s just a little too late. I think this needed to happen before the budget came forward. I’ll stop repeating myself. I’ll now sit down.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to discuss the availability of housing policies at both the community and the territorial level. Like most MLAs, the interactions I have with constituents very often centre on housing issues. By the time the constituent gets to their MLA, it’s usually difficulties they’ve encountered with their housing, not happy occurrences, they want to discuss. We’ve heard references previously from members of the Auditor General’s office that applications for housing from NWT residents are not always fairly dealt with by local housing authorities. In these situations, when faced with trying to find some answers, I discovered there are no housing policies or guidelines I can reference. Yet constituents are routinely advised by the LHO, the local housing office, that their requests are being denied because of a policy.
Inquiries to both the LHO and the NWT Housing Corporation offices have provided me with minimal information. I asked for a copy of the policy book — the policies that govern the LHO. I wrongly assumed that an organization such as an LHO would be able to articulate the policies and the guidelines on which they assign housing. I was advised, and I quote, “that they have as few policies as possible, because they want to provide service based on individuals and do not want to spend their time quoting or debating policy.” I asked for any policies they have and was advised they couldn’t provide them. I was advised by the LHO that they follow national standards. To their credit, I did receive a list of the National Occupancy Standards on which the LHO bases their decisions for assigning housing. That information came to me by an e-mail.
Housing is a basic human right, Mr. Speaker, and the GNWT spends some $40 million annually to ensure the NWT residents have proper housing. We should be able to articulate just how housing needs for families, disabled persons, single persons and so on are determined. We should be able to articulate the restrictions that exist for some of our residents who apply for public housing, yet I can’t access these or any other policies that govern decisions made daily by our LHOs. It is no wonder the Auditor General found unfair allocations of housing. How can it be fair when each LHO operates on a case-by-case basis? How can it be fair when each LHO can set its own rules and guidelines? No wonder we, as MLAs, get so many complaints about housing from our constituents. I hope my experience is an aberration, Mr. Speaker, not the norm.
At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister Responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to reply — again I am changing my statement today to the Minister of ITI — to the Minister’s rather surprising announcement on the Advisory Panel on the Economy. This seems to be reflecting the ongoing and apparently typical modus operandi of this government to keep MLAs completely uninformed and certainly not to include their input. The vision this Caucus came up with was strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory. The Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy — well named as the Minister’s; certainly not anybody else’s that I know of — simply serves the community that is already benefiting from the roaring economy we already have. The basic principles of sustainability are to include economic development along with social sustainability and environmental sustainability. Those three pillars must be there for something to be sustainable — and to benefit all members of the Northwest Territories.
Let’s look at how this panel was formed. This Minister worked with the president of the NWT Chamber of Commerce — which I am sure has been enjoying the growth, as it should, but has a focus, as does all the development that has resulted in the homelessness, social issues and environmental issues this society is dealing with today…. Ten years ago and more there was an economic development strategy. A panel was put together that actually included representatives of the social and environmental community.
Mr. Speaker, we are regressing incredibly, and it obviously has gotten me very upset, because I know we can do so much better. There has got to be some basic understanding that develops here on this stuff. Let’s stop repeating the errors of the past. Let’s include representatives on these panels of all three legs of our stool here. Let’s try including the input of our MLAs and informing them so we can make sure such initiatives actually have some strength in them and aren’t destined to failure.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
