Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services how much it costs her department to provide the supplementary health benefits to residents in the North.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I’ll have to get back to the Member on that. I believe it’s about $8 million, but we often ask for about $3 million for supp health.
I’ll look forward to the Minister’s answer in terms of an exact figure. If it’s around seven or eight million, I want to ask the Minister about the supplementary health benefits that we do provide for our people in the North. What’s the percentage of increase every year of this special program?
I believe the incremental increase for that budget has been somewhere between 6 to 8 percent over the last number of years. Thank you.
Okay, so that looks like we’ve got a couple of million every year to support this program and to support the benefits of this program for people in the North. I want to ask the Minister about the sustainability of this program on a yearly basis in regard to some of the needs in the smaller communities and some of the basic access to health care. It seems like we’re going through crunching time. How much can we sustain and continue on with this program? Can the Minister answer that?
Thank you. Sustainability is a question on all health care programs, including the Supp Health Benefits Program, and this is why I believe that the recommendations made by the Supp Health Benefits Joint Working Group is timely, because it’s tasked us to find ways to encourage people to get third-party insurance.
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated many a time in the House, this is one of the few government programs where some people can get the assistance elsewhere, and we need to encourage that. So a part of our work is to encourage employers to offer health care benefits and then individuals to take on private insurance where they can, also to extend retirement health care benefits when they retire. So there are many parts to the instructions we got from the Joint Working Group and this is why we need to do that in the name of sustainability going forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister advise this House as to the type of dollars that they will be required to provide to the lower income families without any health coverage? The department surely must have done some assessment as to what it’s going to cost this government to provide coverage for the people that don’t have coverage as we speak today.
The working poor and the excluded coverage that the Member is talking about, we are talking about those who don’t have dental or vision care coverage, because they would get health care and drug coverage and such from the regular health care coverage we have. At this time we could only guess how many numbers there are. We believe there are about 2,000 people in the Territories without employer coverage that gives them dental and vision care. We cover $1,000 for seniors for dental and $250 for glasses every two years. So that’s the cost we’d be looking at if we were to cover them immediately.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions. The department has lots of contracts out there and I just wanted to ask him a little bit about the holdback policy for contractors. Typically how is it run and what’s the percentage, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, the policy to hold back a percentage of the contract is something that’s right across the government in all our contract practices. That’s to ensure that we have a product that’s free of deficiencies prior to releasing all funds. Thank you.
There’s probably different ways it’s written up, but typically at what point are the holdbacks released? Thank you.
The holdbacks are usually released upon the deficiencies being dealt with. Thank you.
The reason I’m raising it, I’ve got a business in my riding that ran into an issue with the holdback. I think the issue was that there were circumstances beyond their control and that led them to not cleaning up a site. I’m trying not to get into too many specifics, Mr. Speaker, but if there’s something beyond their control, will the department consider special circumstances with regard to that? Thank you.
We do take into consideration if there is an issue that has been unforeseen or an issue that comes about that is beyond our control. However, that has to be raised by the proponent and brought to our attention, and the rationale has to be drafted accordingly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to hear that answer that they will consider mitigating circumstances, and I will follow up with the Minister on the specifics of what I was talking about. Just one more question on the holdbacks. How soon are they typically released? Thank you.
I think it would be pretty evident that as soon as the deficiencies are dealt with and we’re comfortable that all is well, we usually do our best to get the holdback released. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Public Works regarding the COR program. It’s the Certificate of Recognition. I’ve inquired with the Minister to find out where this program is when it comes to implementation out there on our tenders and processes. So where is this initiative and is it being implemented into our tendering process for northern tenders, with the expectation that people who do comply and respond to those tenders are part of the program? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have not decided whether we’re going to incorporate the COR program into our tenders. At this point, the Northern Construction Safety Association has been working on a rollout schedule for their members. They have endorsed it and we’re kind of providing support in that area. Thank you.
That was quite a confusing answer. We haven’t decided what we’re doing, but we support it through the rollout. Mr. Speaker, if the Minister could make sense on the particular issue, is the government behind this initiative and are they anticipating that they’ll be involved and support this initiative? Thank you.
I apologize if it was confusing to the Member. I’ll try to speak a little slower.
Mr. Speaker, I’ve already stated that we have not, as a government, endorsed the COR program to be part of our contracting. The NWT Construction Association is going to consult with the industry and they will talk to their members. We are not moving forward and incorporating it in our contracts. Thank you.
Thank goodness we have rules so I won’t respond appropriately to how the Minister should get a response, but I’d like to know what the Minister is doing, or I should say what’s causing the Minister and the department from holding back on implanting this COR certification program, especially in light of the fact that the Department of Public Works, several months ago, seemed to be in favour of this initiative. As well, they went and sent one of their staff members, a senior staff member, to become certified in the program. So, again, it seems to be a mixed message. They support it, but don’t really support it. Are they waiting for industry to tell them what to do, or are they just sort of in the dark as to how important it is and what a northern program this is, because a lot of northern businesses are involved in this initiative? Thank you.
We’re quite familiar with the COR program, but at this point we’re not prepared to move forward. We don’t feel it will allow all communities to be involved, especially small contractors in the more remote communities. We are working with the NWT Construction Association, the Safety Association also and they are rolling it out to their membership and getting feedback, we are working with them on drafting proper wording and it’s not something we’re prepared to do at this point.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister saying that if the NWT Construction Association is behind this, that the Department of Public Works will support it? Is the Minister as well saying that if we can prove, which I already have, that this can be implemented and supported by business in small communities, he’ll support it? Is that what the Minister is saying? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’m saying that once we’re comfortable that all the companies and all the communities will have the same abilities through this program, we will provide further consideration.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled Tourism Research Update, November 2010; Building the Aboriginal Tourism Product, October 2010; and Aboriginal Tourism Engagement Strategy Final Report, March 2010. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table a letter from Ron Irwin to Minister John Todd.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, November 4, 2010, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that eligibility for the Student Financial Assistance Program be expanded to include students taking full-time secondary school upgrading programs in preparation for post-secondary education. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, November 4, 2010, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, November 4, 2010, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, February 2, 2011;
And further, that any time prior to February 2, 2010, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at earlier time during this adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you.
