Debates of October 18, 2006 (day 10)

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 126-15(5): Policing Services In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me how many communities do not have RCMP officers in their community today? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 126-15(5): Policing Services In Small Communities

Mr. Speaker, thank you. They all get visits from RCMP members from the larger communities and the regional centres, but there are 13 communities that currently do not have detachments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 126-15(5): Policing Services In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is unacceptable in this day and age; 13 communities without RCMP officers. Not acceptable today in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister work really hard with this Cabinet to get extra dollars to put community safety officers, community justice peace officers, special constables? That's crazy to talk about not having any special constables in the Northwest Territories. That's what saved the lives of the RCMP officers and they say there's no more justification for it? That's crazy. I ask the Minister again, go to his Cabinet, ask for some real dollars for the RCMP officers for those communities, 13 of them.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 126-15(5): Policing Services In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The challenge with providing officers and having a permanent presence in all our communities is that, as Members know, we need two in each community now. That's the labour standard. We think community constables, or whatever the program will become, makes a lot of sense and will be well used in the Northwest Territories. We'll continue to lobby the federal government in that regard. It's not about, at this point, coming up with more money from this government for officers. The feds pay the tab when it comes to capital. We are looking at capital for Sachs Harbour. We think we have a federal commitment there. So we're moving, Mr. Speaker, but we will continue to send the message that community safety officers make sense in the North, but they do have to be relevant and they do have to have some powers and be useful for our smallest communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 126-15(5): Policing Services In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly support the Minister. I know he's been working very hard with his federal government of the Liberal government and now the Conservative government, and also in the last three years in this Assembly in terms of getting RCMP officers in our communities in the Northwest Territories. I again urge him and press him. There's a strong need to have officers in our communities. You know, we have to get creative. Get those communities that have no officers. Thirteen communities in the Northwest Territories. All the money will be in the North. It's a crying shame that we have this today in society here. We need officers in our communities. It's unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. Again, I ask the Minister to really press hard with his counterpart and this Cabinet to get some money, get the RCMP officers in our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 126-15(5): Policing Services In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister on this point.

Member, member.

I agree with the Member.

---Applause

A promotion. I agree with the Member, Mr. Speaker. I share his concern. It is of highest priority that we are able to establish some detachments in our smallest communities. There are communities that are very remote. It's difficult to provide and ensure safety. We know that there are weather concerns. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, it's a priority. We will continue to make sure the federal government understands that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and it gets back to the status of Stanton Territorial Hospital and what is going on there. You know, these problems are not new. The Minister was the Minister back in 2002 when, in fact, he ordered a review, an operational review, a full operational review to be conducted in the fall of 2002. I mentioned in my Member's statement today that the scenario that played itself out in 2002 is very, very similar to the one that is here today, and the problems haven't gone away. The first question I'd have for the Minister is, according to this operational review that was conducted in 2002, there were a number of recommendations in that review and I'm wondering if the Minister can tell me what recommendations were followed up on, and why are we still having all these difficulties with staffing, especially staffing and morale at that hospital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A couple of questions there. The Minister can answer one or both. Honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the majority of the recommendations were followed up on. I've asked the department to dig out the last report that was done in terms of reporting on that particular consultant's documents. I'd just like to point out as well that, yes, there are some issues that continue to be of great concern at Stanton, but we've also made significant investments and progress in the services there and I don't believe that they are the same, as extreme as they were back in 2001. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the Minister had the opportunity to attend my constituency meeting two weeks ago, he'd understand that the scenarios and the level of concern at Stanton Hospital is, in fact, probably worse than it was in 2001, 2002, and something, Mr. Speaker, needs to be done. I'd like to ask the Minister, there's been some talk of a staffing review. We did an operational review in 2002. Recently, in April of this year, we've gone and done another staffing review of the same facility. I'm just wondering where exactly is this phantom staffing review. I've heard rumours that there's a draft of it somewhere. Where is it and what are you going to do to address the staffing issues at Stanton Hospital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we did a review of all hospital facilities across the Northwest Territories, we worked with Dr. Peache and the medical association to look at do we have the appropriate mix of doctors, not only Stanton but in all the other health facilities that have doctors. As we were doing that, it quickly became clear that we also needed a similar kind of review done with the nursing complement as well in Inuvik, Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Simpson. So that review is looking at all those particular facilities to make sure that the mix is right for the type of services provided, for the type of shift work coverage that's required, and for the level of care that's provided in the different communities. There is a draft that has been done. It was reviewed and there were some gaps to the point where it was felt that it wasn't appropriate to release it until we had a complete document, and that work is now in its final stages. I have now just received a copy of the initial rough draft. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but the intention is to have that done by next month. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague, Ms. Lee, made a point that it's not just the front-line nursing staff here. We're talking about maintenance, we're talking about laundry, we're talking about cleanliness, the janitorial, we're talking about top to bottom. There's something wrong at Stanton Hospital. The Minister has been the Minister of Health of Social Services for five years. Some of these problems, to me, are very systemic. Why can't something be done with the morale at this hospital and this institution that provides such a valuable service to this community and this territory? Why is it taking five years and why are we going to have to do another study? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's also a lot of things that are right in Stanton, and I think there is a lot of good work being done. I've committed to the Member from Range Lake that we will set up a process where there can be consultation with the front-line workers to get feedback unit by unit on issues that may be out there. We are addressing a lot of the issues. For example, the janitorial contract has recently been rewritten and the standards increased. That is in the works. So we continue to work on this on a regular basis. This is not only a staffing review that's taking place in Stanton, but we're looking to make sure we have the adequate staffing complements in all the places that have hospitals and doctors, and it is a fairly complex undertaking. But like a lot of the work that was done with the facilities review, it's very important to get that work done in terms of how we define beds, the number of acute care beds, the number of community service beds, and we're doing all that work and it has lead to a lot of the decisions that have been made to tie in the long-term care as well as the development of what health services and hospital services are provided in the various communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister, when exactly can we expect a report or a status report on where this work is at? I thought I heard him say two weeks, but what are we going to get in two weeks? This is something that needs urgent, urgent action; tomorrow. There is going to be a major incident at this hospital, whether it's with an employee or whether it's with a client and it's going to happen if we don't do something about it. So I'd like to ask the Minister when. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has an obligation to raise the issues with his constituents, and my responsibility as Minister is to look at that and make sure that we respond to circumstances and to issues in a very measured and careful way. We are doing that. I've committed to the Member for Range Lake that we would have an outline of how we intend to proceed to honour the commitment to have the staff consulted in a free and open environment where they could get full feedback, and we would provide the preliminary feedback that we are getting within two weeks. So it's within that time frame we're looking at in regards to that particular feedback on the issues that the Members have had raised to them in their constituency meetings here in the last number of weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Minister of Finance and it regards the motion that this Assembly passed last February regarding the northern residents income tax deduction. Mr. Speaker, this is recognition by the Government of Canada, the higher cost of living in northern regions. We currently see a level of deduction of $5,475 but this has not been changed since 1991.

Shame.

Mr. Speaker, it is something that in our motion we recognized as something that could have an immediate impact on wage earners here to manage the cost of living. Mr. Speaker, we requested that the Cabinet work with other territories, northern provinces and Ottawa to enhance this tax deduction, but we have not seen anything. In fact, in my question in June, the Minister said that we were waiting for further progress on territorial finance measures and resource revenue sharing. My question, Mr. Speaker, is have we got to the point with these two big issues that the government can now advance the northern residents income tax deduction, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 128-15(5): Northern Residents Income Tax Deduction

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have looked at this area in more detail. In fact, I'm bringing forward a discussion paper to the next Cabinet/FMB meeting to look at this issue in a little more detail. We’ve looked at the costing of it. It will cost our government money as well by increasing our portion or share of it. So we are looking at that area, as well as looking at how we would work with other jurisdictions, not only the Territories but other provinces that would fall into that rate zone that we fall into as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 128-15(5): Northern Residents Income Tax Deduction

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is encouraging to hear that we are putting together a paper. The motion of this Assembly in February requested quite specifically that the government initiate this with the other territories and the northern provinces. I am wondering if that specific request has been acted on at least in more recent weeks, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 128-15(5): Northern Residents Income Tax Deduction

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are beginning our plans in the sense of how we would communicate and what sort of support we could build across other jurisdictions. More importantly, before we can do that, we need to know and understand the parameters of our own decisions we go forward on; how large to increase or push for an increase in a northern residents tax deduction. That portion of it. So we have to build our case of what we would like to do and move that forward. So we are coming with a discussion paper to Cabinet to follow up on this, as well as to come up with a plan to communicate that with other jurisdictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 128-15(5): Northern Residents Income Tax Deduction

Mr. Speaker, Members of AOC engaged in pre-budget consultations with a number of communities this fall. The cost of living was one of our central themes. In one community with the Members that I was with, we were approached very directly by a worker who said this was something that would make a considerable difference for them. This has broad, broad support, Mr. Speaker. The work that the government is doing now, I guess I would like to ask to what extent will the government be sharing that with other committees and, more important, with the broader community here in the NWT to test the acceptance and the adequacy of any such plan, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 128-15(5): Northern Residents Income Tax Deduction

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated, I am bringing forward a discussion paper to Cabinet/FMB. Once I have given them information and had some discussion as to how we will target this and bring it forward to what level of increase in that northern residents deduction we are looking for, then I would be happy to meet with Members and go over where we have come with this and begin a plan of rolling out from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the third time I am standing here speaking on an important issue. I am speaking on behalf of the elders in Behchoko. The Jimmy Erasmus Seniors’ Home does not have a backup generator. I stressed this in February, June and now today, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the Minister of the Housing Corporation, what has the department done to date since then to install a backup generator at the Jimmy Erasmus Seniors Home in Behchoko? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Return To Question 129-15(5): Installation Of New Backup Generator At The Behchoko Seniors' Home

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has looked at it in conjunction with the Power Corporation and looked at the cost of putting a generator in that facility. The Power Corporation has installed new diesel generators in the community to ensure they have a secure power base. As we all know, Behchoko has two sources of power, hydro and also it does have a backup generator system which is new. We replaced the engines in the old power plant and it should avoid the blackouts and ensure we have an adequate source of power in that community. So through those discussions between the two corporations, we were able to come to the conclusion that there is an adequate source of power in the community to ensure that the community will have a safe source of energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 129-15(5): Installation Of New Backup Generator At The Behchoko Seniors' Home

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister outlined the cost. We talk about the elders’ lives here. People who are 80 and 90 years of age cannot be transported to Yellowknife if there is an emergency in the community. He also talked about the backup that is currently installed and it should avoid, he was saying. I don’t see that being a remedy. We can’t say “should." We cannot guarantee that this will assist the elders in the seniors’ home. So, Mr. Speaker, we have witnessed the first snowfall, as you can see. It’s time the government started listening to our elders, our respected elders in the communities. I would like to know if the Minister can commit today in this House that a new backup generator will be installed this winter before it gets too cold. Mahsi.