Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I’m aware of the Citizens On Patrol program. It was a very good program. Basically their role was to observe and report. Unfortunately, as the Member has indicated, I think it ceased to exist over time. There were probably fewer volunteers than there needed to be and I think it resulted in the unfortunate burnout of some of the individuals who were involved.
This is an issue and an opportunity that keeps presenting itself. We are very interested as the Department of Justice. We are working with the RCMP to see if there’s any way that we revitalize this group. We do need organizations to come forward who would like to maybe champion this as well. It is something that we hope happens and we are actively encouraging other organizations to consider it as well.
Thanks to the Minister for his response. I’m really pleased to hear that Justice is behind this.
My next question I was going to ask about is a commitment and I think the Minister has already basically said the department is willing.
I guess I would like to know whether or not the Minister will take the initiative to contact the city, because I think this is something which the city certainly has to be very much involved in.
So will the Minister take the initiative, or the RCMP, will he encourage them to take the initiative to contact the city to see what we can do to get this thing rolling? Thank you.
That’s already been done. The RCMP participate on the city’s Police Advisory Committee. We’ve had discussions with the RCMP and they also see this as being a valuable opportunity to have some eyes and ears on the streets of Yellowknife to share information with them. I believe they have already taken this to the police, an advisory committee, and have already had discussions on that.
But it’s going to take more. It’s going to take individuals to come forward as well. As a government, as the Department of Justice, we’re very supportive of this opportunity and we will provide assistance where possible.
Thanks again to the Minister. He leads me right into my next question. I recognize that volunteers are something which are absolutely necessary to this program. It’s not going to happen if we don’t get the volunteers from the community who are willing to be the eyes and ears and to actually go out and do the patrols.
I’d like to know from the Minister what kind of supports the city or a Citizens On Patrol group, whether it’s attached to the city or not, what kind of support can this group expect from the Department of Justice. I’m talking about PYs – person years – money, actual dollars, and/or equipment. Thank you.
It’s difficult to quantify at this time. We know that the RCMP want to be supportive of this initiative and they will work with any community group that comes up. Through that, assets or requirements for PYs may be identified. We’re happy to have that discussion with any groups that come forward. We’re happy to work in that way.
Just for historic reference, in 2004-2005 as well as 2005-2006 when this organization did exist and was supported in Yellowknife, we did provide some support to help them cover their van leases and some other things. These are things that we would be interested in looking at again, but we don’t know what those costs are right now, so it would be very difficult for me to commit to a dollar figure.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that you can’t commit dollars, but it’s gratifying to hear that we are on the same page and that you’re willing to support this group if we can get it going.
One of the things that I mentioned in my statement is that there will be results from the community meeting that was held. I’d like to know from the Minister if he can give us any kind of an indication of when the working group might be reporting.
Mr. Speaker, we got a lot of good information at that meeting and we’re obviously looking for more on a regular basis. To that end, we have posted the minutes from the meeting on our website, and we’re also seeking additional input. We’re seeking ideas from the community on how to deal with some of these public safety issues.
There are a number of things that have already started. Issues were raised about communication between RCMP and the municipal enforcement division here in Yellowknife, both from a personal communication but also technical communications issues have been brought forward to our attention on those issues. So we’re working on those. We’re trying to improve communications, improve relationships. We are looking at COPs and we’re looking at other opportunities.
I will commit to having something to committee and Members later in the fall, towards the end of the calendar year, but we need a little bit of an opportunity to put some of the ideas that are coming forward through a bit of a filter and figure out how we can make them work. So I will commit to getting something for the Member before Christmas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to continue my questions from yesterday with the Minister of Health and Social Services on addictions and, more importantly, the closing of the Nats’ejee K’eh Residential Treatment Centre.
It’s clear that this Assembly and the people at large have a Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for 2012-2015, which we were told were the guiding principles, or I guess the compass points, if you will. We waited meticulously for many months for the Minister’s Forum on Addictions. That’s on one side of the equation.
All the while, what’s happened on the other side of the equation is the fact that we now lost our only residential treatment facility. We’ve received, in this House, quasi responses with respect to whether or not we now have detox beds. Now we’ve got interim contracts that will expire March 31, 2014, with four southern contractors that are supposed to represent and solve our problems in the interim, and we have no idea what those costs are and the standby costs for those.
All the while we’ll have a Minister and department that have compass headings. They’ve got a compass unit on their dash, but I’m not sure if that thing is plugged in, because it’s definitely giving us some mixed reviews here, as we’ve heard in the last day or so.
My first question is, is that it’s well documented that the Minister of Health met with the board of directors of Nats’ejee K’eh on March 26th of this year. The Minister requested that this board of Nats’ejee K’eh produce a detailed business plan to consider the range of programs and services, its staffing and its staffing needs, and incorporating more of an Aboriginal culture component. Did the Minister receive this business plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We received some documentation from the board, and that’s something that we could move forward with. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that there was a business plan that was produced. We know because committee on this side of the House has received this plan. It’s a very detailed plan, a very good plan, as far as I’m concerned.
The question that we’re hearing is that we’ve got parts of the plan, yet we were given a full plan, so it doesn’t quite make sense.
My question, with respect to this plan, if there was this plan given as a result, as I indicated that we did receive on this side of the House, why was the funding still cut? What was wrong with this plan?
Regardless of how good the Member thinks the plan was or what we thought of the plan, the bottom line was that one counsellor, one person to do counselling for all the people that were supposed to go there, that only one person was in the position there to help the people who were going there for treatment. The board themselves, through the executive director, had indicated that she thought there was a safety issue here. To continue on to have intake of people into Nats’ejee K’eh with only one counsellor was a problem, and this created a safety issue not only for the counsellor but for the people coming in for counselling. It was the executive director that approached the board that said, I think it’s time to shut down Nats’ejee K’eh. At that point, we took action and we cut the funding effective September 30th this year. Thank you.
Now we’re getting into some of the details, which is good. We’ve been waiting for this for a while.
My interpretation of the plan is my interpretation. I’m assuming anyone on this side of the House who read the plan, as well, would have their own views. We know the department has their own views and I think the public might have their own views. So would the Minister like to enlighten us and maybe table this plan for everyone to see, because, quite frankly, Nats’ejee K’eh is closed, so what harm would that do?
Mr. Speaker, I guess I can talk to some of the individuals. I do believe that the board is now non-functioning. The properties that they presented to us, I don’t know who has the ownership of it. I don’t know whether or not I would be allowed to table a document such as that. If I can, I would be glad to do it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, it sounds like we’re going to have to do another ATIPP request, and thank God I’ve been collecting bottles all summer because this seems to be the pattern of activity here for Regular Members.
I guess we’ve heard from the Minister that he’s going to go back and talk to a defunct board that no longer exists, to ask permission to table something that is in the ownership of the department.
Again, will the Minister commit to tabling this for everybody to see what was the action plan of the Nats’ejee K’eh and how unsafe, really, was it?
Mr. Speaker, I’m not asking anybody to request information to go through an ATIPP request for information. What I said was if I’m allowed to table a report or a business plan that’s been presented to me by a board that’s now defunct, I would be pleased to do it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’m happy to report that the new Hay River health facility is well underway. There’s a nice tall structure standing there, and the contractors continue to work, and the weather has been on our side, so it’s been a good fall for construction.
The few outstanding items – well, there are many outstanding items, but there are a couple I want to ask about today as a result of the new health care facility – I’d just like an update on, if we could here in the House, because it’s something of a popular topic of discussion in Hay River, and that is the 10 extended care beds currently located in our existing hospital and how the loss of those beds, when the hospital is relocated, how those beds are going to be replaced. I just wonder if Minister Beaulieu would have any kind of an update on what path we’re taking on that challenge.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point that plan is being contemplated by the department at the deputy minister level with other deputy ministers responsible for infrastructure in the GNWT. Thank you.
Of course, we know that the new hospital won’t be commissioned for a little while yet, so we do have some lead time, but I would like to ask the Minister when he contemplates we might have a more clear plan with respect to the replacement of those beds as a result of these discussions amongst the deputy ministers, some kind of a timeline we can share with our constituents. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, those, although they’re called extended beds in H.H. Williams, are actually long-term beds. Those long-term beds will be outside the current new health centre that is being constructed in Hay River. In fact, the direction that we are going now is with the expansion of the Woodland Manor, to add the 10 beds to the Woodland Manor. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, people of Hay River will be very glad to hear that. That does seem like that is a fairly prudent direction to take, a good choice.
Another issue that has been raised in this House before, which I would also like an update on, was a request for a functional review of the existing H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital, to determine whether or not that building would be suitable to be re-profiled for some other use and to be kept as a piece of infrastructure in our community as something other than a health facility. I would like to ask the Minister if he has an update on where that request is in the system. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will ask that the Minister of Public Works and Services provide that response to the Member. We are having discussions with that department. I think there is going to be a bit more time before we are able to do that type of evaluation on the building, as the building is still being used as a hospital at this time. Soon, I think, prior to us moving into the new hospital, that evaluation on future use of that building will be completed. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know if I can change Ministers mid-questions here. I guess not. Okay. Well then, I will just have to suffice it to say thank you for the update, Mr. Beaulieu.
I am not one who likes to see brick and mortar, institutions, buildings that have some functional use torn down, so I will be continuing to pursue this. If there is any reasonable life left in the existing hospital, I will be pursuing a further set of questions with the Minister of Public Works and Services on that at some point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Worldwide the Human Papillomavirus, or commonly known as HPV, is a common sexually transmitted disease. I could go on at length, but it’s not necessary today, regarding how many problems Northerners have with sexually transmitted diseases and the fact that it is a real problem here. It is a problem whether you live in a large or small community, so we must do whatever we can.
In short, when was this program for vaccination rolled out? The NWT was one of the last jurisdictions. It would have been the last if we didn’t have Nunavut behind us, to finally implement this back in 2009.
It was only implemented for girls. I am going to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services: Do young men matter when it comes to the HPV vaccination, and when will they get their opportunity to have this much needed vaccination to help protect their health? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To answer the first question, all people matter, as far as health and social services go. I don’t know when and if young men are going to get a needle for this virus. I don’t have the information here, so I couldn’t give him a date, or if, in fact, it is going to happen at all. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am elated to hear the fact that all people matter, according to the Minister, but I would like to hear when young men will matter in this particular case.
What can the Minister commit to today on clarifying this huge error for a huge percentage of our population? Young boys matter, as far as I’m concerned. Young men matter, and everyone. These kids matter.
What is the Health Minister willing to do today to show that they matter to the families out there thinking that this is a much needed vaccination? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’m prepared to have the department check with the physicians that make a decision on which individual groups should be getting a certain type of shot for certain types of viruses. If young men or young boys are not getting the shot for the virus due to an oversight on the part of the department, then we will give them shots too. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In his inquiry, if he finds out it is a clerical issue or it’s a money issue, will he issue a directive from his office to ensure that this process starts right away? I am being contacted by families who are concerned that their young boys, their children are being left out of this process. Again, a much needed vaccination that is accepted across Canada, why not in the Northwest Territories?
Mr. Speaker, yes. If it was a money decision and it was thought that we should only give young ladies or young girls the antidote or virus needle, as opposed to ignoring the boys, or if it was a clerical error and then we forgot the other gender, then we will correct that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, for my final question of the day on this HPV vaccination, I want to make sure it is absolutely crystal clear in this House today that the Minister is saying he is going to see if he can correct it. He says he is going to see if he can fix this process to ensure that they are fairly covered.
I want to make sure it is clear before this House and certainly clear for the people of the Northwest Territories. If this is not the case, I would like the Minister to clarify this in the House through a Minister’s statement, explaining why these young men will not be getting the vaccination. For these parents who are concerned that their children aren’t getting it, the Minister is the one who will account for it, not the MLAs going to explain to parents why the Department of Health can’t do it. I want the Minister to account for it. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, whether I make a Minister’s statement on this vaccination or not would be determined within Cabinet. We do have a certain amount of Ministers’ statements that we would like to present in the House for providing information. If I’m not able to do the Minister’s statement, I would be pleased to provide it in writing to the Member or to the House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made the statement on the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Week, and I want to ask questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
What, if any, specific measures are being taken to address the issue of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the NWT? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We work with the various organizations across the territory that deal with children and adults with various types of disabilities, including children with attention deficit hyperactivity, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, even autism and various other disabilities. We also, at the department, have some funding to work on these various disabilities. Thank you.
Is the Minister aware of the vast discrepancy of funding for Autism Spectrum Disorder between NWT and other Canadian jurisdictions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
