Debates of October 21, 2005 (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 214-15(4): Adult Basic Education

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Member brings a lot of passion to this issue, because he has a history of involvement in literacy, and particularly working with the college. He is absolutely right. We know the figures. We know that people in the North are much less likely to be working if they don't have an adequate education. Since 2003, we've had four literacy funds that have been administered by our regional offices, including the workplace education fund, the community skills for Work, community literacy projects, and literacy programs and support for seniors. Those are some of the extra things that we are doing, in order to ensure that we have more money available for different kinds of literacy programming in various communities.

We have also, just in the last couple of years, agreed to core funding for the NWT Literacy Council, and we've managed to maintain and slightly increase their funding over the last year, to help them help community organizations better deliver literacy programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 214-15(4): Adult Basic Education

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we know that many people in the Northwest Territories with low literacy skills are employed. We also know that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment cut the support of workplace literacy funding last year, Mr. Speaker. How is the government supporting workplace literacy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 214-15(4): Adult Basic Education

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the amount of money that was cut from the workplace literacy budget last year was the amount that historically had not been taken up by employers. If we can find a way to increase the number of applications coming in from employers to take advantage of that money, I can tell the Member that I'll go to bat to try and find money to increase that budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, and they are in follow-up to some of the issues that have been raised about the capacity for northerners to participate in the manufacturing of units which could serve as camps during the construction phase of the pipeline, and, ultimately, housing units after the fact. Mr. Speaker, in some instances, it's hard to discuss these things on the floor of the House, because we are dealing with proprietary information; we're dealing with patents, in some cases; we're dealing with business plans of private corporations; but I do think that we can talk about the concept of northern participation in general terms. I would like to ask the Minister if he has recently had discussions with representatives of Hay River, with respect to including northern participation in the procurement of these types of units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Return To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did have an opportunity at the Far North Oil and Gas Conference where there were some members of the Hay River council. We offered them a tour of the ATCO Novel facility. We also put them in contact with the people who work for ATCO with regard to this project. The issue of the possibility came up of developing some sort of plant facility in the North. There are certain components of these facilities that can be built in the North by these portable plants. They have plants all around the world and there is no reason why we can’t do that. Through those discussions, we are hoping they will continue on with the deliberation between the town council in Hay River and the proponents, to ensure that workforce camps for the pipeline are being constructed in the North. We know we can’t construct all of it in the North, but there are certain elements that can be constructed in the North. We are hoping to proceed with the town council in Hay River to continue their deliberations regarding the ATCO structure, to see if they can develop the infrastructure in the North to bring those benefits to the North through this project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know, on this side of the House, that it is the nature of the private sector that there may be, from time to time, competing interests amongst competing businesses, and perhaps even competing communities, on this. Again, it isn’t always possible to share all of your business's plans on the floor of this House. In a general sense, Mr. Speaker, since there may be people who have already expressed interest and there may be other people potentially interested, I would like to ask the Minister if he feels that he is familiar with what Hay River has to offer in terms of manufacturing capacity. Does he feel he is personally familiar with that capacity? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do believe that Hay River does have a lot to offer with regard to this project, regarding lands and also being the transportation link for the North through barging. The key transportation of these structures will be by barge that will go up the Mackenzie River and drop these facilities in different locations up and down the valley. So the crucial components are ensuring there is land availability, and having the workforce and the transportation link to ensure we are able to access the barges required to transfer these infrastructures. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, the Minister is right; in order for the North to be competitive on this, you do need to look at things like access to raw materials, material that could be brought in by train into Hay River, and the fact that the finished products could be shipped out by barge down the Mackenzie River system. All those kinds of things go together to give the North the competitiveness that they need to get involved in these activities. I would like to ask the Minister, for the benefit of those people in Hay River who are interested in, perhaps, participating in such a venture, would the Minister himself come to Hay River to meet collectively or individually with interested businesses, and to see firsthand all the manufacturing activity that is already occurring in Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I will commit to that. I think it’s important that we do move on this very quickly. With the announcement of the pipeline, there will be a decision made on who will get the contract to build workforce camps for this project that will be purchased through the Mackenzie pipeline project itself. So they will have to make that decision. I am committed to that, but we do have to move on this.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that probably November is the best time. I don’t know what the Minister’s schedule is like, but if the MLAs for Hay River coordinated this, would sometime in November fit into your schedule to come into Hay River to spend at least a day or two? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 215-15(4): Northern Contractor Participation In Housing Initiatives

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will commit to look at my schedule, and see how we can fit in one or two days in November. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to talk about one of the education programs that has been run out of Yellowknife, particularly the Pre-Trades Entrance Program that was developed, not surprisingly, by a contractor from down south, to the tune of $30,000 over the last year. Now this expenditure, Mr. Speaker, may be a total waste of money if the program doesn’t attract any northern interest or we have no students enrolling in the program. Mr. Speaker, I say attract, not in the sense that we don’t have any young northerners interested in the program, because we do, Mr. Speaker. We have a lot of interest in the smaller communities to these types of programs. But many of these individuals who apply to enrol in this program are not attracted to this program anymore, because they are being told by the program directors that they will have to find their own accommodations if they want to participate in the program. Could the Minister of Education tell these youths, and other residents in these outlying communities, why they are required to find their own accommodation in the capital, when other programs have more than enough housing units available for their particular program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the college has long been interested in finding a way to have a residence built in Yellowknife for college students and the programs here, but we have been unable, at this point, to find the money in the capital program to support that kind of approach. I, like the Member, would dearly love to see us better accommodate students here. I know that we’ve had to restrict the availability of housing to certain programs to ensure that the people in this program can find housing. So it is a problem, and it’s a particular problem because of the cost of housing here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to know that the Minister acknowledges that it is a problem. I just don’t want to downplay some of the other programs, Mr. Speaker, but I know they are just as important as this Pre-Trades Program, such as the Nurse Practitioner Program. I have to let it be known that this program has received approval and funding, Mr. Speaker, to secure twice as many units for these nursing students this year as compared to last year. Another high demand sector of our labour market, that being trades, does not receive one red cent to put towards one unit available for any of these out-of-town students, Mr. Speaker. So can the Minister tell these trade students why that is the situation today? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will continue to work with the college to see if we can find a way to address the housing issue, but this government has invested heavily in assistance to the nursing program. That’s because of the difficulty we are having filling nursing positions across the North. So we put a real emphasis on getting northerners into the field. The Member is right, though, we need to see a similar sort of emphasis on the trades. We have, this year, put an extra $600,000 into trades training. What we are doing there is encouraging employers to take on tradespeople with increased subsidies. One of the benefits there is that the apprentices actually earn a salary while they are studying. So unlike other students like nurses, they don’t wind up further in debt as they go through the process. So there is an expectation that they will be able to pay for a bit more. I recognize the Member has talked about the pre-trades where they don’t necessarily have a job yet. That is a problem. It’s an area I will discuss with the college. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I don’t want to downplay the nurses program, but I know there is no guarantee that these nurses who graduate from the program are even going to stick around in the North, because there is a big demand right across Canada for nurses, Mr. Speaker. But in many of the trades programs that these youth in the North enter into, they wind up staying in their communities and developing their trade expertise there. How does the Minister plan on making more programs readily available to out-of-town students who cannot find adequate accommodations in the capital? If it’s a big problem for this government to address today, how about sending these smaller pre-trades programs into the smaller communities where sufficient interest has been generated. Has this been considered, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Two questions there, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for the record, we know that the vast majority of the graduates from our nursing program do stay in the Northwest Territories. That program has proven to be quite successful in getting northerners into nursing.

The Member makes a very good suggestion in terms of getting the training into communities. It’s one we encourage the college to pursue. We have, right now, a mobile lab for welding. The college does move from community to community to offer the Pre-Trades Training Program. That is one of the ways in which we are hoping to expand that training. We do hope to be able to provide more training in more communities. One of the things we have discussed, under the Northern Strategy, is the acquisition of six mobile labs for trades training; so we have other opportunities besides welding, and we can bring those into the smaller communities, too. We think it’s essential that we take more of this sort of training to the communities, because it becomes more available to more young people to learn what the opportunities are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I am glad to hear that there will be more mobile labs coming down the line. This pre-trades program was developed last year for this year’s enrolment. It’s unfortunate to say that enrolment has gone down from the small, outlying communities because of the fact that there are no accommodations. Could the Minister give some reassurance to the directors and the people who work in the Aurora College who have to turn away these students and say, "You have to find your own place to stay or else you can’t enrol in the program"? What kinds of assurances or other options can these people who are dealing directly with the students who would like to enrol in these programs offer these students? Give them some timelines: "In two or three months, we will have something rolling into the community, and we will have more money to develop programs within the community." What kinds of other options can the Minister provide to these directors who deal with students? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 216-15(4): Housing For Pre-Trades Entrance Program Students

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to discuss this with the college -- and I will commit to the Member that I will do that very quickly -- what the options might be, so that I can make sure that the directors can have to see the answers to those questions. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Mr. Dent back to the Assembly, after doing battle with his colleagues on the federal front. I would like to ask him questions in his capacity as the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board. In my statement earlier today, I explained the dilemma that injured workers find themselves in, because the WCB has not accepted that it should include EI remunerations in the calculation of an injured worker’s pension. Mr. Speaker, why has the WCB refused to accept multiple rulings from the independent appeals tribunal process, to include employment insurance in pensionable earnings calculations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 217-15(4): Employment Insurance As Income

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to be careful with this one, because the Member is likely aware that the decision of the governance council is currently under appeal before the courts on this issue. So I am not sure that I can answer that question at this point in time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 217-15(4): Employment Insurance As Income

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s caution on this. I have looked into the same point in raising these questions, and the information I have is the process has actually been concluded and is something that can be looked at in this House. So I would like to continue with my questions on this point.

Mr. Speaker, some of these appeals tribunal processes are now four years old. Workers continue to be stymied by this. While the WCB Act is not specific in allowing employment insurance earnings, and it gives the board, or the tribunal, the discretion to rule on these kinds of things, it certainly seems mean spirited and punitive to backdate its policy on this some 28 years. Why did the board take such a heavy-handed action in backdating this policy for this period of time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I apologize to the Member if a decision has been issued in this case in the last 24 hours, but my information is there is an appeal before the courts in Nunavut on this very issue that has been filed just in the last couple of weeks that has not yet been heard. So I am in a position where, under the rules of sub judice, I don’t believe I am able to answer his question.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The Chair will not rule the question out of order, but the Minister can refuse to answer the question or take the question as notice. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 217-15(4): Employment Insurance As Income

Mr. Speaker, I will take the question as notice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue with my questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, regarding the Colville Lake school. As you are well aware, kindergarten to Grade 12 are all taught in one room. In desperation for quiet time, one teacher now teaches in the boot room, which is adjacent to the honey bucket and equipment room. Mr. Speaker, building codes may be violated in terms of the limited capacity and having 41 people in the school. I am not sure if the fire marshal has given any kind of indication to the Department of Education on a honey bucket being in that facility.

What can this government tell the parents or people in Colville Lake, that they can get some comfort in dealing with this disturbing situation that they have in Colville Lake right now? Thank you.