Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 14, motions. Item 15, first reading of bills. Item 16, second reading of bills. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to go back to item 7.
The Member is seeking unanimous consent to go back to item 7, oral questions.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had a meeting that we attended in Tsiigehtchic, along with the Minister of Health and the Minister of Justice, in which the issue came up about nursing. The community made it clear to the Minister at that meeting that there was a nurse in the community who’s served there several years. She’s usually there during breakup and freeze-up — six weeks here, six weeks there. She’s presently working up in Holman and also in Tuktoyaktuk.
The community asked her to follow up on that by way of checking with the individual to see if she’s willing to spend more time in the communities so that they can have someone there. If we can’t get full time, at least have someone committed to serve the communities in different spurts. I’d like to ask the Minister: did she follow up on that recommendation that came out of the public meeting we had in Tsiigehtchic?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Yes, I have, Mr. Speaker, and I have asked the CEO of the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority, who was also at the meeting with me, to follow up on that. My understanding is that this nurse is employed by the authority, and she floats around in different communities. She will, and I have already indicated that. I have directed the department, with the Beaufort-Delta, to look at extending nursing services in Tsiigehtchic.
I believe I’ve made this commitment at least ten times in the last two weeks. I’m not sure how else I could say that, Mr. Speaker. I am committed to seeing how she spends the nursing services in Tsiigehtchic.
Mr. Speaker, like I stated in my earlier question, there was a nurse who basically was there full time about six years ago. She was paid. The money is there for the health centre. She lived in the community for a number of years.
I’d like to ask the Minister: is there that commitment that this position will be committed full time knowing that there’s an individual out there who’s willing to stay in the community for that period of time?
Mr. Speaker, I have committed to the Member that we will work to extend the nursing coverage in Tsiigehtchic. The community has expressed interest in extending the nurse visits there, because right now the nurse visits weekly, and then they have extended stays during the freeze-up and breakup.
I have committed to the Member in writing, verbally, in meetings, in committees that I have directed the department to revisit this issue and look at all options available to extend the nursing covering in Tsiigehtchic.
Mr. Speaker, I just got off the phone with the individual. The individual told me herself that she likes working in Tsiigehtchic; she likes the people there; she’s willing to stay longer if that’s the point. Why is it that arrangements can’t be accommodated with a person who’s willing and committed to that community to serve that community? Why is it there are still roadblocks in the way by way of not offering that person a full time contract to work in that community rather than simply as and when?
Mr. Speaker, that option is not out of question; it’s just that it is up to the board authority to agree to put this position full time in that community.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t know how else to put this. The person is committed. The money is already budgeted for that health centre to operate in regard to its O&M — the cost to operate, the cost of health care — for that community. There are dollars earmarked from this Legislature to run a health centre in Tsiigehtchic.
The community is more than willing to work with the health department to do this, but because the Department of Health or the board in Inuvik, which has 45 vacancies, which they can’t even administer.... They run a deficit.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not too sure how else to put it, but exactly why is there such a complicated situation here where a community’s health is at risk and you have a person committed to helping the community solve its position? It’s been outstanding for six years. But now that we have a solution to the problem, we still have roadblocks to solve this situation.
I’d like to ask the Minister: could the Minister get directly involved, make this appointment as the Minister, use her authority and override the decision of the board in Inuvik, which doesn’t seem to want to do anything?
I tell you, I’d give him everything I owned if I could. I don’t know what else to say, Mr. Speaker. The rule is that we need to have at least two nurses in each community. That’s one of the reasons I have committed to the Member that I will look at all options available to see if we could have this person stay there.
Mr. Speaker, if I had the power to order that right now, I would. I have to work through the health authority. We do have the Beaufort-Delta health authority board. They decide on how their block funding will be spent. I will get back to the Member. I’ve given him the commitment to review all options available to see how we could extend nursing covering in Tsiigehtchic.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Housing.
I appreciated his Minister’s statement on the EnerGuide 80 Program — very progressive. The one thing I noticed is that it’s actually for implementation in 2010. Everybody knows a dollar saved is a dollar earned. The same goes for greenhouse gas submissions. Why can’t we get going and get some of this implemented this coming year?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We just recently decided to move forward on this initiative. We still have a lot of work to do in terms of design and engineering reviews and things of that nature. This is probably something we could fast track, but we felt that in order to do a good job, we needed the time that we’ve allotted for our people to be able to dedicate adequate resources to it.
I thank the Minister for those comments. I realize that’s probably a prudent approach, but I think the opportunity is there for at least some. Again, I’m not suggesting that we try and do this for every house. This is not new technology; it’s off the shelf. This was adopted a couple years ago by the City of Yellowknife. There’s lots of expertise available in this area. As the Minister has noted, other provincial and municipal jurisdictions have been doing this across the country. There’s not much engineering work that’s required here. This is really off the shelf.
I’d just like to encourage or see if I could get the Minister to commit to implementation to some degree this coming building season, 2009. I don’t think it’s too big of a task.
Mr. Speaker, the Member is right; we’re not here to try and invent anything new. There is a lot of stuff that’s off the shelf.
We want to take the time for our staff to be able to evaluate the best techniques that are out there. We want to be able to see what’s happening in other jurisdictions. We’ve already embarked on that. We have a general idea, but we need to be able to do further investigations and see what works best and what works best in the Northwest Territories. We’ve got to remember there is also a cost factor incorporated in going into this new design. We have to be able to analyze that and see how we are going to accommodate that concern.
Thanks to the Minister for those comments. I recognize those situations.
Again, I think there is an opportunity here to save the taxpayer some dollars, to save the environment some greenhouse gas emissions. I think we heard the Minister of Human Resources talking earlier about how we want to develop a good working relationship with our employees and so on. I think challenges are something, especially for good causes, that our employees really react to.
Here’s a situation. The environment is on lot of folks’ minds, especially young engineers. The Minister’s noted big gains that could be achieved with some of the renovations, upgrades. Surely some of those things could be put in place in the 2009 season and actually put in place in a way that would test some of these things. As the Minister noted, we’re going to need to learn what works in the North. There’s no better way than trying them out in the North.
Do you have a question, Mr. Bromley?
Would you commit to doing this in 2009?
Mr. Speaker, we will commit. I know the Member is very eager to see these new initiatives starting to play in, and we’ll commit to doing something as soon as we can.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Premier in regard to the issue of capacity in our small communities.
We know we have challenges, but we also have to find unique solutions to our challenges. I would like to compliment the Department of Justice in regard to policing in Sachs Harbour — looking at solutions on how to get policing into the ten communities that don’t have police officers. Yet the Department of Health has had nurses located in our communities. Knowing that those capital dollars were expended, I would like to ask the Premier…. From our small communities we have unique challenges, but it seems like it’s not really been addressed as it has been with the Department of Justice.
I’d like to ask the Premier: how is it that the Cabinet in this government is going to work with small communities to realize we have unique challenges and we have to have unique solutions? We can’t operate under the same roof.
I would like to ask the Premier: what is he doing to ensure that we find ways to deal with decreased capacity issues in communities that are unique — because of our size, location and also logistics — to deliver progress and services to all people in the Northwest Territories and that we ensure that the health and well-being of our communities are the first and paramount priority of this government?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the records show that previous governments and this government will continue, with the areas that it can, trying to deal with the capacity issues in communities in the Northwest Territories and deal with those challenges.
In fact, we began working with Members of the Assembly looking at one of the initiatives that we have yet to kick off, which is the regionalization of government operations, looking at how we deliver services and programs across the north. As well, there was a commitment made to work with Regular Members on the small communities group, and we’re waiting for that confirmation to come forward.
We do have constraints to operate within in the Northwest Territories. For example, under the Department of Health and Social Services, the territorial health and social services act directs how the department can work with authorities as well as with Education, Culture and Employment. There are things we have to work with within our system that further constrain what initiatives we can take part in.
Mr. Speaker, we have built health centres in our communities. We have built infrastructure in our communities. We have built schools, health centres, municipal offices. Again, the government really knows that by making those capital investments, we expect there will be some services out of those facilities we have in our communities.
I would like to ask the Premier: exactly where is the money, the dollars, going for those communities to operate and maintain those services so that we have a quality or standard of health care services throughout the Northwest Territories for all residents of the Northwest Territories? We have health centres sitting there empty, and we know nurses are out there who are willing to come to the communities and willing to work out of those communities, but we have policies or procedures hindering those efforts. I’d like to ask the Premier: is there a way this government can work these problems through with the affected communities and with affected Members, findings solutions to these problems and realizing that there are dollars already in the system?
Mr. Speaker, there are dollars in the system, but there is also quite a shortage of dollars in a number of areas.
This assembly, the 16th Assembly, has already dealt with the Stanton fiscal issue as well as the Beaufort-Delta fiscal issue. They’ve transferred block funding on how they make arrangements — their scheduling services and times as well as dealing with agency relief nurses that are needed from time to time in our communities.
There is a challenge there. The Minister has stated on the record in this House that she is going to work from the department side with the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority and look at what can be done in ensuring that the level of service is improved for our residents.
Mr. Speaker, you do not have to assure me. I think you have to assure the people in those communities that don’t have policing, don’t have nursing — don’t have services — that they’re just as much residents of the Northwest Territories as the other 43,000 people here. We cannot be discriminated against by communities, simply by where you live. Those days are gone. We are not on reserves. We’re not in other foreign Third World countries. This is Canada; this is the Northwest Territories. But that’s the feeling I am getting by the way treatment is being allocated here.
I would like to ask the Premier: with all the brainpower on that side of that House, can you find solutions to these problems, realizing that you may have to amend existing policies, that you may have to change the existing contract arrangements? We can’t have people with certification. We know we’re not going to attract those people to communities. We have to decertify some people so they can provide services. I’d like to ask the Premier: are these problems something that his Cabinet is looking at to find unique ways of solving?
Mr. Speaker, a number of the initiatives we were looking at within the government of the 16th Assembly is how we do business as a government, the level of services provided, if we can make it more efficient, more effective. Those are our goals.
So, yes, we are prepared to look at options out there. In fact, the Minister responsible for the refocusing government initiative is looking at boards and agencies and how they deliver services on our behalf as the government of the Northwest Territories. That is one of those initiatives out there that could have a direct role in how we deliver services in our communities.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Member stated and compared our services to Third World countries. I would have to take exception to that. We are doing the best we can with our services. I think we are far above Third World country status when it comes to delivery of health care in the Northwest Territories. There are communities that need an increased level of service; we recognize that. That is why we have undertaken the initiatives. We have to try to look at how we spend those dollars and where those resources are being provided and look to improve on that level of service.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think we are going to resolve this issue here today, so I would like to ask the Premier if he is committed, before the end of the sitting of this week, to sit down with Members from small communities and put some of these issues on the table and hopefully get the discussions going between himself and Members from small communities. This is definitely affecting the services in our communities, and I don’t think we’re going to be able to resolve it with the present system we have. I would like to ask the Premier for that commitment today.
Mr. Speaker, I’m prepared to meet with any Member of the Legislative Assembly — one, two, four. In fact, on the small community side there was a commitment — I believe I gave it during the earlier session, during the Second Session — to sit down with Members once we got the confirmation from Priorities and Planning. Again, that commitment is there; I’m prepared to work with Members of the Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I received a letter from the Premier indicating that some time in the next week or so he’s going to meet with the aboriginal leaders to discuss some important issues.
I want to ask the Premier to respond on behalf of my people in terms of meeting with aboriginal leaders. We had a new election that just finished. We have a new government. In terms of the bigger issues in the Northwest Territories — its direction, unsettled land claims, devolution, resource revenue sharing…. The spirit and intent of meeting with aboriginal leadership is to move the agenda of the Northwest Territories forward so we get a fair shake in dealing with the federal government. We need to become stronger in the direction we’re taking on a number of issues, which people in the North want to see.
I would ask the Premier his intent to meet with aboriginal people, get them onside and knock on the door of Mr. Harper.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process we have established for the 16th Assembly is the regional leaders meeting held with regional leaders and me and the appropriate Cabinet Ministers, depending on the items that would come on the agenda. That process allows for the regional leadership to put items on the agenda as well as the government. We have a number of working groups already established through our first number of meetings. The one area of devolution, resource revenue sharing…. We continue to have that on the table and will be discussing a number of issues around that.
On top of that, Mr. Speaker, the commitment is that in each region we will have a meeting with the regional leader as well as the leadership of that region once a year. That commitment’s there as well, and at that point the agenda items again are open for work from all parties.
Mr. Speaker, the previous Member, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, was talking about the issues of the small communities. Certainly, with a lot of aboriginal leaders who have to represent the small communities, that’s something these types of discussions can clear for us in this House along with the regional leaders: how we deal with the federal government on some of these programs and some of these dollars that have been allocated to the Northwest Territories through this government for the people in the small communities.
It kind of gets confusing, complex. I’m looking at it in terms of the policing in the small communities that do not have RCMP and keep coming back with lots of other challenges before them. That is something the Premier could discuss with our aboriginal leaders in terms of the obligations that Canada should have towards the aboriginal people in funding services and programs. Can the Premier elaborate on that type of discussion, besides the other big ticket items?
Mr. Speaker, as I stated, the parties at the regional leaders’ table have opportunities to put things on the agenda — programming levels, service delivery. Those areas are up for discussion if both parties agree. We’re prepared to have that discussion as well as to discuss the level of service we receive out of the federal government on specific areas. We’re prepared to have those discussions with the leadership as well.
Mr. Speaker, in terms of this meeting with the aboriginal leadership, would we see a game plan within the life of this government on how we approach the federal government to start taking over some of the devolutions, start devolving some of the programs and services? Would we see, for the people of the Northwest Territories, that we do have a game plan — this government, the aboriginal governments and the other governments — in terms of taking over some of the ownership of this land, starting to remove the fingers of the federal government so we can proudly say, “Yes, this is what we did in the 16th Assembly”? Will we see a game plan within the life of this government?
Mr. Speaker, I’m hopeful that we will be able to come up with a game plan for the Territories. Again, we’re working off the work of previous Assemblies with an agreement that was put on the table. We know what the federal government has sent back on revenue sharing and the cap. We stated that that’s not a level we are ready to sign off on. We continue to work with the regional leadership on how we can move this forward. In fact, we will be discussing the last correspondence I had with the Prime Minister, as well, and then, hopefully, see if we can move that along any further.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
