Debates of October 24, 2006 (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 175-15(5): Human Resources Department Client Service Levels

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of recruitment of nurses for the Government of the Northwest Territories is, in fact, an area that we focused on. In fact, as of July this summer, we, within the human resource group, pulled a number of people together and their sole focus is dealing with the recruitment of nurses. Since July, we have been helpful, in fact, in pulling together and hiring 55 indeterminate or term nurses in that time period. So that unit is starting to work. We have had to make a number of those adjustments as we’ve moved along to fine tune HR and the way we do the work as well as try to focus on the more critical areas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to take a run at a question again today. Today, I would like to ask the Premier something that I was trying to get an answer from Mr. Krutko about yesterday. Mr. Speaker, we have spent an inordinate amount of money as this government talking about energy efficiency, lowering our greenhouse gas emissions, making energy an issue with respect to the cost of living of northerners, and we have come up with a lot of very abstract concepts. Again, last night as I watched CBC, I see the budding actors of the Arctic Energy Alliance again with their public service announcement on CBC which must cost a lot of money talking about not leaving their vehicles idling and all that sort of thing. It is not enough. I would like to see us do something more tangible. I would like to ask the Premier today if there is any way that an amount of money could be identified that would allow northerners living in their own homes to access money to make home improvements that would lower their cost of utilities in their communities on a repayment basis. Like I said, we have had a lot of money for consultation, posters, advertisements and all kinds of promotional material and gimmicks. How about some real cash that northerners could access on a repayable basis to do some home improvements to save costs on the bottom line for their cost of operating their homes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree that we can’t just advertise and urge people to cut down on their energy consumption. That is important. I think the work of the Arctic Energy Alliance is good in that one. We do have to look at some more specific ways of helping people in the North to reduce their cost of living and to make their homes more energy efficient. Mr. Speaker, as we go through our budget planning process in preparing for each budget, there is opportunity for Members to have input, and certainly if the Members in this House are ready to support us, then we would look seriously at a program similar to such as Mrs. Groenewegen is raising. Or there might be other good ideas out there how we might get a good bang for the buck by providing some very specific things to residents in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Premier for that answer. We need to do something now. I don’t know why this has never been done before. I don’t know what other ideas might be out there, but this is one idea that’s not out there. That’s an idea that’s right here and now and it seems like it should be simple. Keep the list of things that people could access money for short; a pellet stove, a wood stove, windows, insulation, siding. Even put a cap on it. Say a maximum of $10,000 repayable interest free. They save the money on their bill; they use their savings to repay the loan. It seems simple to me and, like I said, when you compare it to the amount of money that we put into some of these things which have netted really unquantifiable results, I think it’s a good idea. What department would the Minister or the Premier see such a program coming under? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Mr. Speaker, if we were to do the program that Mrs. Groenewegen’s referring to it would either be done through the Housing Corporation or it could be done through ENR, that would be another possibility, or a combination of departments. We did have programs similar to that in the past where we assisted people to buy things like solar panels and turbines and so on. This is something more specific and, Mr. Speaker, with the support of Members, then of course our government is ready to look at this kind of good program. Thank you.

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

Supplementary To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I respect the Premier’s reference to the budget planning process and that kind of thing, but I think we need to do something now. I think that we should demonstrate that we can actually come up with an idea and find money for it. I’m sure we found money for all kinds of other things when they presented as an emergency and I think this is urgent. I think this is an urgent need in the North. I don’t want to see this months and years in the planning. Let’s keep it simple and let’s try to find some money for a program to start as soon as possible. Is that possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that’s possible. We’re well into our business planning. This would require new money, as Members know, but if there was a consensus here, or a majority of people agreed, then certainly we would look at that. We’ve looked at it, but we also have to recognize our fiscal situation. It may have to be somewhat limited or modest, but we’re certainly not opposed to that kind of support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like I said, we do dedicate a lot of dollars to the concept of energy conservation and I would like to ask the Premier then if he would support the reprofiling of some money that may already be identified in the budget that could be reprofiled for something more tangible, something more real to northerners that we could get this program set up as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 176-15(5): Incentive Programs To Address Housing Utility Costs

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly we would and we would look for advice from the Members as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions as well are to the Minister of Human Resources and in my 20 years on government as a manager and superintendent, acting regional director, even as a carpenter’s apprentice with the union, and in this House here, all the Assemblies, I have been very interested in human resources. In fact, I know some of the Members here from the 13th Assembly, we did not speak in favour of the disbanding of the Personnel department of the day and it’s taken nine years for the government to come back to realize that they do need a centralized human resource function which is so critical to government. I know as Minister of Health and Social Services and ENR I thought we got very good service.

My question to the Minister is just to give a sense of scale here. Can the Minister indicate firstly how many employees do we have and could he give us a ballpark figure of how many transactions in any given week or month that we would probably do or deal with with the various employees in the various forms?

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to actually get a breakdown of the full amount of employees and break them down whether it’s casual employment or indeterminate would take a bit of work. But I know on average there are over four and a half thousand employees across the Northwest Territories that we run payroll for. So you do your payroll. In fact, for example, when you deal with terminations there’s a lot of people coming and going within government and an average monthly…For example, in the last nine months, Mr. Speaker, the average monthly termination process we’ve dealt with have been 357. So that’s a fair bit of workload dealing throughout that exercise. We’ve had to deal with the new hires, recruitment, as well as dealing with our backlog situation as I made mention of earlier. In fact, I believe we are starting to come around to now start focusing on not just dealing with past issues, which has slowed us down substantially, but now look at how we really deal with our human resources going forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Supplementary To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that there’s also concern for some of the facilities and how they’re currently operating and I’d just like to ask, get some assurances from the Minister that while there may be some complaints from a small number of employees, will whatever work is done in terms of making sure we do employee satisfaction surveys that it will involve as well the hundreds of employees that I would consider the silent majority so that we do not have our policies and direction for Stanton set just on small numbers of employees that may raise specific concerns. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as issues arise with our human resources side of government we have to look at all factors, no matter the small amount of people that would raise concerns. We have to look into them to ensure we are doing what we can to try to deal with those. Obviously as we do some changes for one group it affects another group and that can raise issues on its own. We are doing a better job, I believe, when we look at most of our facilities. When we do a comparison across Canada with our health facilities, the shortage of nurses is still a thing that affects all jurisdictions. As I’ve stated earlier, we have now focused a unit within Human Resources and dealing with hiring of new nurses to bring them north. We have also, Mr. Speaker, created a float pool of nurses that helps us deal with the filling in of nurses who would either go on holidays or take time off. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Supplementary To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d also like to publicly clarify the issue of the concern about reprisals, and the Minister will know that I’ve approached him on this issue as well to be able to ensure that anybody that comes through the door of an MLA can come through the door and speak on issues without any fear that there’s going to be a backlash because they’ve come to their Member of the Legislative Assembly. It’s a fundamental requirement of our ability to do our jobs as Members of the Legislative Assembly. So I’d just like the Minister to clarify on that issue as well.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member stated, our job in this Assembly is to deal with the constituents that come through our doors on any particular issue. So there’s no fear there. As well, our employees have to realize that because we’re within a union, there’s a process of dealing with issues. As Members come to our door or come to my door on a human resources issue, my first response would be where it is at in the stage of dealing with our systems in place with the union and follow that process through. Mr. Speaker, just for stability of our workforce, we do have to follow a chain of command as we deal with our issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Supplementary To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the final question is just a clarification in terms of timeline for the much beloved PeopleSoft system that came into effect many Assemblies ago and has been a burden on us over the years. The Minister has indicated a substantial investment in this and getting a vanilla version that is integral and integrated and intact, and hasn’t been tampered with by our staff. Can the Minister indicate when in fact that system will be fully operational? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 177-15(5): Management Of The Human Resources Department

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we just went through the first phase of that, recognizing what needs to be done to clean up our older version of 8.3. It was significantly customized, as we call it, where we changed the programming to fit our criteria, which lead to further problems. So we’ve had to go through that phase. We are now entering into the next phase of beginning the work to convert towards 8.9, the vanilla version, as I stated earlier. Hopefully, as we proceed this year, I’m looking towards, I believe it would be April 2007 that we would be able to be fully into the 8.9 process as 8.3 will no longer be supported. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I would like to continue questioning Mr. Dent, the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, on the file that Mr. Ivan Valic, an injured worker who for some 19 years now has continued to pursue what he believes and what the Supreme Court of the NWT has shown to be discrimination on denying his benefits, Mr. Speaker.

The Supreme Court of Canada some three years ago decided -- and I think this is what is quite well known as the Martin case -- that workers who suffer from chronic pain are entitled to the same benefits, including long-term disability benefits and vocational rehabilitation, that other injured workers are entitled to, Mr. Speaker. Three years ago, this was when it came out and it was a ruling of the court of Canada. Why have we had to wait for so long for our WCB, as the Minister was telling us yesterday, to take its policy on chronic pain and go out to stakeholders? Why has it taken this long, Mr. Speaker?

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

Return To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Valic case, Mr. Speaker, the policy or combination of policies that were found to be wanting by Justice Schuler were those that were in effect in 2001. Whether or not the new policy that came into effect in 2004 fails the test, that was not considered by the decision. The Governance Council though, having looked at the decision, were not certain whether or not the new policy would stand the test. They were thinking of going to the courts. They’ve changed their minds and what they had decided to do at their September meeting, they agreed that rather than appealing the Valic decision or anything to do with that decision or going to the courts to test the policy, that they would come up with a new policy or examine their policy, make sure that their policy, the one that they will have in effect, that they’ll adopt at their November meeting, will be the one that reflects current practice in jurisdictions across Canada. Subsequent to that they will go out for consultation and they’re expecting that the consultation will be finished this year. The policy will be in effect as of the date of their next governance council meeting, which is scheduled for November. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Mr. Speaker, the Minister yesterday advised that in relation to Mr. Valic’s long and valiant struggle to get to the court-ordered appeal, newly constituted Appeal Tribunal, that "the WCB has not applied to take an adversarial point of view at all in the Appeals Tribunal hearing." I’m quoting from unedited Hansard of yesterday. Mr. Speaker, I understand that the board has indeed applied for standing at Mr. Valic’s tribunal. I wanted to ask the Minister, if indeed he said yesterday that the WCB has not applied to take an adversarial point of view, why has it applied for standing in Mr. Valic’s Appeal Tribunal, which I understand, Mr. Speaker, is a very unusual move for the board to take at Appeal Tribunal level?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been a significant amount of time since this issue was initially addressed by the WCB. It’s also been some time since the policies were changed. The policies the Appeals Tribunal were looking at were different. The WCB wants to make sure that they explain the current policy, which does allow for the individualization of compensation for all claimants so that that’s clearly understood. What they’re intending to do is ensure that the policies are clearly explained the way they are now, because I think it’s important to remember that they were the ones who initially told the Appeals Tribunal to re-hear the Valic case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Mr. Speaker, the Appeals Tribunal is an independent body from the WCB. It has its own council. Its members are, we like to think, well versed and well grounded in their work. Why is it that the WCB feels it has to go in front of this tribunal, an independent tribunal, to again state its case? Why, Mr. Speaker, does the WCB feel the need to intervene in a matter that it has already been found to treat the worker unfairly and unconstitutionally?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say again that the ruling found that the policies in effect in 2001 were unfair and unconstitutional. They did not say that the policies in 2004 were. The WCB, on application from Mr. Valic, had requested that the Appeals Tribunal reconsider the hearing. At this point, I’m advised that what the WCB intends to do is to present the new policy, make sure that there’s a clear understanding or try and make sure there’s a clear understanding that indicates that compensation is available in chronic pain cases. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Time for question period has expired; however I will allow the Member a final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Mr. Speaker, is the WCB afraid that if something goes sideways for them again in this Appeals Tribunal that it’s going to cost them a lot of money? Is that what they’re doing, Mr. Speaker? Are they trying to protect the fund instead of doing what is right for injured workers?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 178-15(5): Workers’ Compensation Board Policy On Chronic Pain

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe so. I believe they want to do the right thing for an injured worker.