Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened to the Member’s statement with a great deal of interest. It’s something I would like to look further into. I don’t believe at the moment that we have a system, legislative framework, policy or program that would intervene in that way with the pregnant mother
I do appreciate what the Member is saying, which is to support a pregnant woman whom we know to be at risk and see what we can do to assist. I’d be interested in looking further into that.
I consider this to be important. The outcomes we have seen in the people we care for, who are children in our education system…. Many end up in our justice system and on long term support from this government as a result of FASD. It’s far more costly than having the opportunity to refer those who wish to a healthy home environment.
When I was Minister of Health and Social Services, I had a chance to travel to Winnipeg, where they had a network of homes where people said: yes, we will receive young women into our homes; we will care for them; we will nurture them during this time of pregnancy.
Would the Minister suggest that’s a role this government could play, or would it take a non-government organization to step up? Who could organize such a network of homes, of families who would be willing to participate in this way on a foster family type model?
I think the Member is aware of the work this government does and that the western provinces, Nunavut and Yukon do to address FASD issues. I have to admit this is the first time I’ve heard it. I was not aware that this was being practised in Winnipeg. Perhaps there are other jurisdictions that are doing something like this. I’d be very interested in seeing what the program entails, how it works and whether or not we could look into implementing something like that here. It sounds like something that would require a great deal of work to explore, but I’m certainly willing to give the commitment to the Member that I’d be interested in exploring that further.
The age of the young people we may be talking about may fall in that gap. I think foster care funding is only available to children up to the age of 16. I believe that income support may be available. That’s for people who want to live independently, I believe.
Would there be funding available for a room and board type situation, a home boarding situation for a young person under the current programs that exist? Would there be funding available under room and board situations? It doesn’t fit the foster care age group, and it may not fit the income support model either.
There will be no program or money that would be available to do something like that at this time. If we as the government or the Legislature decide that this is something we want to undertake, then it would have to be introduced as a new initiative with new funding. Unless a pregnant mother falls into some other programs under Income Security or something else for health reasons, we do not have such foster family programming for pregnant women at risk. I think it’s something we could look into and explore further.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
We’re very fortunate to have non-government organizations, NGOs, here in the Northwest Territories and here in Yellowknife that are very concerned about the fortunes of women and children
I would like to ask the Minister if she could, through some format, initiate a dialogue with some of these organizations that may have firsthand knowledge of these types of situations and come back with more information to gauge if there is interest and a need in the community for this type of service.
I am interested in collaborating with NGOs that might be knowledgeable or interested in this issue. As well as that, I think I will make a commitment to direct my department to do more research, gather information, look at the idea, explore it further and get back to the Member and Members on the other side.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to follow up from my Member’s statement in regard to policing in small communities, but more importantly, the community of Tsiigehtchic, which I represent.
The Minister was at a public meeting, along with Minister Lee, where issues came up about policing in Tsiigehtchic, or the lack of policing in the community, and what this government can do to try to find ways to remedy the situation. We know that it may be a while before we see a permanent police presence there.
I’d like to ask the Minister: has he been talking to the RCMP and come up with some ideas? I know there was talk about special constables. There was talk about increasing patrols. There was talk about overnight visits. Has he had an opportunity to talk to the RCMP or people in the Department of Justice to see if there are ways that we can find some mid-term solution to this problem? We’re not going to have police placed permanently at the present time, so has he come up with some ideas on how we can assist the community of Tsiigehtchic with its policing problem?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s follow-up question on the Tsiigehtchic matter. We did have a good visit in the community. We had a public forum. There were a lot of questions and concerns brought forward from the community leadership and also from the Member.
I did follow up with the Member in a letter format. I think it’s important to follow through with what we’ve committed to the community. I did that in a letter format. Just with the RCMP G Division there is ongoing discussion about how we can increase community visits on a schedule.
We’re also exploring other options. The members come from Fort MacPherson. Is there any way that we can increase capacity so they can focus more on the isolated communities that do not have detachments?
Those are the options we’re working with. We’ll keep the Members informed of our progress on this particular file. It’s important for the safety of the community that we focus on the communities that do not have an RCMP detachment, and Tsiigehtchic is one of them. We’ll continue to work as diligently with the members of G Division and also the Member from the riding. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, there were two other parts to the meeting. One was dealing with the Liquor Act. Under the Liquor Act we do have prohibition orders that can be sought in communities that are dry. Tsiigehtchic does have a prohibition order. Again the question comes down to having the legislation and having the tools to stop the flow of alcohol to communities by prohibiting it. There also has to be enforcement of that legislation to ensure we are able to stop people from doing that by making people aware that it is against the law.
I’d like to ask the Minister: has he also had an opportunity to see exactly how we can do a better job of enforcing the prohibition order?
That certainly was one of, I guess you could say, the hot topics in the community. There’s a lot of smuggling of alcohol and drugs to the community. Certainly, we’re in full support of somehow stopping that from happening. That has been a topic of discussion with G Division as well: how we can work with the ferries, ice roads and planes.
Those are the areas that are being explored as we speak, Mr. Speaker. We’re trying to come up with some options on how we can mitigate matters and deal with those issues. It’s not only the community of Tsiigehtchic but also other small, isolated communities. There’s a huge problem dealing with this issue. We recognize that in our Department of Justice and are working closely with the RCMP G Division. I did meet with the chief superintendent on this particular matter, and it is one of their priorities as well. We’ll continue to make our best effort to deal with this matter at hand.
One of the other outstanding issues is that poor communities don’t have police or a nurse. In order to respond to situations where we have to have a fast response…. There seem to be a lot of time delays, in some cases up to six hours.
One of the issues that came up was looking at working with the Department of Justice or working with the Department of Health to develop an emergency response program for Tsiigehtchic so that when the bylaw officer has to call somebody, he’s got somebody’s phone number and somebody has the keys to the health centre. Those types of things have to be accommodated, ensuring that we have a quick response to situations when the help is needed.
I’d like to ask the Minister: has he himself worked along with the Department of Health and Social Services, the RCMP and the community to figure out how soon we can have this emergency response plan in place?
Mr. Speaker, the issue of emergency response — the committee or the community — is one of the priorities of this government as well, because it does deal with the emergency factor. It does fall under Municipal and Community Affairs as well.
We continue to work with Justice and follow through with the issues brought forward from Tsiigehtchic. I myself, the Minister of Health and Social Services and the newly elected Minister of MACA — who is fully aware what has happened in the past and also takes on the lead role as the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs — are working together in a partnership to deal with this specific matter.
It is a territory-wide issue. It’s one area I think we need, as a government, to focus on as an emergency matter to deal with those incidents that happened in the past with those small communities. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it’s important for the departments of Justice, Health, MACA — whatever — to get back into the communities and assure them that these issues have been looked into and, more importantly, keep them involved.
I’d like to ask the Minister: does he have any plans or has he instructed any of his staff to go into Tsiigehtchic and give them an update on exactly where we’re at with these issues so they can feel comfortable that we are following up on these matters?
Mr. Speaker, I’m a firm believer in following up on the issues as well. We have initially discussed the potential of having a meeting between the three parties just to move forward on this particular item. Once we conduct that meeting, I’m more than willing to come back to the community and give an update. It will probably be me and other Ministers who are involved going to the community, to the region, and just giving a brief overview of what we plan to do as a territory-wide government initiative. Certainly, I can commit to the Member that we will follow through with what we’ve talked about earlier.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and are related to the Member’s statement I made earlier today.
In the last couple of months I have talked to a number of recent mothers who have utilized the midwifery services in Yellowknife. I’ve got to say that every one of them was extremely pleased with both Yellowknife Health and Social Services for putting in the program and the sole midwife who is in Yellowknife providing the services. Her dedication and her expertise are excellent.
The problem I have and that some of them have brought to me is that she’s alone. She’s on call virtually every day. She’s got no time off. She’s willing to do that, but I’d worry that at some point she is going to become burned out. To be effective — as effective as that great program we have in Fort Smith — we really need two midwives in order to share the load.
I’m wondering if the Minister could tell me today: when will the Minister be establishing a second midwifery position in Yellowknife Health and Social Services?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe there is any question about the merits of the program or the skill sets of the midwife who is delivering the services here.
The issue, as the Member is aware and everybody here is aware, is that we are under extreme pressure in fiscal realities. In the Department of Health and Social Services that has meant we have to work really hard to make sure we protect the core services that Health and Social Services has to deliver. The midwifery program is not one of those core services. In fact, it’s a service that in seven provinces in the country is not even publicly funded.
I agree with the Member. I was a strong supporter of the midwifery legislation, and I do believe there is a huge potential for this program to grow. But in the interim we do not have the money to expand this program. At the moment we’re trying to hold everything we have and protect what we have.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. If I remember correctly, once upon a time the department had a midwife implementation committee that was recommending, and the department was recommending, four midwife positions in Yellowknife as well as midwife positions in Fort Simpson, Inuvik. There might even have been some in Norman Wells, but I’m not one hundred per cent sure about that.
I believe, originally, they were intended to be funded out of the Territorial Health Access Fund. I know that fund still exists. I also believe that it comes to an end in 2010–2011. Is the funding no longer there for at least one more position in Yellowknife Health and Social Services, at least for the duration or to the end of the THAF? That would give us two years of a second midwife in Yellowknife, which would help us demonstrate how valuable this program is and, hopefully, build a case for moving into the smaller communities where I think the benefits would be far greater, communities such as Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Norman Wells and Hay River.
I know that there is money in THAF, and I know it’s just short term, but will the Minister check into THAF to see if there’s any more money that we could pull out of that? A hundred thousand is all we need to get a second position in Yellowknife.
I don’t think we need to demonstrate that this program is useful. I don’t think we need to have any more discussions on that.
We need way more than $100,000 to create the second position. A midwife position comes with a need for about three more positions, so it’s about a four PY idea.
About the THAF funding. We do not have any extra room in that funding. This midwife position at Yellowknife health is currently being funded under THAF. As the Member knows very well, THAF funding will expire in ’09–10. We do need to look at how we are funding these positions. This is a valuable position, but it’s one that is an extra to the core services that this department has to provide.
I would commit to the Member that we will look at everything to see how we can use our money better. If the midwifery program is one of them, I would do that. But under the current financial situation, it is a difficult task.
I disagree slightly. I believe $100,000 would be about enough to actually hire a second position. We don’t need extra on call dollars and whatnot, because those on call dollars already exist, and they would just split between the two incumbents.
I am glad to hear that the Minister is saying that they’re going to check out all options and explore all opportunities. I know that we have all these wonderful strategic investment committees that are talking about our future and reinvestment into the public service to meet some of our mandates. I believe this one would fall under Building Our Future. Has the Minister talked with the Minister responsible for Building Our Future about the possibility of obtaining about $100,000 from that pot to build this capacity in Yellowknife and, once again, use it as a shining light on how we should be delivering these services in the other communities?
I believe the Members are going to get a chance to review all of the new initiatives under that strategic initiative committee and Building Our Future budget in November. I could confirm that every cent of that money has been subscribed to.
The midwifery program is something that we want to be able to expand to smaller communities, where there is, I think, even greater need for midwifery because of the fact that there’s not a regular doctor service and other arrangements for women who are expecting to give birth.
I would like to commit to the Member, again…. I just want to be frank and direct about the fiscal situation that the government and the Department of Health is operating under. In looking at all new initiatives, we’d be looking to protect the core services before we could expand to extra services. Midwifery, as good as it is and as much as I support it wholeheartedly, is still an unfunded program, and it’s one that is an extra to the core service.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. This program, midwifery services — hopefully someday we will get them into the communities like Simpson, Norman Wells, Inuvik, Hay River — will actually, I believe, save us a lot of money in the future. I think it’s time for us to actually think outside the box. Let’s find ways to get this $100,000 that we need to create this second position and then pursue additional positions in the community.
You indicated earlier that you’ll explore all options. Maybe I can get a commitment from the Minister at this time to look into the department itself. How many assistant deputy ministers do we need? How many directors do we need? We’re awfully top heavy, and at the end of the day, we’re about providing services to our people. Do we really need to be spending all these dollars on senior management in all of these departments and paying them huge bonuses when we should be delivering service to our people? This is a valuable service. Let’s get in there, dig in there and find some money. Will the Minister commit to looking at the structure within the departments to see if there is any money there?
I’m happy to advise the Member that in fact the Department of Health and Social Services is one of the few departments that actually reduced their top management. We reduced the positions at headquarters by 13 per cent in the last round. We went from two ADMs to one ADM, and we have reduced a director position by one. That went unnoticed, but we did all of that in the last six months.
The second thing. While I support — and I do…. There’s no question that a midwifery program is the way to go in the future, but there has not been any evidence to suggest that it is replacing some regular medical services that pregnant mothers in Canada still undergo. I do personally believe that birthing is way too medicalized, and the more midwives we could have, the better. But that’s not how the system is being implemented right now. Midwifery continues to be an extra service to the core service. There’s no evidence to suggest that it’s saving us money right now.
But I will continue to review that and work with the Member, and I will look in every nook and cranny for every penny I can find to support such a program.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
I have a few questions today, and I guess the first question I’d like to ask is of the Premier.
I listened to CBC News yesterday. I heard that the Legislature got back to work over in the Yukon, and one of the first things that Premier Fentie did was set up a committee of deputy ministers to keep a watchful eye on what is happening with the global economic downturn.
Again, I found it interesting that our Premier didn’t go to the Premiers’ meetings that were held recently in Montreal. I’d like to ask the Premier: what is our government doing today to help assure residents of the Northwest Territories that we’re keeping a watchful eye on what’s happening globally to the economy?
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
The fact is that the Finance Minister is on the situation, looking at it and having his staff do the review. In fact, he’ll be updating us here in the next few days as to some of the impacts and updates from the fiscal situation that we’re looking at.
The financial targets that were set at the beginning of this year by the government obviously didn’t hit the targets on the reduction side that they were hoping for. They’ve rushed into a lot of other reinvestment scenarios that see them spending almost as much money as they’ve reduced.
I’m wondering: is the government the least bit concerned that this spending spree that we seem to be on is going to come back and haunt us? I know it’s almost Halloween, Mr. Speaker. Is it going to haunt us?
When the Member says “they,” let me remind him that we all had a say in the budget process itself. In fact, some of the targets not met were directed by the Assembly as we looked at how we were going to live within our means.
The goal is that we’re still going to live within our means. The Minister of Finance has had his staff reviewing and keeping an eye on the situation. We will continue to work with the Premiers across the country to ensure that we’re kept in the loop and work with them on any initiatives that come forward. We’ll always be happy to report that to Members.
During my Member’s statement I also said that Regular Members, too, play a role in this, because every day — and I’m as guilty as the next Member — we stand up here and demand of government enhanced programs and capital projects in our ridings. We’re asking for more money.
But I really do believe the government needs to come up with a worst case scenario. What if equalization is cut as soon as next summer? This is a reality that could hit the government hard. I’m wondering: has the government got any plans to deal with cuts to equalization or cuts to our funding that will see us have to scale back services? And where are our priorities on what we’re going to look at?
Every year we as a government do a full review of our planning, expenditures, reductions and where investments should occur. That occurs on an annual basis. As we prepare for the next slate of that, which we’ll be bringing to Members, that information will be pulled together. For example, were our estimates on corporate taxes on the mark or were they off? Were there adjustments? Payroll tax, personal income tax, all of those things we build on estimates, and they’re proved out if our numbers are good or not. Later in the year we get the results back from the federal government. That’s all part of the package and affects any changes that we will have to make going forward, looking at the business plans.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I think it’s important that the government keep its eye on what is happening around the world. Like I said earlier, the Bank of Canada is predicting that Canada is on the brink of a recession. I would hope that the government could at the earliest possibility brief Regular Members on where the government’s exposure is in terms of credit and commodity prices. It’s going to hit us. We’re not going to be immune to what’s going on. Will the Premier commit today to brief Regular Members on where the government’s exposure is on this?
The fact is myself and the Finance Minister will be prepared to sit down with Members before we start the actual business planning process to give an update on where things are, where the dollars are, the impact on the Northwest Territories and the changes we will have to look at going forward as we look at those potential impacts that might be felt here in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions with respect to Medical Travel.
They have been doing a really good job. I’ve brought up some concerns in the past about travelling back home to my smaller communities. In the past I had issues about not having contact information when they get to the airport, and sometimes they get stranded. So they have taken the initiative of putting up collect phone numbers and posting it around so people can see it.
But we’re still finding that constituents are showing up in Fort Simpson, and they’re getting stranded. In fact, some people aren’t really familiar with calling collect, either. They’re not comfortable with it, maybe because of their skill level with the English language.
I’d just like to ask the Minister: what steps are given to the patients to ensure that they travel safely back to the communities without interruption?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for bringing this issue to my attention, because it appears that we could improve our programming there.
My understanding is that we do not have a contractor for medical travel in Simpson. It is going out for tender in the next couple of weeks. While they do not have a contractor in place, the department and the Stanton authority, which is responsible for medical travel, have been using patchwork efforts to organize transportation. Where patients are flying in charter planes, they would arrange with the charter companies to pick them up, and then taxi services or Deh Cho Health Authority staff will come.
It has not been a consistent delivery of service. I’d like to thank the Member for bringing that up, and I will follow that up. Hopefully, if we could get a contractor in place, we could have a more uniform and consistent service in that area.
