Debates of October 25, 2004 (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Joe Handley will be absent from the House today, tomorrow and Wednesday to attend the First Ministers’ meeting in Ottawa.

I would also like to advise Members that the Honourable Floyd Roland will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the First Ministers’ meeting in Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, Heritage Canada has invited the provinces and territories to participate at Expo 2005, to be held from March to September 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Aichi Prefecture is about an hour train ride west of Tokyo, near the city of Nagoya. The theme of Expo 2005 is Nature’s Wisdom.

Organizers anticipate that more than 15 million people will visit Expo 2005 over a six-month period and 1.5 million visitors are anticipated to visit the Canadian pavilion with some 90 percent of these visitors expected to be Japanese.

This exposition provides an excellent opportunity to market the Northwest Territories to key target audiences.

Over the past five years, the Japanese tourism market has grown substantially in the Northwest Territories. Last year alone, Mr. Speaker, Japanese tourists comprised approximately 24 percent of the total number of leisure tourists visiting the Northwest Territories and they contributed over $16 million to our economy.

Hear! Hear!

This season, Aurora viewing companies are expecting 11,000 visitors, a 10 percent increase over the number that visited last year.

Mr. Speaker, I will co-chair an oversight review committee with my colleague, the Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Jane Groenewegen, to oversee planning for the Northwest Territories participation at Expo 2005.

Currently, work is underway to prepare for our participation in this important event. We intend to highlight all aspects of the Northwest Territories, with specific focus on tourism, diamonds, culture and the arts. We are also very interested in working with private sector partners to market the Northwest Territories and its products. This provides an opportunity to enhance our presentation at Expo 2005 through the levering of partnership funding from the private sector.

I look forward to participating with Canada, our tourism industry and private sector partners in promoting the Northwest Territories as a prime international destination for tourism and business. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, the month of October marks the 30th anniversary of the NWT Housing Corporation. Since its inception, the corporation has made significant strides toward improving and supplying housing in the NWT.

Communities in the Northwest Territories have been visibly transformed over the last 30 years. New modern houses have replaced those lacking basic facilities, seniors are enjoying uniquely-designed facilities and public housing units have been renovated to provide safe environments for singles and families.

In 1974, we offered a total of seven programs. Today, the Housing Corporation manages approximately 2,300 units and offers 16 diverse programs.

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is proud of its achievements over the past 30 years. As we look to the future, we see that the demand for housing will remain high, especially in our growing and developing economy. To meet this challenge, we must continue to work in cooperation with residents, Members of the House and the business community.

Both the Housing Corporation and I, as the Minister responsible, are looking forward to this challenge. It is important to mention, Mr. Speaker, that without the hard work of our dedicated staff and the 23 LHOs scattered across the NWT this would not be possible. I would like to take this opportunity to commend staff for their hard work. Well done! Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to move the NWT Housing Corporation Minister’s statement into Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Do you have a seconder for that motion, Mr. Hawkins?

Thank you. My colleague, Mr. Kevin Menicoche, MLA for Nahendeh. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. There’s a motion on the floor. To the motion.

Question.

Question is being called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

The Minister’s statement for the NWT Housing Corporation will be moved into Committee of the Whole, Minister’s Statement 68-15(3).

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to talk about year-to-year and multiyear funding. Mr. Speaker, first I would like to talk about the fact that in June of 2002, a social agenda was tabled in this House, it’s Social Agenda: A Draft for People of the NWT. Some of the recommendations out of that talked about year-to-year funding and it was one of the primary key recommendations, as the way I see it.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a small quote from an open letter from then-Premier Kakfwi at the time. He mentioned in his letter: “The working group has worked hard over the last eight months to generate 10 recommendations in this report.” He also recommended that it’s critically important that we work towards an expedient response to the recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, this is over two years old and at the rate we are going, it’s going to be three years very soon. Mr. Speaker, it’s a real concern that we have many organizations out there that are working every year on year-to-year funding. They are putting more administrative time into doing the functions that they do instead of program and service deliveries which are the programs they should be doing.

Mr. Speaker, at present, this government has the appearance of being more worried about devolution deals, oil and gas, hydro and even diamond exploration than dealing with some of the social issues that these riches bring. Mr. Speaker, that causes me some very serious concern. It causes me a lot of duress when I think about this government spending more time worrying about money that we may get some day, dreaming of that money that someday may come. However, Mr. Speaker, we could start doing a lot with the money we have today.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say that we could create a hallmark of this Assembly. We could recreate a system by taking the recommendations raised in the social agenda and putting them to practice. It would be time better spent, Mr. Speaker.

As I said earlier, I would like to see the NGOs out there working with the three or five-year agreement rather than putting time, money and effort into renewing these agreements every single year. Mr. Speaker, what about bureaucratic time that is used to go through this process? We have hundreds and hundreds of organizations out there on year-to-year agreements. They put the time in, but bureaucrats put in a significant amount of time in reviewing these.

I think we could do a lot better for our people out there. Mr. Speaker, I think that time is well spent in program delivery. We could talk about the elimination of red tape, Mr. Speaker. May I seek unanimous consent to continue my Member’s statement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Hawkins. You may conclude your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I say thank you to all my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, out there we have NGOs dealing with mounds of paperwork when they should be dealing with social issues they are signed onto. They should be doing program delivery, which they are supposed to do.

Mr. Speaker, long-term multiyear funding would provide stability for these organizations rather than getting them to deal with the stress that is created fighting for year-to-year funding. Mr. Speaker, this is not good for these organizations.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will say where is the hallmark of this Assembly? Long after the oil and gas is gone, who is going to be the backbone of the Northwest Territories? Social programs, social NGOs, that help our communities day to day? Where is our leadership? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the importance of a group of persons who often do not get enough credit for doing the great job they do for us. That group are nurses and health care professionals, Mr. Speaker.

My wife is a nurse and I have had a firsthand glimpse into what it is that nurses do, and I must say I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the amount of work that nurses do for us.

In March of 2000, the Union of Northern Workers filed a grievance on behalf of 42 nurses working at Stanton Territorial Hospital alleging that the current job descriptions did not accurately reflect the duties the nurses were required to perform. In 2002, the decision was made to undertake a review of all nursing and allied health profession jobs within the health and social services system to ensure the job descriptions and resulting evaluations correctly reflected the knowledge, skills, abilities and working conditions of each position.

Mr. Speaker, the re-evaluation has resulted in some very troubling changes in the way in which we are paying our nurses. I will state that I am fully supportive of the increases that have taken hold for some nurses in the specialty areas. However, the change has been causing difficulties for those who have not seen an increase, especially the nurses that have been there for 15 to 20 years working alongside their colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of a person who, after serving as an LPN for over 20 years, went back to school to become a registered nurse. Now that she’s a registered nurse, there are LPNs at Stanton who are earning more than she is as a registered nurse. To me, Mr. Speaker, this is fundamentally wrong.

The Minister and his staff have told me on two separate occasions that this new practice of paying nurses happens in other jurisdictions. I have not seen any evidence or proof that this is the case. This is the only place in Canada where nurses are being subjected to wage segregation. In other jurisdictions, they pay all nurses the same. They can earn more through education and certification. This seems to be a more logical approach than the way we are doing things here at Stanton.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to say that nurses and other health care professionals all deserve to be treated equally. Nurses need our support in trying to correct what has happened at Stanton. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Hawkins. You may conclude your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nurses need our support in trying to correct what has happened at Stanton. It doesn’t happen in Hay River. It doesn’t happen in Inuvik and, as a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, it doesn’t happen anywhere else in the country. Why would a government, in good conscious, set out to drive a wedge between our nursing staff at Stanton? Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time on today’s order paper, I will have questions for the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to talk about an issue that was on CBC this morning that I feel will be coming up more regularly in the future and should be addressed by this government.

Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the government’s hunting and harvesting regulation and the penalties for meat wastage. I don’t believe the current penalties are sufficient and I would like to see more monitoring and policing of our highways and hunting areas by our renewable resource officers.

Hear! Hear!

With regret to similar situations, Mr. Speaker, which have taken place in the Akaitcho Territory in 2002 that included a DIAND official, the penalties imposed or lack thereof, this type of hunting practice will only worsen and does not reflect traditional values which we are all trying to teach our children.

When violators know that our justice system does not effectively deal with infractions and people know they can get away with this type of practice, it will only continue. If a judgment had been made that was deemed fair and just, and a message to the public was made that this practice was totally unacceptable no matter who you are and who you work for, the number of incidents would be minimized and people would think twice about wasting meat or breaking traditional laws.

Mr. Speaker, I realize that it is one thing to get charged for such disrespect for wildlife through our justice system, but people have to get caught in order for our justice system to deal with the infractions. This increased pressure on our renewable resource officers to ensure proper monitoring and practices are adhered to by the public is something that this government should support by way of increasing the number of officers to carry out this function on a 24-hour basis. The migration of caribou being close to the city is something that does not happen annually or for extended periods, so the extra workload or costs associated with ensuring public safety for motorists and residents along the Ingraham Trail should not be jeopardized by government budget restraints. Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development about this issue during the question period later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, a while ago, the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable J. Michael Miltenberger, issued a challenge to me; the challenge to be smoke free. I am pleased to report that, today, I accept his challenge. At noon here in the Great Hall, I joined my fellow colleague, Norman Yakeleya, the Member for Sahtu, and together we made a public commitment to quit smoking.

---Applause

Now, the challenge to be smoke-free is not primarily about getting people to quit smoking. It is about making sure that young people never start in the first place. If I am successful at quitting for life, I know that I will benefit and so I hope I am successful. But it is not only for myself that I am doing this. As a former smoker, I am well aware that smoking affects everyone who comes in contact with it. One of the biggest reasons that young people take up smoking to begin with is that they see other people around them smoking; not only their peers but older people too, parents and role models. Children copy what they see their parents doing, but I am hoping this influence can work two ways. By setting a good example when I am quitting myself, I hope to have a positive influence on other people around me, particularly on youth. Already, I know my decision to quit has encouraged others to try and achieve the same thing.

Smoking is a serious problem in the North. Our rates of tobacco use are twice what they are in other parts of the country. By the time NWT youth reach 15 years of age, 42 percent of them smoke. It is these young people who really need to hear the message.

To that end, part of the commitment I made today is to encourage youth in my riding to be smoke-free. I have accepted a challenge from Mr. Yakeleya to see which of our constituencies can get the most youth to commit to being smoke-free. I will be contacting schools in our respective ridings to encourage all students to join the challenge. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable colleagues. So let me make one more commitment today. I commit myself to inform this House of the results of the challenge that Mr. Yakeleya and I have taken. I promise to return with the statistics on the number of young people who have taken up the challenge with us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, I also made a decision along with the honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche, to do the right thing not only for ourselves; we made this commitment for our people in our regions. I made the choice to stop continuous smoking. I have taken the Minister of Health and Social Services’ challenge to be smoke-free. That is almost one year ago he gave me that challenge. It has taken me a long time to come to that challenge. The decision to look at my life and the impact of cigarettes on the younger people greatly disturbed me, Mr. Speaker. However, the power of my addiction to the nicotine which is in the cigarette has always overridden my logical thinking of putting the cigarette away. It was a common statement that I would quit tomorrow, it was not hurting anybody, or it was nobody else’s business.

So, Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. It is time to walk the walk and butt out for the rest of our lives. Our children, our youth, deserve a chance to live a good strong life away from the harmful addictions.

Mr. Speaker, the 2003 school tobacco survey similarly reports that 39 percent of young people between the ages of 10 and 17 years smoke in small communities like those in the Sahtu. A pack of cigarettes cost about $15 in the Sahtu. However, although smoking is very expensive, it is more than that. Mr. Speaker, a letter will be sent out also to the schools in the Sahtu to challenge the school children not to smoke at all, or to give up smoking, to be smoke-free, and also a chance to be out there to all the constituents in the Sahtu region. I have also taken the challenge of Mr. Menicoche, to challenge his constituency to see which numbers would be the greater in terms of being smoke-free in our region. I love a good challenge. I would also like to report the results in January.

Mr. Speaker, for many years I have looked at cigarettes. One thing that really made a big difference in our life was, the other day when I was driving back from Peace River…

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Members. Mr. Speaker, I was driving back from Peace River the other day. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old boy. He was colouring Spiderman in the truck. He had the crayon in has hand, Mr. Speaker, and he looked at the crayon and said, I want to smoke, I want to smoke. That really hit. That was really sore. Mr. Menicoche is so right. As leaders, we are role models. There are a huge number of smokers in the small communities. In that sense, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for supporting me. I want to thank Mr. Menicoche for taking this challenge with me. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to talk this afternoon too, about cleaning up our act. It is not quite as noble as my colleagues here, but the problem that I am looking at is one that has been around for a long time. That is the legacy that is left over after 60 years of gold mining here in the Yellowknife area. That is the ongoing saga of trying to seek some kind of approval to the processes by which the Con and the Giant mines are going to be cleaned up.

Mr. Speaker, my other colleagues have spoken of this issue many times in this Assembly and in the past one. We continue to see a process whereby the Miramar Con Mine is undergoing a cleanup operation, but one which has received, unfortunately, far too little public exposure and opportunity for public input.

On the Giant Mine property, Mr. Speaker, at least on the surface cleanup, we are caught in what I understand is a very difficult jurisdictional argument between our government and the federal government over who has responsibility and liability for the surface cleanup of this very large and really unfortunate situation. So, Mr. Speaker, I am going to draw attention to that again. We really, in this day and age, should not be ignoring this or leaving it on the back burner. It is probably tempting in an economy where there is so much other resource development going on, that we cannot lose sight of the fact that we have a responsibility to ourselves, to our children, and to the environment to do the right thing and clean up the mistakes of yesterday. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak again about the low morale at the North Slave Correctional Centre. Mr. Speaker, a veteran of 20 plus years at the correctional services contacted me over the weekend to tell me what so many others have told me already. That is that, in all this time at the North Slave Correction Centre, he can honestly say that he has never seen anything so bad in terms of low morale, sick leave abuse, forced overtime, problematic hiring practices, lack of support, inmate-staff confrontations, and assaults and micromanaging. Mr. Speaker, it also appears that the vacancy rate of seven to 10 positions that the Minister gave in this House does not really tell the whole story. It is not just about the positions on paper, but actual bodies that are required in the facility.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that there are approximately 35 casual employees who are now filling in for vacancies of various capacities. All the case management teams are acting; therefore, they are covered off with casuals. There are many positions still not filled, including the four unit supervisors, one shift supervisor, cooks, nurses, and many correctional officers.

Approximately 20 to 30 staff have resigned in the last 10 months and, ironically, none of them have been asked to give exit interviews. This is one of the concerns to me as well, Mr. Speaker, because, in our briefing about the internal review that is going on, there seems to be very little emphasis on talking to those who are either let go or who resigned.

Mr. Speaker, it is also my information that the new facility requires 14 officers on a shift as opposed to only nine or 10 that were required in the old facility, but there have been no new increase in the staffing complement. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that even though the building is new, it actually requires more labour. It is much more labour-intensive. The Minister should consider revisiting the staffing complement to make sure that there are enough people to do the job. Also, another problem is that even though the vacancy might not show as being high, a lot of positions on paper, the bodies are not there because they have been seconded or they are acting in other positions. They are on some kind of leave, they are on special leave, transfer assignments. So the Minister needs to really listen. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the Minister and the senior management that of the people who are talking to us, many of them I consider to be the kind of people that we call the salt of the earth. I don’t just accept whatever everybody tells me. These are the people who have lived here for a long time; 26 or 30 years. They have worked in the correctional system. They know what they are talking about. I think it will do the Minister and the management a lot of good to listen to what is being said and try to enhance or improve the situation that they are going through. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, October has been designated as National Community Living Awareness Month. This is an extremely important campaign for the residents of the Northwest Territories as it encompasses national and local community living organizations working together to provide safe and healthy communities for families, adults and children with disabilities. Many of us take for granted everyday experiences like accessing local facilities, sending our children to neighbourhood schools and having the opportunity to contribute to our communities through work or volunteer activities. However, Mr. Speaker, it is important to appreciate that there are people living in our communities who do not have the luxury of taking these things for granted. People living with disabilities are as determined as anyone else to be productive citizens and deserve to be treated as such.

Mr. Speaker, we are the losers when we fail to be inclusive in our schools, workplaces, organizations and communities. We can all take responsibility for ensuring people living with disabilities are protected from discrimination, have access to any support they need, participate in community life; and, most important, are made to feel welcome and valued. This month is a great opportunity to show appreciation for the work of volunteers, local, community and national organizations and people living with disabilities, who offer their skills and talents to our communities, schools and families.

While speaking on the subject of assisting people in need, I would like to take this opportunity to pay a special tribute and extend my thanks to Hay River resident Lillian Crook who has devoted time to bring together interested parties in an effort to form a community living program in the community of Hay River. This program is in the beginning stages; however, will be a great benefit to many people who have difficulties that prevent them from living without assistance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Michael Miltenberger. I would just like to ask the Minister how the government could knowingly allow the re-evaluation of nursing positions at Stanton Territorial Hospital to happen when they knew that it would result in wage segregation to the nurses at Stanton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 291-15(3): Re-evaluation Of Nursing Positions

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services of the Government of the Northwest Territories has a very competitive and, I think, progressive pay and benefits package for nurses. We see it as a very positive step, all the work that has gone on in the last number of years, the work with the nursing association and the work with the unions, the work with the government, to come up with a fair remuneration package. So the Member and I have a different point of view on the value and the benefits of that particular issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 291-15(3): Re-evaluation Of Nursing Positions

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am just wondering, through you to the Minister, how, under the definition that I have been supplied by the department, does a float nurse, who is required to have the skills, knowledge and ability to work in various specialty areas, not earn as much as a nurse in a specialty area. That does not make sense to me, Mr. Speaker. I am just wondering if the Minister had an answer for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 291-15(3): Re-evaluation Of Nursing Positions