Mr. Speaker, each profession can speak about the importance of their legislative requirements and regulations on how important they may or may not be over, certainly, other ones, but I can assure you that there is a concern about health and safety. If one can only imagine that if they’re laying on a chiropractor’s table and someone’s twisting their neck, what type of rules, education and authority have they played to ensure that they’re safe at that particular time.
Mr. Speaker, the point I’m getting at is there’s a health and safety issue on both issues, massage as well as chiropractic, that needs to be addressed for employers, workers and, quite clearly, the public. Can the Minister expect anything of that regard to come forward in the life of this particular Assembly, even in a draft form, so we can show the people that we are putting their public safety first? Thank you.
This is a time and capacity issue and I think that it’s important to let the people know that those professions that the Member mentions do have professional bodies that they have to belong to and adhere their rules to. I mean, there’s a difference between a registered therapist and other massage therapists, for example.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe that we can have this legislation completed within the life of this Assembly, but the Member knows, having been here for more than one Assembly, that there is a list of legislation that moves its way up, and this is added onto that list. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, although I enjoy question period to be disagreeable, which is my right, the reality is I think the Minister is incorrect on this particular occasion, because massage therapists, some of them do belong to national organizations, and I will say that’s correct, but they don’t have to be -- and certainly if you’re in the chiropractic industry you’re not obligated, to my knowledge -- associated with any public body or national body. If you said that they were self-regulating, there are only a couple of them, so, I mean, that’s really challenging.
Mr. Speaker, in light of that, what can the Minister do to ensure that public safety is taken into consideration in light of the fact that we don’t have anyone overseeing these two specific areas that I wonder if we can use mirrored legislation from other jurisdictions. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, all that work will have to be done when legislation is drafted, and in most circumstances in drafting legislation that governs professions, whether it be… I mean, we’ve had recent examples of social workers, but I remember NWT doing one for the architects and engineers. It’s a normal practice to look at what other jurisdictions are doing and to update the legislation and bring any new precedents that we should be considering.
So, in drafting new legislation, that will be done. Mr. Speaker, that would be a normal practice. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The point I am trying to get at, and I am sure the Minister understands this, is the fact that public safety is at risk out there. There is a leap of faith people are taking when they go to these places, that they are insured at one level or not that they are protected as well as they are regulated. What I am asking the Minister is: Is there perhaps, maybe a discussion paper that could come forward that we could work on and develop to see what type of priority fits with the ambition of this government and this term as well as the ambition of the next government going forward? Asking for a discussion paper doesn’t seem to be too difficult for the department to ask where does it want to be going forward and is it meeting the challenges and certainly the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories. That is what I am asking the Minister, knowing quite well the legislation doesn’t appear out of the air but a fair bit of work has to get done. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, what I would like to do is just communicate to the Member on the legislation for the department that we have in the type that we are trying to get through and that is quite... I understand every safety issue and every profession, well, many professions have come forward and asked us to regulate. We have to do the major ones first and we are just working really hard to get through those.
As I stated earlier, I have the umbrella or omnibus profession legislation that we are looking at, but it will take some time. It is not something that we could do in the next little while within this Assembly. Thank you.
My questions are for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.
What is the total cost of negotiations to reach the draft agreement-in-principle for devolution of lands and resources?
What is the cost for the work of the chief negotiator?
What is the cost of third-party involvement in negotiations, with a breakdown of the amounts for each party’s role?
Thank you.
I call Committee of the Whole to order. We have several items: tabled documents 4, 30, 38, 62, 66, 75 and Bills 4, 8 and 9. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 66-16(5), NWT Capital Estimates 2011-2012, and wishes to consider the Department of Health and Social Services and, time permitting, the Department of ITI.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
With that, we will take a short break and begin with the Department of Health.
---SHORT RECESS
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. Prior to the debate we agreed that we would begin with the Department of Health and Social Services. At this time I would to ask the Minister if she’ll be bringing in any witnesses.
Yes, I will, Mr. Chairman.
Does committee agree that the Minister brings in witnesses?
Agreed.
Agreed. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in.
For the record, Ms. Lee, could you introduce your witnesses?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Ms. Paddy Meade, deputy minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Minister. Welcome, witness. General comments, Department of Health and Social Services. General comments. What is the wish of the committee? Detail? Begin on page 6-2 in regard to department summary. We’ll move to page 6-4. Activity summary, program delivery support, infrastructure investment summary, no dollars. Agreed?
Agreed.
Agreed. Moving on. Health services programs, activity summary, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $15.491. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since being elected and coming into this Assembly, one of the issues that was on Yellowknife’s agenda, obviously, was the Stanton Territorial Health Centre here in Yellowknife. It was in the plan when we first got here, there was some work being done, but it seems that it’s dropped off and we often ask about the Stanton Master Development Plan and it seems to be gone yet again.
The building needs work. I know that there are things being done in the department, the Foundation for Change being the primary one, but I still wonder when are we going to see something come forward on Stanton. When are we going to see the plans so we know what upgrades and what improvements are going to be needed to that aging building?
Minister of Health, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is an item in the budget, in the capital estimates for Stanton, eight hundred and some thousand dollars to do a planning study. I’d like to ask the deputy minister, who is also the public administrator, to give the Members an update on the work that we’re doing with respect to Stanton Territorial Hospital.
Deputy Minister Meade.
Thank you. Several fronts as the Member raised are being addressed. We are dealing with maintenance upgrades and accreditation issues, for example, around endoscopy and sterilization area, but we are also building on all of the past planning and looking at using the $800,000 to do the formal Master Development Plan and that will fit with what services are at Stanton. Stanton has increased in services over the years and that has to be reflected in the updated Master Development Plan. So it will be coming forward and that’s what this money in the business plan reflects, is for the final planning.
Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Going back to my original question, is there a bit of a timeline on that? When are we going to be seeing that plan coming back and when can we actually expect to see some progress being done on the facility itself at Stanton?
Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The planning study money is for this fiscal year and at the end of that we should have a detailed plan on the need and the functional programming and the total dollar amount for Stanton. So I can’t say it’s going to be in the books next year, but it will be working through the process.
Thank you to the Minister for that. Same page, slightly different topic. I see that there are a number of replacements for health centres, one in Hay River, one in Fort Providence, as well as a renovation in Fort Smith and there’s a health centre and long-term care facility in Norman Wells. Given the strategic vision of this 16th Assembly, can you tell me whether or not those buildings are being built environmentally responsible? Specifically, are you putting pellet boilers and those types of equipment in these new health centres in the renovations to save us money over the long term? Thank you.
All building projects under government funding are a joint project between service departments like ours, Department of Health and Social Services, and building departments, the Department of Public Works. I believe the Department of Public Works has a committee or a group set up to look at the environmental aspect of that. So I don’t know if Minister McLeod has any more to add, but the building and the design and the environmental part of it is DPW’s side. Thank you.
Minister of Public Works, do you have anything to add?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These projects are still currently under the department and at some point will be transferred over for project management, I’m assuming. Having said that, all these projects are required to go through a planning process. We also have standards that we’ve set in place for all our new buildings that would be focused on energy efficiency and integrate standards of where we look at alternate energy as part of a process. So there will be consideration on all those projects.
At this point it’s too early to say what the specifics would be as they’re still in the planning stage. For example, the Fort Resolution and Fort Providence health centres will take a two-year turnaround before they come back for capital consideration. So that will be the time frame that would be considered for design, for enhancements for energy efficiency and alternate energy. Thank you.
Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Chair, obviously, we encourage the Department of Health and the Department of Public Works and Services to make sure that those buildings are as efficient as possible to keep our operation costs down.
My last question on this section is about the seventh item down you’ve got a GNWT office and records centre warehouse and you’re doing some tenant improvements in Inuvik. I’m assuming that that is a health related building, or a health related tenant improvement, but it’s not particularly clear. Can you tell me what tenant improvements we’re doing and for which division of Health and Social Services, or is it an authority that these tenant improvements are being done?
Deputy Minister Meade.
Thank you. Yes, the public and environmental health component of Health and Social Services will become tenants. Three hundred eighty-four square metres of the full GNWT building will be for that, and also part of the office and record centre. They’re currently leasing in a different building and the lease costs are significant compared to what this will be when we have the tenant improvements. Then the future costs will go directly through Public Works and Services as a lease and we are one of the tenants. So it’s for the environmental and public health.
Next I have Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I see that you’re looking at improvement, renovating, replacing some health centres here. I just wanted to raise, of course, the concern of the facilities in Fort Simpson, as well as Nahanni Butte. The health centre did need some work. I don’t really see it here, but what are the plans of Health and Social Services in regard to those two facilities, Mr. Chair?
Minister of Health, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are doing some work in Fort Simpson to do “upgrades.” We are also in the books for doing future studies on Simpson Health Centre. Ms. Meade has more information on other work being done in that region.
Ms. Meade.
With Public Works we did a full inventory of all the Health and Social Services capital and looked at both maintenance and lifecycles. Right now the repairs are as the Minister said. Anything major will be coming forward in future business planning process. Right now it would simply be upgrade renovations specific to maintenance, but there’s no long-term plan in this current capital plan. It will be flagged, because we’ve done a whole list of our inventory.
