Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope that’s done in the strongest possible terms in recognition, again, of the efforts that our citizens are taking on and the actions across the North and, really, across Canada. I’m wondering, just to be complete here and comprehensive, what options does the Minister see having for our public, our concerned citizens, to try and influence Canada’s position at the negotiations in Copenhagen. Thank you.
I believe, looking at the press and having been travelling around, most of the options are being exercised that are available to people. What we have is two different perspectives on an issue, and that is the challenge, and the government-of-the-day, the federal government, is going to make its determination of what it sees in the country’s best interest in balancing all these factors.
While there’s many that may not agree, that’s going to be the responsibility that they have. For those of us that want them to do more, we will have to continue to press them and we have to acknowledge, I think, that there has been a shift from the time that the federal government first got elected to where they are today, where even they now recognize that there is growing urgency in this area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the high cost of living in the Sahtu on various fronts here. I want to ask the Minister of ITI, when businesses in the Sahtu try to recover some of the costs because of the high cost of heating and power and these costs are also recovered through customers. I want to ask the Minister what his department is doing in terms of helping the businesses to reduce the cost of goods and services to make it affordable in small communities.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year we announced the number of actions that ITI was taking to help small business, specifically with BDIC, those of our clients that are best clients that we are making reduced loans available to them. We also are helping with working capital for those companies that would be ordering for goods that they would be selling. We’ve made arrangements for some effective rates for them to take advantage of. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for some of the highlights of what his department is doing. I am also asking about some of the other businesses such as the Northern Store, the Co-op or some of the other industries that have goods and services, because of the high cost of running their stores on these diesel power plants in my region, where the costs are fairly high in terms of being in the region. Mr. Speaker, I will ask the Minister if there is anything his department is doing to reduce the costs in these communities.
I am pleased to announce that my colleague the Minister of Environment and myself have had the opportunity to meet with some of the businesses that operate on a territorial-wide basis, particularly of how we could use commercial subsidies that have been identified to help reduce the cost of goods for businesses that are operating not only in the Sahtu, but throughout the North. So this is an area that we are still working on, and certainly most of the businesses were very eager to work with us and to find ways to not only to reduce costs of the products they sold, but to make their businesses much more energy efficient. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I want to zero in on the comment that the Minister made in terms of the commercial subsidies for these small businesses. Can the Minister inform the House as to what type of…When would this type of discussion come to the floor in terms of looking at our commercial subsidies? I know the program is in place and I know there is some controversy as to the effectiveness of this commercial subsidy program. Can the Minister tell me and the House here what type of discussion can come to the floor in terms of the commercial subsidies program?
As the Member knows, we have an electricity review underway and as part of the terms of reference, this is one of the areas the review team will be looking at and this is what we will be reviewing when we get the recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to reviewing the recommendations with the rest of the Members of this House here and Cabinet colleagues. Can the Minister tell us as to when these recommendations can come to the knowledge of the public in terms of this review of this specific issue on reducing the cost of living in our small communities?
As we indicated earlier at the start of this process, we are working very closely with all Members of this House. We will come forward when we have had full opportunity to receive the recommendations and review them fully. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to my Member’s statement regarding the decision to formulate a committee, the Territorial Admissions Committee, to oversee the administration and processes of individuals to long-term care facilities.
Mr. Speaker, I believe we have to have a fair and equitable system in regards to accessibility of programs and services with regard to persons who need it. We also have to be aware that there are cultural and social needs, individual needs, with regard to the regions they come from and based on their diets, traditional foods and whatnot. By this decision being made at the Yellowknife level, we have to also ensure that the communities such as Aklavik, with regard to the Joe Greenland Centre, is also given a fair share of infrastructure dollars to ensure facilities are up to par and, more importantly, that they are functional and able to ensure the care of patients in our communities and not all in Yellowknife Centre with the new Dementia Centre.
So I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what kind of assurances can she give to employees of the Joe Greenland Centre and the patients who are presently in the Joe Greenland Centre, that ongoing care will be there and also that they will not see any change in services and that, if anything, we will see an improvement in programs and services. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Territorial Admissions Committee‘s objective is to make access to our existing long-term care units across the NWT fair and equitable, and we project to do that by having a standardized assessment process whereby all of the applicants and residents in need of a long-term care facility will be considered equally and fairly, so that not one region is banished in any way.
I would like to assure the Member that this will not in any way impact the creation of new facilities, because that’s a completely different capital process. This has to do with how we maximize the use of existing long-term care units across the Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My concern is with the opening of the new Dementia Centre here in Yellowknife where a lot of patients will receive that special care, but, more importantly, they are presently in the territorial hospital system with regard to care facilities in Inuvik, Fort Smith, here in Yellowknife and, more importantly, to ensure that those people who need the service for dementia are given the service, but we move the people in there that need that 24-hour care and specialized care in that particular area. But by moving these people, we don’t see a decrease in regard to programs and services in the other care facilities such as the Joe Greenland Centre. So my concern is more in regards to the new facility coming on stream and also the individuals being moved to that facility, that it does not affect the operations and maintenance of those other facilities. That is where I am going with my question. Has that been looked at with regard to the transition that is going to take place of moving these patients into the new Dementia Centre?
I understand the Member’s concern and I want to assure the Member that our plan is not to move residents from regional centres in smaller communities and move them into Yellowknife into the Territorial Dementia Centre, thereby decreasing the use of these long-term care facilities in communities like Aklavik. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the Member that the Territorial Dementia Centre, not only that, but, say, the assisted living campus in Hay River, is specialized, very high-level care facilities that are in desperate need. We have residents with severe dementia that are at the hospital right now or are not being taken care of adequately in the way we want to. So we are building this 28-bed facility for use by all of the residents of the Territories, but it’s not meant to bring people in from smaller communities unless they absolutely need this service. When those applicants do apply, we wanted to have a standardized process that’s fair and equitable for all applicants for all of the Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I was praising the establishment of the Dementia Centre, so the people who do have dementia in our hospitals will now have a space which is specialized care for dementia patients, so we can move them out of the hospital into this facility. That was my understanding. So from what the Minister is saying, it sounds like no one is going to move from the regions into this facility with dementia, they are going to keep them in the hospitals in the region. So I would just like to get a clarification from the Minister. Is the intention of the Department of Health and Social Services to keep this Yellowknife facility as a Yellowknife facility or is it a territorial facility?
There are two things being done with respect to long-term care facilities. We know that facilities in Aklavik and some other communities are very old. They need to be renovated. There are some communities without long-term care facilities. So we are doing a planning study for a long-term care facility. We are looking at a generic design, because we understand this designing and planning study and master plan takes so long to develop. We want to establish a generic long-term care facility for small communities so that as we find the money, we can build them without having to do the whole process over.
With respect to the Dementia Centre, that is a highly specialized dementia care facility that only the residents who need that level of care will be admitted to from all across the Territories. But I want to assure the Member, there are beds in Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Simpson and Inuvik where people with dementia will still be able to live and function. So this Territorial Dementia Centre is designed for the most acute case and we want to make sure that it remains a territorial facility and that all residents, elders and residents, will have access to it fairly and equitably. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a final, short supplementary question.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to request of the Minister if she could pass on the message to the residents of the Joe Greenland Centre and, more importantly, the staff of this transitional period, what the process is and, more importantly, the residents, patients and families that this process is out there. Get the message out and get those people aware that this change has taken place and make sure it’s open and transparent so everybody can take advantage of it. Mahsi.
Yes, I will commit to the Member that I will work with the Member to do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper, oral questions. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to use this occasion to do a quick follow-up to both a statement and some oral questions I had for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Some time ago I was asking the Minister about an issue, which is abandoned gas stations here in Yellowknife and certainly throughout the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, the issue really comes down to this: that gas stations, for whatever reason they are closed, are left as public eyesores and certainly the potential for an environmental mess being there is quite high. So, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources is: when there is no intent to reopen these abandoned gas stations -- if I may describe them that way -- would he look at creating regulations or rules around this to have to come up with an environmental remediation plan to ensure that they don’t turn into toxic sites? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we have been looking at this issue and recognize the policy and legislative framework has some gaps in it. It’s not as strong as it could be, so we are going to be looking at how we bring forward regulations that will allow us to close those loopholes and make a tighter framework. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, may I say I certainly appreciate the answer from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, when can we expect some type of adoption of regulations or plans to recognize this particular problem? I certainly see it as an issue that we don’t need to wait for a contaminated site to cause problems and set off alarms. Mr. Speaker, I would certainly like to hear from the Minister his opinion and, certainly, objective of the department as to when they hopefully will have this plan in place to update the regulations. Thank you.
We assembled an interdepartmental working group to look at this. We hope that by later this year we will be able to come forward with a plan for next steps. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, since raising this issue some time ago, I have had a number of people express certain support for this type of issue. Again, they see two things, the land and gas station looks like an eyesore. The second issue was highlighted earlier today, is the fact that the potential for an environmental risk is certainly there.
Mr. Speaker, hopefully this will be the final question on this issue, because I think the Minister is certainly addressing it. Is the Minister open to public opinion on this? Is there a possibility of raising awareness, of looking for some ideas on how to fairly address this problem going forward throughout the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my colleague Mr. Ramsay’s questions about the H1N1 vaccination. Today, before lunch, Minister Lee had approached me and asked if I would join in an immunization of some people who are recognizable, I suppose, in the community, going down to get the H1N1. I very seriously considered it. I rethought it. Interestingly, right after lunch, I got forwarded an e-mail that had gone out to the employees of a fairly large company here in the North, warning employees that if they had egg allergies they should not be getting this. Coincidentally, I have been diagnosed with an egg allergy in the last six months. I would have gone with Ms. Lee.
My question is this: there are a lot of people who are sensitive and allergic to egg. When Ms. Lee indicates that people going for the vaccination can ask questions, I want to know what do the people administering the vaccination ask those people. If I had gone there at one o’clock today, would they have asked me if I had an egg allergy? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for the question, because that is very helpful. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that -- and the process will be the same all across the Territories -- when a resident goes to get their flu vaccine, they will be interviewed. They won’t be given a shot right away. They have to identify themselves with their names, to make sure that they have a health card. They will be asked if they are allergic to eggs and if they have any other underlying conditions, and then the resident will be given an opportunity to ask questions. Then, if they are comfortable with that, they will be moved to the next table where they will be given a vaccine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In the press release that was put out by the government, it does say that those who plan to line up for the vaccine should not be in a hurry. Health officials say flu clinic staffers will ask people if they have any risk factors such as chronic illness or pregnancy. So it doesn’t actually specifically in this communique speak to the issue of egg allergy, so I hope that even this discussion here on the floor of the House today will raise people’s awareness about that potential issue and, perhaps in the future, communications on this, because it is such a common thing, this could be included in it. As I said, most of the communication between Mr. Ramsay and Ms. Lee centred on the ability of people to ask questions, but I am very thankful and glad to hear the Minister say that that is a specific question which would be asked of those who are seeking the immunization. Thank you.
The previous question from the Member for Kam Lake dealt with the ingredients. I think there is so much information about this vaccine, I think it is helpful for us to get questions in the House. I do my best to answer them, but there is a flu line and public health officials in our Territories are doing their best job to answer us. I just want to get the message out. When a resident goes to the flu clinic, and I would invite them to go there -- I think Hay River is having a flu fair on Thursday -- even if they are not sure if they want to do that or not, the computer screen is standardized, it has a series of questions that they will be asked. At the same time, they could have their questions answered and when the public is comfortable, then they could move on to getting their vaccination. I realize we can’t have all the information out there, but I think that is a fairly regular process. The reason why they asked if somebody is pregnant or not is because a different vaccine can be given to someone who is pregnant. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of ITI in regards to the proposed CANOL Heritage Trail Doi T’oh Park. Mr. Speaker, I tabled some pictures of an expedition that happened this past summer in terms of land rovers from B.C. going way into the proposed park heritage trail. I want to ask the Minister of ITI in terms of his ability to work with the Minister of Transportation or ENR in terms of how do we prevent these types of land rovers from coming into some very sensitive ecological areas in the Mackenzie Mountains in terms of having these land rovers not coming into the Mackenzie Mountains anymore.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand my colleague and the Minister of ENR have agreed to work very closely with people of the community to make sure that we try to reduce this activity as much as possible. When I was in Whitehorse and had the opportunity to meet with my counterpart from the Yukon government, I asked him what, if anything, were they doing to monitor the people coming into the Northwest Territories through the Yukon with ATVs and so on. He has indicated that, as far as they were concerned, it was a public highway and the public is free to enter into the Northwest Territories. I think this is something that we tried to address through the Wildlife Act and so on, but we will be prepared to work with the Sahtu governments to try to reduce this activity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
