Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me pleasure to recognize my wife and my biggest supporter, Judy.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this time to recognize a friend of mine, Everett McQueen, and his two lovely daughters he has with him, Wynter and Montana. Welcome.
Mr. Speaker, I made a statement on artists. I’d like to recognize Wynter and Montana as extraordinary up and coming fiddlers. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize a constituent of mine, Mr. Everett McQueen, and his two daughters, Wynter and Montana. I can’t tell who is who because they’re twins, but it’s nice to see them here.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize Mr. Tom Beaulieu in the gallery.
Laughter.
Welcome to everybody in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today talked about dental surgery services in the NWT and the fact that the Department of Health has worked with the federal government and is now providing dental services through dentists in both Hay River and Inuvik.
My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Now that we’ve worked out this agreement with NIHB, will the department be working with the dentists in Yellowknife to provide similar services here in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I was very pleased that the officials were able to work out an agreement with the federal government and that surgeries have been booked. It started being delivered in Hay River as of Monday. I was hoping to be there for the opening, but I couldn’t make it.
I think what’s really important to note here is that the dispute we had with the federal government was that there are costs associated with dental service, and the federal government is only paying for these non-insured health benefits to our aboriginal population. Dental surgery is not an insured service. I think everybody should know that. GNWT does not pay for dental surgery; that is not part of our health care plan. It is a plan that the federal government provides to aboriginal people of the Territories. That’s one of the reasons.
The other thing is that Stanton Territorial Hospital is over capacity. They are not able to offer the days available in their surgery room to provide this service, whereas Hay River and Inuvik have surgery rooms and surgery staff who are being underused. I think that as a government we need to make sure that, where the service can be provided in regional centres, we encourage that as much as possible. We had a waiting list of about 350 kids in the South Slave area that we needed to address. So that is why we had to push that really hard to get it to happen.
I am willing to look at what’s possible in areas other than Hay River and Inuvik, but the focus right now is to get it done and get it running and reduce the waiting list in the South Slave area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That sounded an awful lot like a no. Yellowknife does have the largest aboriginal population in the Northwest Territories, the largest single population of aboriginals. So there are individuals who live in Yellowknife who would be able to get those advantages. I understand that there is a waiting list in Yellowknife as well and that there are young children who require dental surgery services in Yellowknife who will have to ship out to Edmonton or other locations if we can’t find a way to get it to happen here.
I understand that there are some issues at Stanton, but at the same time I also know that they shut down the operating room for the summers for extended periods of time. So there’s obviously some time to do some surgeries in Stanton if the Minister were willing to work with local dentists.
I guess I’m asking the Minister to commit to working with the local dentists in Yellowknife to arrange to have them provide dental services in the operating room here in Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, the plan is that those who are eligible for non-insured health benefits and dental surgery, from and including Norman Wells and south, will be travelling to Hay River. Until we opened the clinic in Hay River, they had been travelling to Edmonton. Now they will be travelling to Hay River, and they will get their services there.
We need to work on how we best use our facilities. Hay River had a built-in dental surgeon who’s been doing it for 30 years. We had a waiting list there. We need to use that facility. There are no surgeries being done in that hospital, when we are paying for the staff and the facility.
Now, Stanton is an acute care facility. They have to do the work that we need to get done under the health care benefits for the entire population. It is a different kind of hospital, and I believe that if we can deliver services in centres other than Yellowknife, we need to do that, because we’re paying for this.
That still sounds like a no. I don’t quite understand why the Minister isn’t willing to work with the dentists in Yellowknife to provide these services in Yellowknife. I understand the importance of providing it to the other communities as well. I’m not suggesting we stop, but the lists are large, and there are dentists here who are qualified to do this work and are willing to do this work.
At the risk of repeating myself, I think I’ll ask a very similar question. Will the Minister work with the local dentists to find a way to provide oral dental surgeries in Yellowknife as well as the other communities?
Mr. Speaker, once again I want to state that dental surgery is not an insured service. Government does not provide that service. The federal government provides the services to our aboriginal population, and we are trying to accommodate that. Having said that, Yellowknife has a very vibrant and very reputable dentist and dental surgeon population. Anywhere else in Canada dental surgeries are provided by private clinics. There’s no reason why the private clinics in Yellowknife couldn’t look at opening that. If the dentists and dental professionals in Yellowknife want to talk to me and work with me — and I’d like to work with them — to see if that’s at all possible…. I believe Yellowknife, better than any community in the NWT, has the room for private clinics and private business. All other people who need dental surgery will be covered by third party insurance, other than the government and other than NIHB.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I want some clarification on that response that was just provided. It sounds an awful lot like you’re telling me that this government will work with dental surgeons in Inuvik and Fort Smith to provide them with facilities for their oral surgeons, but if you happen to be a dentist in Yellowknife, no, we’re not going to help you; do it on your own. Is that kind of what you’re telling me now, Ms. Minister?
Mr. Speaker, I’m willing to explain as long as I need to, to get the point across. What I’m saying is that any dentist in the Territories could provide this service for those residents who are eligible under NIHB, which gets funding from the federal government. A vast majority of the population in the Territories gets employee benefits, or it’s a private practice situation. We are covered by third party insurance.
Because we have facilities in Inuvik and Hay River that are not being used that the government is paying for, we are looking at opening a facility there. Yellowknife is over capacity. Stanton is fully used at all times. The most they could offer is a one day surgery capacity every eight weeks, whereas Hay River can offer it 10 weeks in a row. In order for us to use our money as best as possible, it makes sense for us to do it in Hay River now. I’m prepared to look at Yellowknife, but with the variables right now, it’s better for Hay River.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to my Member’s statement. Like I mentioned, the Joe Greenland Centre, which is a level 3 facility, is now 30 years old. I know that in previous years — and I’ve been looking through the capital budgets — there were dollars allocated to do a major retrofit on this facility. Now I see it’s nowhere to be seen in the books, yet we’re building new facilities. We’re building dementia centres; we’re building care facilities in the larger centres.
I’d like to ask the Minister where this department is going to ensure that there will be elderly care available to communities so that their elders can live out their days in their communities without having to fly out of their region and go to regional centres, so that they can be taken care of closer to home, around family members and loved ones.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question from the Member. I’ve been to Aklavik many a time, but I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Joe Greenland Centre until my recent visit there in May. I want to tell you that the department is very well aware of the demographic trend of the NWT population, which is in line with the rest of Canada. It says that the biggest growth over the next ten to 20 years will be with our elderly or older population because baby boomers are aging, and they’re going to live longer and healthier. The community of Aklavik’s demographics follow that line. I’m told that there are a lot fewer births and young children and they’re a more aging population, and we need to make sure that we are planning for that.
The Joe Greenland Centre, as it was built and as it’s operating, is not suitable for a long term care facility. I am working with the department to see how we could plan for the future of Aklavik and address the need for independent senior housing units there, because a long-term care facility needs to be 24-7. It’s a lot more labour intensive, and that’s taken care of in Inuvik. I’m willing to look at Aklavik.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t agree that the residents from my communities have to go to Inuvik for elderly care. If anything, I want them to remain in their communities and these facilities to function in our communities so they’re able to be provided with that service in the communities rather than having them exported out of our communities, because the elders do play a critical role in the social development of our communities.
So again I’d like to ask the Minister exactly when we are going to see some capital investment in the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik so that it can be brought up to safe standards in regard to a 30 year old facility.
The Joe Greenland Centre is over 30 years old. There have been renovations worked on. The board suggests that it is not possible to revive it to the level that it needs to be to function the way it was meant. I have to tell you that we are not going to be able to have a long term care facility in every place, but we need to make sure that whereas the regional centres like Inuvik or Yellowknife could have more acute care programs, communities like Aklavik need to have a facility that meets the need of the community to look after their elders. It will be more of a level 1 and level 2 care, and other centres will have level 3 and 4. We need to be rational about that. I’m willing to look at Aklavik to see what facility we could have there to look after the elderly as a growing population.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement, these facilities were put in place back in the ’70s so that they could provide elderly care in the regions I mentioned: Fort Resolution, Behchoko, Deline and Fort Simpson. Those were regional facilities. The facility in Aklavik is a regional facility. It also provides employment to people in the region and in those communities. I think that we also have to not lose sight that this is more than just simply building $10 million or $20 million facilities and regional centres so that you can fill them up with people from communities. That should not be the plan of this government.
Again I’d like to ask the Minister: is there a report in regard to the facility in Aklavik, and what has to be expended to bring it up to today’s standards?
There have been studies done. I don’t know if that was specifically to the Joe Greenland Centre or in terms of facilities and requirements for the entire NWT, but I will look into it to see what we have and give the Member a copy.
Mr. Speaker, I’m advising the Member that we have to look at the community of Aklavik to see what the needs are. I’m not going to presume to know all of the cultural and demographic make-up of Beaufort-Delta, but there is a very close connection between Inuvik and Aklavik. If we’re going to have two centres, we need to make sure we’re not repetitive in our services being delivered there. It would make sense to have a facility in Aklavik for small communities that are less labour intensive and less acute and leave it to Inuvik, where there’s a hospital, for those who need more intense 24-7 care.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These facilities provide employment to people in the communities. With the social problems we see in our communities, where people are leaving our communities because they can’t find jobs and whatnot, this government has a responsibility to ensure that we provide services in communities, not all at the regional level. That’s exactly what I’m hearing from the Minister. Everything we do in the Mackenzie Delta, we have to go to Inuvik for our services. That should not be the case.
I’d like to ask the Minister again: when is this government going to decentralize programs back into communities so they can really provide services for communities? We don’t have any services, because they’re all being allocated to the Inuvik region. I’d like to ask the Minister again: when will we see an improvement in services to elders in our communities instead of having to export our seniors out of our communities to programs and services offered by the Department of Health and Social Services?
What I was suggesting is not a centralization in Inuvik. I support the idea of decentralization. What I’m saying is that we have to avoid duplication. If we built the same facilities in all communities, that’s not going to work. We can’t afford that. What I’m saying is that Aklavik has a growing elderly population, and as much as there are elderly who can live relatively independently with support from the community, we need to have a facility there that meets that need. We don’t have that in Aklavik right now. I’m willing to work with the Member to put that into a planning process so that we are prepared in the long term, when we know that the need for a larger and more independent facility in Aklavik will be necessary.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Before I go any further, I would like to remind Members of the length of question period and supplementary questions and answers as well. We’ve got 20 minutes gone on question period, and we’ve only done two Members, so please respect the time.
The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement today, I want to focus on the issue of health services and services that fall under the purview of the health authority in Hay River.
I want to talk about doctors’ contracts, what we’re going to do about the vacancy in our CEO position, how the budgeting for our renovation and replacement of our hospital is coming along and also what’s on the horizon for staffing and programming at the assisted living facility which is under construction. I’ve given the Minister a heads-up on all that.
As to the contract for doctors, how long has it been since we’ve had a contract in the NWT with which the health authorities can go out and recruit physicians?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Mr. Speaker, the contract is currently in place, and that contract will be in place until such time as it’s replaced by another. We know there are negotiations underway, and we don’t want to speak about anything to do with that. But, yes, be assured that we have a working contract, and all recruitment and retention of doctors is being conducted under that contract.
I understand that contract has been in place for some time now, and potentially, when the new contract is negotiated, some aspects of it will make it easier to recruit more physicians to the Northwest Territories.
As I said in my Member’s statement, our CEO has recently resigned. That always causes some instability. It creates an environment that’s not so good in a small health authority like Hay River’s. What is the plan for replacing the CEO in Hay River?
I can tell you that from the information I have, the CEO has chosen to leave his post for personal reasons. He has enjoyed being in Hay River, and he has done a good job in delivering services there.
I don’t want to get into too much detail in this setting, but Hay River seems like it’s a destination of choice for others, for people who want to work there. I look forward to having the public administrator going down to Hay River and having more discussion on what’s in the plan, as well as keeping the Members informed.
We do have some ideas about how to address that, details I really don’t want to be speaking about in this forum. We do want to have input from the community and inform the community and the Members.
I was hoping that just being able to put something on the record about that today would bring some comfort to the people who work in the authority, who are, of course, always going to welcome the leadership that a CEO brings to an institution like that.
I was wondering if we could get an update from the Minister on how we’re doing on the development plan for the upgrading or replacement of the Hay River Hospital.
I just want to say that the Hay River people should not be too concerned about transition and succession. I think we are far from that. There are a number of possibilities.
The second thing is, as well as the essential surgery that’s being done, mammography service started on Monday for Hay River, which is new. On Thursday the master development plan, or redevelopment plan, of Hay River…. We have contracted a health planner, and they have the contract as of March ’08. The final plan is to be completed by December, and they will work through the new planning process we have.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you. Then just the last item. The assisted living facility is looking very nice; it’s nearing completion. Now we’re interested in staffing and programming. Is the staffing for that new facility going to be with GNWT employees, and where are we with the programming of the officer in that new facility?
We expect the facility to be open in December. The community of people who work with persons with disabilities in Hay River are overseeing that work through a committee.
We have not finalized the staffing model yet, because we’re going through the budgeting process with the Building Our Future Strategic Initiative Committee. Those monies have to be approved for staffing. I look forward to working through that process with the Member and keeping the Members advised of the details.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about some energy alternatives for the residents of Tu Nedhe. I’d like to ask the Minister of the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, Mr. Bob McLeod, some questions.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this House: are there any plans under the energy program to provide assistance to our residents for this winter?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee coordinates all the energy initiatives for the government, because energy consumption crosses all departmental lines.
We do have a program that’s been in place starting last year. It’s a program to assist homeowners and consumers so that they can replace products that are in everyday use and reduce their costs by improving their energy consumption.
Can the Minister provide me with some details on what’s planned, if anything, to assist residents of Tu Nedhe?
We do have a number of initiatives underway. The primary one is the Energy Efficiency Incentive program, and that’s part of a program we had last year.
This year we’ve revised the program substantially. We’re focusing on home heating. We have a number of initiatives there. One is that we’re providing a rebate for purchase of wood stoves, because the use of wood stoves is one of the easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We also have rebates for wood pellet heating appliances and for high efficiency oil furnaces.
Also, in the communities that are in the Member’s riding fuel is disbursed by the Petroleum Products Division, and there are some subsidies involved in setting that price.
