WHEREAS Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in 2010;
AND WHEREAS persons with disabilities have the right to be treated equally, with dignity and respect;
AND WHEREAS almost 15 percent of the population of the NWT lives with a disability, which translates to a conservative 6,000 people, with challenges in every community;
AND WHEREAS an additional one in nine people in the NWT are impacted by a disability as family members and caregivers;
AND WHEREAS people with disabilities are at higher risk for neglect, abuse, poverty, isolation, depression and mental health and wellness issues;
AND WHEREAS in 2001 the Premier of the Northwest Territories set up a steering partnership tasked to develop a framework for effective programs and services for persons living with disabilities in the Northwest Territories;
AND WHEREAS a 2008 GNWT Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities was adopted to meet the needs and improve the lives of people living with disabilities in the North;
AND WHEREAS there continues to be considerable and long-standing barriers to full participation and citizenship in society for people with disabilities in the areas of what the NWT Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities identified as the five building blocks: housing, education, employment, income and disability supports;
AND WHEREAS transportation, mobility and community funding issues are of primary and common concern for persons with disabilities across the NWT;
AND WHEREAS when the NWT Disabilities Council met with various stakeholder departments, some of the departments were unaware of the action plan;
AND WHEREAS the NWT Disabilities Council has done an evaluation of the implementation of the action plan and concluded that the effort has been woefully inadequate;
AND WHEREAS between 2008 and 2015 there was little progress, few accomplishments and no formal evaluation of the status of the actions called for in the plan;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that the government work with the Northwest Territories Disabilities Council and community councils to assess the reasons for the failure to implement the action plan formulated in 2008;
AND FURTHER, that the government work with the Disabilities Council to propose the best way to actively move forward with a Disabilities Action Plan;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the government produce a response for consideration by the House by June of 2016.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is something I learned about at the recent AGM, annual general meeting, of the Disabilities Council. It turns out that we did good work back in the 15th Assembly and even the 14th. Starting in 2004 there was interest in addressing the issues people with disabilities face. In 2008 there was an action plan that was produced and tabled in the House and there was some good work that went on in between times.
Between 2008 and 2015, however, there seemed to be a major shift and focus away from disabilities. This prompted the NWT council’s interest and proposal to the Stabilization Fund for NGOs, a program under the Premier which was much appreciated, to evaluate the action plan and feedback on services in the North from multiple vested groups. They had substantial feedback, as it turned out, from people who both shared their personal stories, those who shared their experience in the work that they do with people with disabilities, and actually some departments, as well, who shared information and status on programs and services. From this work it was clear that there are gaps and a new strategic plan with measurable outcomes and ongoing evaluation is required.
The ultimate conclusion was that we need to restart the conversation and refocus the land back onto people with disabilities throughout the North and the people and families that support and care for those individuals.
The work that they did as a result of the Stabilization Fund was modest but significant, enabling them to get some work going. The survey responses came from 321 people throughout the territory, including 115 living with disability, 58 parents or caregivers and 148 service providers, and as we heard today in statements, these were from 32 communities.
The report of the council focused on the five building blocks, which I mentioned: education, employment, income, disability supports and housing. In each area there were five priorities that were selected. Within education, an example is a third of the respondents identified difficulties with physical barriers in education settings.
They concluded that needs for education, both at the institutional and personal levels, need training for educators and they need physical accessibility for educational institutions and access to accommodations.
Under the area of employment, again there were several priorities identified. They found under personal limitations, 15.7 percent stated that even after all barriers to employment had been addressed, some people will still be unable to work. Because of this, sufficient income supports must be available so that all people can live comfortably.
Under the employment block, some of the priorities were extending the duty to accommodate to the private sector; put in place a funding resource program for workplace accommodations; employer training for awareness of disability issues and accommodations; physical access to workplaces and public spaces; and reassessing income support, especially for those who are completely prevented from being able to work.
Again, under the block of income, poverty and security, high cost of living and benefits, cost of programs and services were all priorities and they found that 20 percent of 115 personal survey respondents stated that last year alone they had spent over $1,000 out of pocket on health and support related specifically to their disability.
The priorities under that area of income were poverty and low income families and individuals needing to be prioritized, especially those who are at risk of poverty and living pay cheque to pay cheque, and I know some of these things may be addressed obliquely in on our action plan on poverty, but we’re talking now about a subset of people who need extra attention.
Income exemption amounts and overall long-term ability structures for income assistance should be assessed. Emergency funds should be in place for those who may not qualify for income assistance, and we need to assess how many NWT applicants have had benefit applications denied due to doctor error or doctor turnover.
Another major area was disability supports, and included access to supports and information, relocation for services, transportation and community accessibility, and under there that 25 percent of personal survey respondents identified a lack of transportation to and from services as an obstacle. We heard today in a Member’s statement from my colleague Mr. Nadli that that was a major issue. I talked to people in Hay River with a similar sort of thing.
Stigma and attitudinal barriers was a priority under this block of disability supports, and the need for trained professionals. Again, the priorities were addressing relocation concerns, so to keep people as close to home as possible; to address availability and affordability of aides and assistive devices; to address the lack of trained professionals through recruitment and retention; and an updated information guide to disability and supports and services is needed. It is now out of date. There is one as a result of the action plan, but it is in need of updating, and I think that’s something that should be routine.
Housing. Housing priorities included affordability, accessibility, modifications and renovations, and under that, 36 percent of respondents anticipated needing major repairs, modifications or improvements to their homes in the next five to 10 years in order to assist them specifically, again, with their disabilities.
Safety, inclusion in the community was a priority area, and long-term care and supported living. Again, the priorities, actions: prioritize long-term care and supported living; prioritize and promote funding for housing modifications and renovations; address safety and inclusion concerns by building affordable and accessible housing, and consider a rent cap or other strategy; and expand accessible design, promote and encourage high accessibility standards in their design.
I know my colleagues will speak and add depth and substance to many of these remarks. I want to express appreciation to the NWT Disabilities Council for doing this work. I think it points clearly to the need to get on top of these things, re-invigorate the process, renew the action plan and work with all to get this action done.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion, as you may have gathered from my statement earlier today. I want to thank both the mover and the seconder, Mr. Bromley and Mr. Nadli, for bringing the motion forward.
I spoke in my statement about inaction, and a fairly long period of inaction in regard to taking action on the issue of NWT residents who have disabilities and closing the gaps and providing services that close the gaps for NWT disabled residents.
I think it’s important to note, as Mr. Bromley did, he gave you some statistics, but the impact of a disability in a family or in a community doesn’t affect just the disabled person. It affects all those people around them who support them, who are required to support them in one way or another. Caregivers, family members, certainly schools are impacted. It’s not just the disabled persons that we have to talk about here. We are not providing the services and the programs that we should to the disabled persons to the detriment of many other people as well.
The council’s report, as Mr. Bromley has mentioned, highlights many gaps and many needs in the services that are required across the territory. I think it’s an excellent document. I have to confess I haven’t read the whole thing, but I’ve certainly read the summary and I’ve read part of the full document and it’s a well done summary, it’s a well done survey, and I don’t think anyone can say that it didn’t canvass the majority of the NWT, 32 out of 33 communities, and some 320-plus people who were canvassed and responded to the survey. I think it’s a very excellent summary of what one could say is the state of the nation, the state of the NWT nation in regard to disabilities and where we sit.
My view at this point is that this summary document, this project document has provided the government with a way forward. It’s done a great analysis of where we sit at the moment, and there are five recommendations at the end of the document, five major recommendations which suggest how we can go forward from here. I think this motion asks basically for the same thing. Maybe not specific to recommendations, but we’re asking for the government to find out, do an analysis, find out why there’s been no action on the Disabilities Action Plan since, basically, 2007, 2008. Why is it not a priority for this government? Why nothing is happening. Why we still have NWT residents who are struggling to live, to work, to get educated, all because they happen to have a disability.
The Minister, earlier, was answering some questions, and he spoke as the Minister of Health and Social Services, but he’s also the Minister responsible for Disabilities, and I think we have to recognize as a government that if we have a Minister responsible for Disabilities, then we have to give them the tools to work with. I suggested that this situation now is somewhat like the homelessness situation was previously. We now have a homelessness coordinator who is pulling all departments together and presumably working on programs across all government departments. We need the same thing here with the Disabilities Action Plan.
We have Education, we have Health, we have Housing, to name three major ones. MACA, I’m sure, is involved in there to a certain extent. We need somebody who has the funding but also who has the authority to reach across all departments and to pull them together.
I have to ask these questions, and I think the answers are no, but is there coordination across our government in what we’re doing for disabled persons? Is it adequately funded? Are we following the advice of our NGOs, the advice of the people that are working the front-lines that are dealing with persons with disabilities on a day-to-day basis? There are lots of departments involved. Someone has to pull them together and someone has to work with the council, and that’s an ask in this particular motion.
Lastly, I think I mentioned, and I hope it was well heard, but in my statement I said we can send a message to the 18th Assembly. If we speak strongly, if we speak loudly, if we support this motion we can tell the 18th Assembly this is a priority, and it’s a priority not just for the Members of this Assembly but for the territory as a whole. This is something that we need to work on. We’ve waited some seven or eight years to get some real action going forward. We should start now in 2015 and not put it off until 2016 or 2017. It can be done. As I’ve said before, let’s do it.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the mover, Mr. Bromley, for bringing this forward, and colleagues for speaking on it at this point.
I think the motion itself speaks to the most vulnerable in society who need help, people with disabilities. I can safely say that there a few of my relatives who are disabled and it’s disheartening to see them struggle, especially at the community level when the programs and services are very limited at the same time and when services like handivan services are basically stopped for one community because another community can’t afford to maintain those services. It’s rather sad that with this government we can’t do that and then people have no recourse but to look at perhaps the federal government to step in and see if those services could be delivered to them.
Also, at the same time, we have to think carefully about our priorities. We lend resources to big infrastructure projects, but at the same time, social needs such as this are something that we didn’t really intend perhaps to not consider, but it just so happens that’s how government is run, is that there are limited fiscal resources. So there are challenges, but we need to think carefully about our priorities and ensure that we’re pulling all the right cords in the right direction.
At the community level, a disability is a very big challenge. In larger centres like Yellowknife you have all the services here. In smaller communities people are basically left to fend for themselves if they’re disabled and, unfortunately, families have to become caretakers, relatives, uncles, sisters, aunts. That’s how it is at the community level, but what’s most disappointing is the inaction of the period of time when this was sitting on someone’s table or someone’s desk and collected dust. We need to move on this initiative in terms of addressing the needs of disabled persons in the NWT.
So, today I speak in favour of this motion and I’m hoping all of my colleagues will stand in support of it too. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The motion that’s here before us, over the length of this government, I think at the same time we can’t be pulling in favours from the Minister responsible. We have 19 Members in this House and it’s our responsibility to bring action items, bring concerns forward to the Legislative Assembly, and over the four years I believe this is one organization and one action plan that we didn’t give its due respect and due action to. I know it’s at the end of this Legislative Assembly now and we’re trying to figure out how to address this issue.
Back in 2012-2013 I had asked questions of the Ministers responsible, made a couple of comments. I’d just like to be as responsible, as well, saying that I didn’t follow up on these. I asked questions, where were they, and I could have followed it up in a more timely manner, as well, to stay on top of the Minister.
Of course, this is a big concern and when they ask about why this action plan failed, I think it’s the responsibility of the House to stay on top of this and keep the government accountable and transparent to the action plans that we help develop or previous governments developed. But in the motion itself, it does further recognize that the government worked with the Disabilities Council to find the best way to actively move forward with the action plan and we do have a 2008 action plan. I know the NWT Disabilities Council just developed an action plan that has numerous recommendations throughout the report, and as Ms. Bisaro mentioned earlier, there are five main recommendations at the end, but if you read it throughout the report, there are some really good actions and recommendations brought forward as well.
In one of my statements that I had made in 2012, I just want to share with Members that in 2010 Canada ratified the UN Convention’s Right for Persons with Disabilities. This is the right of full inclusion for every person. Only through ensuring accessibility in all aspects of a person’s life can there be full acceptance and inclusion. This includes the removal of all visible and invisible barriers that restrict access to activities and services. Until this is accomplished, individuals with disabilities will continue to experience a lesser accessibility to housing, education, employment, medical or health, recreational, community, social and required services. Pretty much all concerns that some Members have mentioned already in speaking to this motion.
Persons with disabilities have the right to be treated equally, with dignity and with respect and I think what this motion is calling for is the next step that as we leave this government we make a recommendation to the 18th Assembly and to the government moving into the 18th that they work with what the NWT’s disabilities developed, an NWT’s Disability Service Project in 2015, and also kind of correlate it with the action plan from 2008.
I’m really glad that Mr. Bromley and Mr. Nadli have brought the motion forward. As I said, it is the responsibility of all Members here to stay on top of the action plans. I know as a government there are a lot of reports and a lot of action plans that get brought before us and I just want to apologize to the NWT Disabilities Council that as Members we didn’t stay on top of it, but I think this motion is going to bring forward the discussions that are needed moving forward. I also just want to thank them for developing that report and I do hope that it reflects some of the community concerns as well. I know we have a very active disabilities council in Inuvik and I hope that the report, as I didn’t get to read the whole thing, I glimpsed over some of the action items and the recommendations. They look great, but I do hope it reflects what we’re seeing in the communities. But as I mentioned, there are a lot of areas where there are barriers that need to be addressed.
I support the motion and hopefully we can start seeing some action going to the 18th Assembly on persons with disabilities and updating that action plan as well as addressing some of the recommendations brought forward to this Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to thank the mover and seconder for bringing this motion forward. We’ve been working with our local disabilities council for a number of years and one of the things that stands out with us, we’ve talked about our mobility, the mobility of these individuals, and our chairperson has been working and she’s indicated that if these individuals don’t have mobility it’s hard for them to get out, it’s hard to go to school, hard to go to work, hard to be sociable.
With the lack of effectiveness that we’ve had with these plans and implementing any kind of strategy, it’s put a situation of the NWT Disabilities Council and our Hay River local one for an example. Without any kind of funding, without any kind of programs out there, these organizations are left to fight, and literally fight over funding from other organizations throughout the Northwest Territories. You would think that the two organizations would be linked directly, but oftentimes they’re competing over the same dollars. It’s because of the lack of planning that we’ve done here, the lack of things we’ve done over the last 10 or 15 years on this issue.
We need to work with the GNWT, with the people for disabilities, with all the councils and all the people throughout the Northwest Territories to improve this situation. Mr. Nadli spoke today about a handivan for Enterprise. In the community of Hay River we had a handivan for a while. They continue to operate it, but now only for a select group of people that they can actually get funding for. We have seniors and we have people with disabilities who don’t have access to any kind of handivan right now because the program is specific to our own group of people that are taking programming. It used to be open to seniors, it used to be open to the people of Enterprise and surrounding areas to help out, but because the funding is so tight they don’t have the money to operate this handivan. This is one of the factors of us not having a plan in place.
I will vote in favour of this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. To the motion, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the mover and seconder of the motion and for them bringing forward these issues in such an articulate manner. I agree with everything that has been said up to this point without reservation and support all of the items that have been spoken to. Honestly, it’s one of those things that there should have been more work done on this strategy and all the work that went into it and all the recommendations. It hasn’t happened.
I’m glad that even though this is very late in this Assembly, it’s being brought up and it will be front and centre of the radar when the new 18th Assembly returns to this House.
I would like to also say a big thank you to the people who do work in the NGOs. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the creativity and resourcefulness of the folks who work in the NGOs in this area of disabilities, the situation for persons with disabilities would be even more challenged than what it is right now. So I’d like to thank particularly the Hay River Council for Persons with Disabilities. As Mr. Bouchard has already mentioned, we know them personally and we know how hard they work, we know how committed they are to this cause and we, as a government, have a long ways to go to back them up in what they need. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do rise in support of this motion and I would like to thank the mover, Mr. Bromley, and Mr. Nadli for bringing it forward today.
As I’m sitting here listening to my colleagues speak toward this motion, I am saddened for a number of reasons; we failed, plain and simple. I think Mr. Moses said it clearly, we’re so bogged down with all the things that are our day-to-day lives, we forget certain things and this is one of the areas that I think that even from a Member of this House, from a Member of the Social Programs committee, we failed, and I apologize to those with disabilities out there. We’re not perfect and, unfortunately, this is late in the game that we’re bringing this forward. But we have a social contract with everyone in the Northwest Territories and we have a social contract especially with those with disabilities and hopefully this motion today makes some amends towards that action.
As you’ve heard today, Mr. Speaker, there continue to be gaps and there are too many to mention and a lot have been mentioned here today as well. It’s amazing that in this day and age, 2015, we’re talking about some of those basic areas that we take for granted. You know what? We came together as a Caucus four years ago and we had a shared vision. I remember doing that vividly and we talked about a vision of strong individuals, families and communities and that includes those with disabilities. I think we forgot about that along the way.
As you heard in the motion, 15 percent of our population suffers disabilities, roughly around 6,000 people. That’s almost the size of our public workforce. So that’s like us ignoring everyone who works for the government and that’s a large number of people.
I’m really concerned that we sometimes take accessibility for granted and that’s not right. Those who have troubles in that area have a right to dignity and I think we haven’t offered them that right here today and I’m hoping this motion, I guess, speaks a little bit to making some amends to where I think we’ve failed during the life of this 17th Assembly because they don’t need to live with that stigma, and for that we did fail and I will definitely be supporting this motion and I’m looking for all my colleagues to support the mover and seconder. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The motion that was brought by Mr. Bromley and Mr. Nadli is a motion that we haven’t talked very much about in our Assembly, as Mr. Dolynny has mentioned, and I certainly concur to let this Assembly know that I concur with all the comments by the Members on this side here and I will be supporting the motion on a going-forward basis to the election to the 18th Assembly.
When you look at a motion like this, giving thought to it does bring some personal experience with this as, growing up, I can recall working and helping my grandfather, who was in a wheelchair, and doing things for my grandfather because he was unable to use his legs so he had to be wheeled around in the house. One of the things that they did after he passed away was they built a ramp outside his house, which was way too late and just suddenly things had happened. I experienced all my brothers and sisters, you know, wanting my grandfather to be like the other grandfathers where they could walk around, but he had to be in a wheelchair. That brings a lot of emotional stuff and mental stuff, you know, and today we see that in our small communities.
Some of the houses that these wonderful people live in, there’s lots of mud and dirt, and when it rains they can’t go out and walk. They’re stuck in the house, you know? A lot of people talk about this.
So, I do want to thank Mr. Bromley and Mr. Nadli for bringing this motion forward. It brings me sadness sometimes because I loved my grandfather and at that time I didn’t see it as a disability, I thought that was part of life. He did his best. Sometimes, even when we’re healthy like this, we’re even disabled ourselves.
So I just wanted to say that I hope the message is loud and clear today that we need to continue to look after these wonderful people and help them do the best they can, especially in the small communities where, you know, they don’t have the services that the larger centres have. Yet there are a lot of good people out there, they’re working with them and they’re not recognized for the work they do. So, I just want to say, in closing, thank you, Mr. Bromley and Mr. Nadli, for bringing this motion forward.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am happy to support this motion. The first time in my riding I have seen the difficulties people with disabilities face, you know, whether it’s in the winter, we have a lot of deep snow in our communities and no vehicles for people with wheelchairs to travel around in. Many times their family members take them in their vehicles. They have to pack them in, put their wheelchair away; a lot of struggles. We do have some families that use their own money that they’ve saved up to buy a vehicle that’s needed for their child or their family member. More has to be done.
Even in Inuvik, only this past year we finally have taxis that now can take people with wheelchairs. I mean, we’re finally moving up with the times here. More needs to be done, whether it’s elevators, you know, a lot of our buildings don’t have elevator access. Simple little things like this are needed. That way people with wheelchairs or other mechanisms can move around in buildings, whether it’s public buildings, community halls. You know a lot of the challenges that our constituents face here. Now is the time we need to put money forward to make sure we live up to what they need and their standards.
I would like to thank the mover and seconder once again. I’m happy to support this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The detailed plan, the NWT Action Plan for Disabilities, has certainly come forward in 2008 and it’s a shame that it wasn’t received with better enthusiasm. During the day, of course, it probably was. It got its own nudge, but of course, like many great reports, they find themselves on the way quickly to that shelf or certainly holding that table up from wobbling.
Seniors and disabilities are my two favourite areas I’m working on and I certainly dedicate myself, any time I’m ever asked, to these particular issues and I’m always looking for ways to see what I can do more. This NWT Action Plan for Disabilities certainly was a brilliant step forward, but as we can see, it didn’t go any further than that. It wasn’t necessarily a false start, but the reality is it just didn’t go anywhere. The executive director of the Disabilities Council, in her research, was shocked to find many departments weren’t even familiar with the plan, let alone understanding it. So, with those five actions that we’ve already heard, it sort of makes you wonder about, you know, one, education, what are we doing, be it in our schools, departments, et cetera; employment, how we’re creating initiatives to get people with disabilities involved; income, which helps balance out in their troubling times and ensures they have the ability…(inaudible)…disability access, supports and certainly housing. I mean, these are certainly very important and critical facts when it comes to quality of life.
Any improvement to disabilities and the struggle they have goes a long way. But by chance, and certainly circumstances, this report, for a lot of reasons, didn’t go past being a report.
The Disabilities Council, in the absence of any follow through on this, took the initiative on their own and they certainly need to be applauded for this. Even on page 3 of the NWT Action Plan it clearly states that the NWT Health Minister needs to play a lead role in this plan, that they are to lead the Disabilities Steering Committee. The problem here we’re facing is what progress has been made, what action has been taken? Why hasn’t the Minister leaned forward into this report and done more?
Through the NWT Disabilities Council, the survey work has estimated approximately 6,000 people here in the Northwest Territories have a disability, and as my colleague Mr. Dolynny has said, that’s more than our public service. Mr. Speaker, could you imagine if everyone who had a disability was unionized and lobbied the government? My goodness, that would certainly be a force to be reckoned with.
I’ve come to the realization that the government seems to have what I sometimes call a sense of seven stages of procrastination. The McLeod government suffers from this. What do I mean by that? I’ve actually looked at this quite clearly and we see that we get reports and this is what happens.
Stage one in the procrastination: unfounded motivation and confidence. That is where the Health Minister of the day says, “We’re excited, we have an action plan. We’re going to do something. This is great. We are going to do wonderful things.”
Stage two: productive distractions. That is where the Health Minister of the day says, “We should really do something about the Disabilities Council and the action plan to help people with disabilities, but let’s just take a step back, take a look at the issue. Maybe we’ll get to it pretty soon, but we’ll get right back to them.”
Stage three of the procrastination of the government, they defined it as definitely not productive distractions. That is where the Health Minister of the day says, “We know what the problem is and our action plan tells us what the problem is and it tells us how to implement and do something about it.” But that’s where the Minister says, “Let’s run the numbers again and we’ll take a look at it again in a couple of months, but don’t worry, we’re totally in and we’ll get back to you.”
Stage four of the seven-stage procrastination problem of the government is where they do false starts. That’s where the Minister of the day says, “I want to get to know my problem just a little better before I do something.” That’s where they stand back and the Minister will say, “Wow, this is a serious problem. We’ve really got to do something.”
Stage five of the seven stages of procrastination is where the McLeod government and the Minister of the day whip around and say, “You know, nothing helps seeing the bigger picture than putting an action plan on the shelf, putting it back, taking a serious look at it later and then we’ll see how big it is. But don’t worry, the action plan will still be there when we need to get to it. By the way, does anyone want to go and get a pizza and do something else in the meantime?”
Stage six, this is where the seven stages gets to skewed perception on minimum progress. This is where the Minister of Health and certainly the McLeod government say, “Wow. Well, we’ve agreed to health and that was tough. We should congratulate ourselves. Besides, this is a pretty big step by saying we’re going to help, by golly. We’ve really moved the problem forward.” This is where they also say, “We should grab another snack.”
The seventh stage of the seven stages of procrastination I see the government going through what is called the panic mode, when they really decide that they have to get the work done at the last minute. That’s where they finally say, years later – in this case, eight years later – this is where the Minister of the day and certainly the Premier of the day and the government of the day says, “My golly, we haven’t done much but we have an action plan and that sure looks nice. Let’s dust it off and say we accomplished that at least. Wait a minute, we can blame this government… Nah, let’s not. Let’s blame the last government, or we can say it’s not this government’s problem, it’s that government’s problem.”
Mr. Speaker, as I wrap this up, I’m just going to point out that this whole action plan is faced with procrastination. People went into it with good intentions. The results, I think, show for themselves.
In closing, I want to point out that the quality of life and the determination is something we should be relentless with when helping people with disabilities. They want to be part of life and they want to contribute to life in the Northwest Territories. Many are active citizens and they deserve our full support.
Obviously, we aren’t able to do everything on every problem, whether it’s disabilities, seniors, housing or education, but what’s so important is it’s not lip service that’s paid, it’s about showing efforts of the results. A lot of people take it quite to heart when they see how much people try. The problem is they aren’t seeing the results of those efforts in this action plan. It’s easy to say you will do it, but it goes so much further when you show some results of those efforts.
In closing, I just want to say that I believe our government has greatly missed a window of opportunity here. I thank the NWT Council for Disabilities for all the work that they regularly do to improve the lives of many Northerners. I know that they care deeply, and each and every day they go through the struggle of either trying to get funding for programs or help the needs of individuals who are using those programs, providing education to those who have problems and need help and certainly helping every family who struggles, Mr. Speaker. They certainly give 100 percent each and every day. I’ve seen the work that they do and I know many Northerners have benefitted from the work that they have done, and to that, I thank you and the House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the mover and seconder for bringing this motion to the floor as well as bringing the important discussion. I’ve listened carefully to all the Members and what I think is clear is that addressing the issues of individuals living with disabilities is a shared responsibility, and clearly we need to work together on solutions, whether that’s government to government or governments working with NGOs or NGOs working together. We must all work together in meaningful partnerships to actually make change and bring about change for people with disabilities.
To that end, I’d also like to also applaud the NWT Disabilities Council for being such strong advocates for persons with disabilities and for doing the report that they recently did. The department works very closely with the NWT Disabilities Council. Recently, we collaborated on several products, including the Yellowknife Day Shelter Project and, more importantly, the Community-based Respite Project.
I recently met with the council on May 26, 2015, and at that time the preliminary results from the Disabilities Survey Project were actually shared with me. The survey is aligned with some of the work that is currently being done with the GNWT. Following up on the review, under the leadership of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, they are conducting a new baseline inventory of GNWT programs and resources that are available to persons with disabilities within the territory. That work is currently being done.
I wrote to the council on June 2nd and committed to having the findings of the final survey report considered in all future planning that is being done by the Department of Health and Social Services and other departments that have other responsibilities with respect to persons with disabilities. Mr. Speaker, I stand by that commitment today and I stand by that commitment in the future.
The final report of the survey project was shared with staff in each of the partner departments on June 9, 2015. It will be considered as we move forward with future planning, once that baseline evaluation of all the programs offered by the GNWT is done and complete.
The council has indicated that they tend to initiate dialogue with partner departments and bring those departments together to have a discussion about what they saw, what they heard and their thoughts on the plan. I checked with the department, and that meeting hasn’t been organized at this point by the council, but I know that at the Department of Health and Social Services and staff in other departments are available and obviously would be pleased to discuss the work that is already underway as well as discuss any new or future opportunities that we have with respect to persons with disabilities.
There have been a lot of suggestions to say that nothing has been done. Although I hear the Members, I don’t fully agree. I think more can be done, but there has been a number of things done as a result of that report. For example, the GNWT delivers a range of programs and services to support persons with disabilities. As the Minister, I continue to recognize the importance of supporting services and programs for persons with disabilities.
The Department of Health and Social Services provides funding to non-government organizations to provide disability-related services. NGOs remain valuable partners in the delivery of programs and services to persons with disabilities. I will give you a few examples here. This year we are providing the NWT Disabilities Council with $184,164 and an additional $226,553 for community-based respite outside of Yellowknife. The Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities receives $37,000 annually. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind receives $100,000 annually. The Yellowknife Association for Community Living receives $250,000 annually for community-based respite. The NWT Seniors’ Society receives $199,000 annually.
Mr. Speaker, we are taking a system-wide approach to best meet the needs of NWT residents with disabilities and a number of the actions that were included in the 2008 Disability Action Plan – and this is important – are now imbedded within the department’s strategic plan, or aligned closely or directly articulated in the Early Childhood Development Right From The Start Framework. Right From The Start Framework for Early Childhood Development focuses on prevention as well as identifying and providing supports for children with disabilities. This includes screening for the development of disabilities; support for at-risk families to minimize the risk and impact of disabilities; and improve diagnostic and therapeutic supports for children with disabilities. It also includes case management support for families and children, and improves support for expectant mothers for prevention of disabilities such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
The department continues to work with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment on disability initiatives such as Learning Supports for Persons with Disabilities Committee and Advocacy and Information Services.
The Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities was signed by the Government of Canada in February 2014 and will provide funding to better support education and training and to promote employment participation for persons with disabilities. This agreement was one of a series of recent labour market agreements successfully negotiated between the GNWT and the Government of Canada including the targeted initiative for older workers and Canada-NWT Job Fund agreements.
A four-year agreement will provide $1.25 million in cost matched funding to new and existing programs.
The NWT Housing Corporation and the Department of Health and Social Services work closely in developing supported independent living housing for seniors in designated communities. Five facilities are built, they’re replacing the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik, and four new facilities in Fort Liard, Fort McPherson, Fort Good Hope and Whati.
The NWT Housing Corporation also offers the CARE Program. CARE assists existing homeowners in making necessary repairs to their home to ensure a safe and healthy residence and to increase the remaining economic life of their home. Additional assistance is available for improving the accessibility of dwellings for persons with disabilities assistance. Up to $100,000 is provided in the form of a forgivable loan to subsidize the cost of preventative maintenance, checks, repairs and renovations in their existing homes.
Low-income homeowners with disabilities may be eligible for up to $100,000 to carry out modifications to their home to improve accessibility and support independent living. Modifications may include such things such as construction of wheelchair access ramps, installation of grab bars in bathrooms and creating better access to bathtubs, showers and the kitchen. There are also services such as home care assistance, respite services offered through our Home Care Program to provide temporary relief for families taking care of their loved ones who have disabilities. We fund the supportive living program, providing people with disabilities with residential services and day programs to help promote independence and personal choice.
The Department of Health and Social Services will continue to work with our partners to improve the quality of life of Northerners with disabilities by providing the appropriate access to sustainable programs. However, while I agree that we should strive constantly to improve upon what we do for residents with disabilities, Cabinet is unable to support this motion at this time and will be abstaining as it is direction to the government.
But I do commit to taking a copy of Hansard as well as all the information provided and the report from the NWT Disabilities Council and make it available to the future Minister and to the future Assembly so that they can be informed when they come to the 18th Legislative Assembly so that we can once again have some meaningful debate on this issue and move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Closing remarks. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to start by recognizing the Minister’s call for all people to be working on this, all those of us in authority, and have some responsibility for doing work on this. I think, in this particular case, I know when I, along with my colleagues Bisaro and Hawkins, in this case, attended the latest AGM of NWT council, I was a little bit shocked. I think Mr. Moses expressed disappointment that I felt in myself for not being more on top of that.
I’m glad to hear the Minister has already been working with the council and community councils in addressing many of the issues that we’re raising today, and this will be good support for him and the 18th Assembly.
I think, as mentioned, we’re really talking about our constituents, thousands of whom and thousands of families, thousands of constituent families are persons with disabilities or struggling with those things, so we’re talking about our own people. We’re talking about community well-being. We’re asking this to be made a real and active priority with every department, and we’ve heard from the Minister of Health and Social Services. We’re asking that this be given the profile in every department and that every department be given the tools to actively address the priorities that have been identified by the council. Again, as the Minister said, this is a message we are asking to be carried forward.
We heard from several people that this is very disheartening to see people with disabilities struggling in our communities when in fact we have the opportunity to provide the key supports they need. I am a little disappointed we didn’t, including myself. I appreciate that we’re starting to get after that, and I appreciate hearing from all my colleagues today.
The community council perspectives are important. They are active and critical for persons with disabilities in every community. We heard that mobility and the handivan issue is common.
