Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize Warren McLeod and Jerry Jaud, principals of FSC Architects and Engineers, one of Canada’s top 100 employers.
I would like to recognize Richard Edjericon, Weledeh resident, and I believe Jerry Jaud is also a resident of Weledeh.
I would like to recognize Blake Rasmussen, a well known individual from Old Town, I think, and also from my high school grad. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement today I talked about the issue of elevating our trades program. I highlighted the issue that we have a perfectly good facility here in this community that could raise the standard from just regular cook to a Red Seal tradesperson. I am wondering what the Education Minister has to say about that here today. I have taken him down to that facility in person on a tour, and I know he liked it. I would like to know what the Minister has done since the last time I took him on a tour to help raise and elevate this type of program in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we did tour the facility the Member is referring to as having potential for a cooking program. It is one of those programs that is often needed throughout the North and also throughout Canada.
The Member made a statement about the lack of support from the government. Mr. Speaker, we do support all kinds of training programs, apprentices and at the professional level as well. We’re very proud of that. Also, since we met with Chef Pierre, there has been some ongoing discussion within my department, and my department has met with the chef as well. Mahsi.
I’m glad to hear that the Minister supports trades, and I’m glad to hear that the Minister supports the potential of this program. When do you think we can actually hear or see something coming to fruition on this project? It’s an opportunity before us, and I’d certainly like to see the Minister move on this sooner than later. Can I expect something sooner than later from this Minister?
Since June of this past summer my department has been working closely with Chef Pierre. They also toured the facility. They did talk about the proposal coming forward from Chef Pierre and also asked questions on the accreditation program. That is supposed to be forthcoming.
At the same time, there is also great news from the Mine Training Society. There was a proposal submitted by Chef Pierre, in partnership with the Native Women’s Association, to deliver a camp cook program. That is one of partnerships that has always been successful in the past working with the Mine Training Society. It is an 18 week program and involves the Ready to Work program, which consists of income assistance clients. That is a positive step as well.
Those are the ongoing discussions that we’re having. It is looking good, and we are going to deliver programs through these partnerships. Mahsi.
I’m aware of the many journeymen and women that Chef Pierre has at his business downtown. It could become the new Red Seal training program for trades cooking. They have many tickets under their belt, and they’re able to train under many aspects of cooking.
It’s good to hear that the accreditation is being worked through. What else is holding this back, or when can we expect a big announcement from the Minister that we’re able to move forward on this initiative?
I thought I just announced a huge initiative here on the training program.
I think this is a great start for us as a department, the GNWT, the Mine Training Society and also the partnership with the NWT Native Women’s Association. It’s a true partnership, and it will move forward. Again, it’s an 18 week program.
With this accreditation program we’re still waiting for Chef Pierre to get back to my department and discuss further the next level, because this is one area that we’re focusing on as a department. The proposal has been submitted to the Mine Training Society, and they are moving forward on this. We’re watching and monitoring that carefully. We have to work with those partnerships as well, instead of just one partner. Those are the discussions that we’re having with various parties.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I did hear the Minister cite a camp cook program with the Mine Training Society, but that’s not the Red Seal program that I’ve talked about and that he knows I’m referring to.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear on the record today. Is this department fully committed to getting a Red Seal trades program for cooking here in the North, and are they fully committed and behind this project to make sure it will happen?
To date we have 4,683 individuals that have been certified through apprenticeship programs. We should be proud of that here in the Northwest Territories. We continue to deliver those effective programs. Camp cook or the cook apprentices could be one of them. We need more information from Chef Pierre and his resource people to provide the accreditation so we can move forward. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation with regard to the general rate application increase for 2008.
Once again, as in my Member’s statement, I said that residents disagree. I’m here to ask the Minister: is there a way to delay or defer this process until we get a good review of the NWT Power Corporation? Another way of doing business there is to look at reducing the operating costs. Can the Minister address that? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is there an opportunity to delay this? No, there is not an opportunity, as it’s been filed with the PUB and they’ll go through their process. The fact is that it is dealing with the cost of fuel for previous months and having to make up the shortfall. The more we delay, the cost to the Power Corporation itself continues to climb, and we’re going to have to deal with that. That’s where we are in that scenario. Within the existing operating environment that we have, the Power Corporation has to make up for its operational needs, and the rate base is the only way to do that. We’re working through that process.
Are there ways of dealing with the cost of the Power Corporation? I believe there are. Through the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee we’re looking at a number of options with the Power Corporation, as well as just how we deal with the issue of energy production in the Northwest Territories.
I really believe that there’s got to be another way of doing this, that the Power Corporation is the one that submits the general rate application. They must have the ability to at least look at their operating costs to be able to determine some savings there, some efficiencies, and then use those internalized savings to pass on to the customers. Then maybe there is an increase, but it doesn’t have to be straight to the pocketbooks of our NWT residents.
I believe we just recently sent out a package to all Members of the Assembly on how the rate base is structured in their communities, from those communities that are on diesel, those that are on hydro, the administration costs, the amortization costs and interest costs on loans. All of that was put together to show Members just how much and to what percentage certain activities take up of that rate structure that impacts communities. That is one thing we’re doing; we’re looking at those costs. The Power Corporation, whenever it goes to the PUB, has to justify its operational requirements. That’s another method of looking at it.
Overall, I believe we have to, as the Legislative Assembly, set some direction in the area of the operation of the Power Corporation and how the Public Utilities Board looks at that. We’re prepared to sit down with Members and go through a whole list of initiatives that we’re looking at. Hopefully, if Members are in agreement through the business planning process, we’ll be able to come up with some options that we can put forward during the life of this Assembly.
I don’t think residents of Nahendeh believe that for a minute, because we have two distinct different operating communities. We’ve got South Lake, which uses a different utility provider, and then you’ve got a community like Nahanni Butte, which uses NTPC, and their rates are almost a dollar different there. How can that be? That’s why I believe in an internalized review of the NWT Power Corporation. How our people pay for this cost should be reviewed and internalized before we ask for an increase in rates for all the communities. I’d like the Minister to see if he can do that.
Under the direction of the Public Utilities Board rate structure is the process that’s used. PUB has said that the Legislative Assembly has to give direction in that area. If the Assembly wants to look at how it addresses that, that’s the initiative we’re prepared to sit down and talk about and bring forward to Members for further discussion and hopefully some decisions.
For the actual program itself, doing an internal review, I believe we are going to do that through the whole energy initiative of how we develop power, how we distribute it and some of the alternative sources of energy that are out there. We’re prepared to go to committee with a lot more detail and try to see where there’s support for moving ahead on some of these initiatives.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister know if a part of the general rate application community hearings — I think that’s what they’re proposing — will be in some of our smaller communities, in particular the Nahendeh communities?
The Power Corporation doesn’t itself select what communities they go into. It’s through the PUB. They’ve set up a process and how others can also feed into that system of their review. I don’t have a list with me at this time. We can work with the Minister responsible for the PUB and provide that for Members. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It should come as no surprise today that my questions are directed to the Minister of Health. As I mentioned in my statement, we have 18 confirmed cases of syphilis, as of last Friday, in 2008 alone. Compare that to less than one case last year and four in the last 13 years. My question to the Minister is: why do we have this continuing increase in the number of syphilis cases in our territory? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to make sure everyone knows that the Department of Health and Social Services and myself as Minister take any infectious disease situation very seriously, as we do the latest outbreak of syphilis. It appears that there were a number of individuals with syphilis that were highly contagious at the time of contact.
The public health medical officer, chief medical health officer Dr. Corriveau, is using all of his authority and powers to assess the situation, identify who has this infectious disease and track all those that may have come into contact with it. We are keeping a very close eye on that, and he is working with the local health centres and communities and the media to raise awareness to address this situation.
I thank the Minister for the comment. I recognize the efforts of the department, as she’s outlined. I’m having great difficulty in understanding why the department thinks these actions are enough. I feel that they’re very understated.
Again, my question is to the Minister. Why is the department not taking aggressive action to publicize this threat to our residents, alert them to the potential risk, and provide them with information on access to testing?
The chief medical officer and the department have been very aggressive. It has been on the media and in public announcements. They are working on the ground, in the communities. They’re in close touch with all of the community health workers. They’re screening potential people who might come into contact with it. They’re keeping track of who are the originators and who they’re having contact with. They have very good information about their whereabouts and their travel schedules. They have sent out communications through doctors and nurses and anybody else who would have any contact with the individuals. We are very aggressive in getting on top of this latest syphilis outbreak.
I guess we have to agree to disagree on the definition of aggressive. It’s been more than a month since the first sort of spurt of confirmed cases came forward. We now have 18 cases, and the cases are continuing to increase. I trust the Minister that there is action happening, that we have professionals doing their job, that things are going forward and that the work is being done to try and stifle this outbreak.
My personal experience is that I have seen nothing except a report in the newspaper some three or four weeks ago. If there is a publicity campaign, it’s not that noticeable. I would like the Minister to try to explain to me what the actions are that the department is taking that is alerting everybody to the current outbreak.
The department and the chief medical health officer have contacted all the communities where we know these cases are occurring. They are using social networks on the ground. Some of our health care professionals are going door to door with community people who we know are able to provide assistance in a culturally sensitive way. We are doing aggressive screening for those who are in a high risk group.
I would like the Member to know that the chief medical health officer has vast authority and power under the new Public Health Act. He knows he has all the options available to him, and he will use his power and exercise it accordingly. At the moment he feels that the measures we are taking right now are allowing us to have very good knowledge about who these people are and where they are and what their potential contact might have been. So I want to assure the Members as well as the public that this is a top public health issue right now and that we’re doing everything we can to be on top of it.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. I appreciate that those actions are being taken on the ground, but I go back to the need to publicize this particular situation. I think that if people are aware that there is an outbreak of syphilis and if people know that they are particularly engaging in behaviours which can lead them to be at risk, then that information has to be out there. I think a much more aggressive publicity campaign and educational campaign is warranted. I’d like to know if the Minister and department are considering that.
Mr. Speaker, the department works all year round to promote and encourage safe sex. The use of condoms would prevent most contagious, sexually infectious diseases, including syphilis. We are aware that these conditions are occurring more commonly in certain areas than others. Health officials are aware of that. But we want to make sure that everybody in the Territories is vigilant and taking necessary steps, and if we announce what areas they might be in, they may think that they’re safe. So we would like all residents to know that this is a highly contagious infection and that everybody should be practising safe sex at all times. The use of condoms is encouraged.
As the situation progresses, we will take all measures under the Public Health Act, which is quite vast in its authority and power, and we’ll make sure that we protect public health and safety.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We obviously are making a lot of decisions here about our future, and we are dealing with issues as a result of previous governments that have made decisions that are affecting our current situation. What is this government doing to establish long term financial benefits from the investment in or from the use of our resources, such as diamonds and oil and gas? What efforts are we putting in to establishing a heritage fund for our future?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of a heritage fund has been now around the Legislature since at least the 15th Assembly. We’ve raised this issue. I raised it at the round table. It was raised in my fiscal overview of the government. Work is underway to come forward with a discussion paper to lay out some of the options for a heritage fund that would be, I would suggest, set up by statute, by legislation. There are some very strong models to look at. We have the Norway model. We have the Alaska model. We looked at what Alberta has done. Pick the best and come forward with a discussion paper.
Clearly, there’s a recognition that we have to start saving for the future. We have to think past the life of each particular Assembly. If all of us had gone through our working lives without having forced savings, when it came time to retire, we would have no pensions, because we’d have spent every cent we have today. We have to think of our grandchildren and future generations. This government is very interested in working with the Assembly to come forward with what would be a good model for the Northwest Territories.
Thank you for those comments. If all interests and intentions, as the Minister has said, have been here since the 15th Assembly, I want to know what we are doing about getting this done. Currently this government is not shy about insisting and pressuring the assistance panel to make decisions on project developments. We are not shy about prejudging development projects as no-brainers. We can’t develop our resources fast enough. All of those benefits are leaving the Northwest Territories. We needed this fund established in the 15th Assembly. Here we are in the 16th. What are we doing to actually get it done?
In the next few weeks there will be a proposal brought forward for review. It is being worked on right now in Finance. We are very serious about this. There are clearly things we have to consider about such a fund, and we have to be prepared not only to establish it but to look at how we want to have some initial seed capital put in it at a time when we are struggling to make ends meet, as it were. But within the next few weeks there will be a document brought forward from Cabinet to committee so we can talk about the type of fund to set up, whether it should be in legislation and what the particulars of that type of legislation should be.
There we are talking about it again. I really want to get this fund established. I’m wondering if the government is investigating, for example, Norway’s special tax that ensures that excess profits from resource development companies go to the government for the benefit of the people or the production tax that’s used by the state of Alaska. What are we doing on the ground?
We are going to pull together a considered paper that’s going to be shared with the Regular Members, having heard very clearly once again in the House the need to communicate and consult before significant decisions are made. That work is underway, and we will be moving forward on that in the next number of weeks.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for those comments. It’s nice to hear that something is happening — still not sure what. We’re going to hear something in the next few weeks. What exactly are we going to hear in the next few weeks? And what will be the schedule for putting that in place, getting it done?
