Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge and congratulate Janet Diveky on her retirement from Public Works and Services. Mrs. Diveky taught throughout the Arctic before moving to Yellowknife with her husband and family in 1988. She joined Public Works and Services as a Library Technician then and again in 2003, with a return to teaching in-between. Mrs. Diveky is known for her volunteer efforts, especially with the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. She's also well known for her skills as a potter. I'd like to congratulate Mrs. Diveky on her career at Public Works and Services and wish her and her family well in her retirement.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member’s statement today, I have questions I'd like to direct at the Minister of Transportation regarding the dredging of the port of Hay River. Given the importance of safe marine operating conditions to the physical well-being of those using the waterways and the economic well-being of the industries that depend on those waterways what, if any, responsibility does the GNWT have in regards to ensuring safe marine operating conditions?
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of Canada has legislative and regulatory authority and responsibility for marine operations and conditions. The Government of Canada is also the federal regulator responsible for safe marine operation and conditions on navigable NWT waterways, including the Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers, and the port of Hay River. The Department of Transportation’s advocacy regarding marine issues with federal departments, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, including safe operating conditions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Given that during that the last Assembly, the then Minister of Transportation recognized the importance of a viable harbour in Hay River to the economic well-being of the community, the region, and the territory, has the government analyzed the potential economic benefits of taking concrete action in regards to dredging?
The economic importance of the Hay River harbour to private industry, commercial fishing industry, tourism, and recreational users in the public sector, the Canadian Coast Guard and the National Defence marine supply operations will have an impact on the cost of living. Twelve communities depend on marine resupply for delivery of essential cargo; four communities depend exclusively on marine and air resupply. Fifteen per cent reduction in maximum barge loads last summer for Hay River; a significant infill and the siltation are key locations in the Hay River harbour and East Channel impacts on NTL's commercial fishing vessels and other vessels.
Because the GNWT does undertake the obligation to encourage the federal government to dredge, has there been any progress on this issue during your meetings with the new federal Minister or with the Prime Minister?
I recently met with Minister Tootoo, the federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, in January in Ottawa. We discussed the NWT marine issues, including dredging of the Hay River harbour. We also followed up with Minister Tootoo on a formal request for reinstatement of the federal Arctic marine resupply sites and the management program within the NWT, with emphasis on critical need for proper maintenance of the 14 federally owned and operated community marine facilities in the NWT, including the Hay River harbour. Proper maintenance is essential to safe and timely cost-effective marine resupply in NWT communities and industry.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's good to hear that we're engaging the appropriate federal Ministers on this topic. Finally, in addition to encouraging the federal government to dredge the areas in question, would this government be willing to provide any assistance to the federal government such as planning, logistical support, or possibly committing a small amount of resources towards it if such assistance was required to initiate the project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The fiscal and legal responsibility to ensure safe marine operation conditions in the Northwest Territories and across Canada is a federal responsibility. This includes dredging of the Hay River harbour to ensure safe operating conditions for all vessels with sufficient water depths to ensure safe and unobstructed passage. The Department of Transportation continues to press the federal government to maintain marine facilities in NWT. The Department of Transportation is also finalizing plans for a workshop in Hay River in mid-April with the focus on the Hay River harbour and dredging. Key stakeholders have been notified. The anticipated workshop will result in an effective dredging plan for Hay River harbour, and marine stakeholders are very interested. I expect a positive result for the Hay River harbour and the town of Hay River.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the importance of the health care system and that any major changes to it are significant concern for our residents, will the Minister of Health and Social Services provide an explanation for the delay of the transformation of health care in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Masi. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the legislation has given us the authority to move to one authority in the Northwest Territories, as well as the Tlicho and Hay River Health authorities, was passed in May/June. It was initially intended to go live on April 1, but as a result of a number of factors including our difficulty getting the financial system for use by all the authorities; some delays we experienced during the election campaign; communication; and our ability to set up those wellness councils; and our delay in hiring a CEO -- I’ve decided to move forward the go-live date to August 1, 2016. That will give us the time to do that incredibly important work before we go live with the one authority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On to the issue of regional wellness committees, what progress has been made in selecting those committees? What kinds of input are going into those choices?
Last year I convened a meeting of Aboriginal leadership from across the Northwest Territories and had discussion around this exact topic. We sought input and advice from them, as well as other stakeholders from across the Northwest Territories on what the makeup of those committees should be. We are just in the process right now of doing some call letters out to the different organizations, including MLAs, on nominations for individuals to go on those wellness councils, based on the work that was done. Once that's done, we'll move forward with the establishment of those wellness committees.
Given the imminent concerns of our fiscal situation in the Northwest Territories, will there be costsaving efficiencies as a result of standardizing care in the NWT?
We've been very clear since the initial discussions around health transformation that this isn't about saving money, necessarily. This is more about improving the quality of care that we're providing to our residents by removing some of the barriers that exist for them today. We do know that there's a number of functions that occur in each of the authorities, that by working together we'll be able to control our costs and possibly have some savings, but mostly this is focused on improving our care for the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and onto the point of improved health care. Will there be reduced wait times and more access to medical professionals after the implementation of the new system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the things we are attempting to do with this health transformation is remove some of the barriers that exist today as one individual moves from authority to authority to authority to get the different services. As we tighten up our services, come with more standard procedures, more standard guidelines, as well as clinical standards, we should be able to improve the turn-around and more importantly, the response and the care that our residents get.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Ms. Green.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Seniors. How is the government preparing for the greater number of seniors and their needs? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for Seniors.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a number of things we're doing, but I'll focus primarily on the beds that we're going to need for seniors here in the Northwest Territories. We've just completed our longterm care review, which I'm going to be sharing with committee in the coming weeks. I'm in the process of drafting a letter to send to committee so that I can share it with them, and hopefully we'll have an opportunity to sit down for a meeting. But I'll give some up front numbers: By 2026 this government is going to be 259 beds short in longterm care. Forty-seven of those are in the Beaufort-Delta, ten of those are in the Sahtu, 29 in the Deh Cho, five in the Tlicho region, 123 in Yellowknife, 31 in South Slave, and 14 in Fort Smith. This is a significant number. On average, it costs us about $130,000 a bed to operate a longterm care bed in the Northwest Territories, and on average anywhere from $800,000 to $1.5 million per bed to construct longterm care. We have a significant challenge in front of us. I'm looking forward to bringing the report to committee and having discussions on how we can move forward on this. We are starting to put together a draft plan to have some discussions with committee. The bottom line is we're going to have to think outside the box on this one. We're going to have to look for creative solutions. We're going to have to work with partners to find a way to provide these 259 beds for our aging population here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister, for that response and for that new information that quantifies the size of the problem. It's actually much larger than I had anticipated. There's some longterm work that needs to be done, but there are immediate needs, too, that come out of our broken continuum of housing for seniors, with these seniors who have dementia and longterm care needs that are currently inappropriately housed. What kinds of shortterm solutions might the government be able to offer these seniors?
We do have the Territorial Admissions Committee that actually helps us in focusing and prioritizing individuals, so individuals with higher needs can move up the list, but as I have indicated, we have a significant shortage of beds. Currently, I believe we're about 60 beds short here in the Northwest Territories, and that will be part of the 259 that we're going to be short by 2026. We're working with CAP, we're working with Avens on coming up with some solutions in the shortterm for Yellowknife. But this isn't just a Yellowknife problem. We've got problems in the Beaufort-Delta where we have our residents in acute care units rather than longterm care units, which isn't desirable at all. We're looking at putting together a plan, working with committee for some short-, medium- and longterm wins. I don't necessarily know what all those solutions are at this point, but I really do look forward to having a sit-down with committee, and as I said, I am drafting the letter to send to them to share the report and to have initial discussions on how we can move together to address this oncoming problem.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Now, there was going to be money set aside from an athletes’ village for the Canada Winter Games, which is likely not going to be needed because the bid won't take place. Is it possible to use that money and multiply it with federal money in order to provide an additional $24 million to go into seniors’ care?
No official dollars are actually allocated. We had committed as a government in the 17th Assembly, and I know the Minister today is also committed to working with the Assembly to find the dollars to support the Canada Winter Games bid. We were going to find those dollars, but no official dollars have actually been allocated into our budget. I can say that the federal government has announced they're going to invest in social infrastructure and I had an opportunity to meet with the Minister responsible, and we talked about some of the needs that we have in the Northwest Territories. Seniors' housing was one of the issues that we raised with them, and it's also one of the pillars that were identified. We don't have a lot of detail on how those social infrastructure dollars are going to be spent or what the criteria are, but we are working closely with the federal government so that they can inform us so that we can apply for it accordingly. But as I said, we're looking for pretty much any avenue we can to find a way to meet our needs and we do need to think outside the box on this one. We're going to have to seek partners in every area to help us meet this 259-bed shortage by 2026.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister look at the possibility of a P3 arrangement to provide this kind of care for seniors? Thank you. Mahsi.
I’d like to remind Members that they direct the questions through the Speaker, please. Masi. Minister responsible for Seniors.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we need to look for any avenue to help us. Traditional procurement might be appropriate in some communities and regions; it may not be in others. Our minds need to be open to pretty much any option. The federal government is a potential other partner. In the previous government, I'd been asked whether or not we would be supportive of private businesses coming in and setting up longterm care facilities. This is something that we're supportive of. There's no reason somebody couldn't come in and start up a longterm care facility if they wanted. At the same time, we need to make sure that we have a plan and a system to put and support 259 beds in the Northwest Territories by 2026, which isn't a long time, and the demand is increasing daily. This is a significant amount of work and I, once again, am looking forward to working with committee and sharing the report with them so that we can begin those important discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North, Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before my questions, just in the event of support and a small glimmer of hope, today I wear my Canada Winter Games pin here, just so we know.
---Laughter
Mr. Speaker, through you, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. During campaigning, many residents raised the issue of the Thaidene Nene National Park. While most were supportive of this development, some were confused with the overall structure of the park. From what I have learned recently, part of the area will be a national park under federal control, with others being under territorial control. I'm wondering if the Minister can give us a little more detail on what is planned for this important and beautiful area of the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Member for the question. The Member is right: This is an important and extremely beautiful part of the Northwest Territories, truly an area worth protecting for the current and future generations of people of the Northwest Territories and Canada. The GNWT has worked collaboratively towards that goal of protection with Aboriginal governments, Parks Canada, and other stakeholders. Our aim was to develop the made-in-the-NWT solution that gave us the exposure and investment associated with the federal and national park, while at the same time allowing us to use our legislative and regulatory instruments, policies and strategies, et cetera -- for example, northern tools -- to achieve northern land management objectives. The concept of northern tools is not new. It comes from Land Use Sustainability Framework finalized during the 17th Assembly. That document outlined a vision for land use in the NWT, and I would invite all Members to review this important and well-crafted document. We’ve come a long way in a short time on our first rollout of northern tools, but much work remains. I will be looking for the support of the Assembly to continue that work and to help realize our goal in protecting this important area.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I have heard from numerous constituents that they are concerned about accessing the area after a park is created. Can the Minister provide us some details around access issues? I'm thinking specifically about whether there will be a fee for residents to access either federally or territorially controlled areas and/or if there will be other restrictions placed on residents entering the area once the park is created.
There may very be well a nominal fee for park access, but we are in the early days on this issue. I can say that we intend to work with Parks Canada to ensure that the experience for park users is seamless, so that people can move between the territorial and federal portions without really knowing that they are doing so.
We often say that the North is unique, and that is true in many respects, Mr. Speaker. For example, parks in the North are large, open and undisturbed areas where wildlife roams free in their natural habitat. As a result of our uniqueness, some of the rules used in national parks may not be appropriate for the NWT. Has that been taken into consideration by the department as this initiative has advanced and, if so, can the Minister elaborate?
Absolutely. These items have been and will continue to be taken into account as we move forward. A good example of this is we use the firearms for personal protection. We need to make sure we consider our unique northern context when we approach such issues. Our northern tools approach offers us that flexibility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
