Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just had questions for the consumer affairs division. Are we on page 334 or still on… No? Okay. I’ll wait. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just in regards to following up with Mr. Nadli’s questions, I guess there was a struggle I’m trying to understand. There’s who owns or who is responsible for what. So ground transportation and highway rescue is MACA’s responsibility, DPW’s responsibility, or Department of Transportation’s responsibility, or Health and Social Services’ responsibility? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we did have a joint committee including all the departments that the Member referenced, and I think it was determined that it wasn’t legislated in any one of the departments, so that was part of the work that we did on the report and now we are hoping to try and address these issues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess I might have missed something, but what report is the Minister talking about and referencing? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this was a report that was done in 2006. It was the review of ground ambulance and highway rescue services in the NWT, and this report is actually available on MACA’s website. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is the department looking at potentially… It’s 10 years old. Are we looking at this report and maybe updating it to make it more current? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we had the one report done, and it identified a lot of issues that are still relevant today. I don’t really see the need to go out and do another report when we know it’s basically going to say the same thing that this one is saying. The numbers may have changed a bit, but, I mean, we’ll have a review of the report, and we can have a review of it with committee and, if we feel there’s a need, to go do another one. I think at the end of the day, we’ve had one report done. Why do another one when it’s going to tell us the same thing? Let’s just try and implement some of the recommendations that came out of this report. That would save us a lot of time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I have no problem not doing a report, but I guess my struggle is that, if we have these concerns and issues out there and we still haven’t implemented them, then have things been implemented, part of this report? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, our struggle is trying to ensure that our communities have the capacity to deal with some of the liabilities that might come with implementing some of these. I would have to go back and review the recommendations to see how many of them have actually been implemented, but this is not something that we could do in one shot. I think we’d have to phase some of the implementation in. I will follow up with the department. I will follow up on the report to see how many of the initiatives, actually, recommendations may have actually been implemented, and then we can have a discussion with committee as to whether we want to look at possibly implementing more of the recommendations and/or go and do another report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his response. If it is a liability issue of proper training, are we able to work with the municipalities, especially the ones that are on the roads, and maybe find a couple projects, pilot projects, and work with them to get them trained properly so that they can address the two big issues of liability issues and proper training, because, instead of reducing the money right now? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as I responded before, we have worked with the DOT to provide some first responder. If it’s more technical training, if they have, the community has, individuals that they identify that may want to take some training to be able to be first responders, then, you know, the community can make that decision or the individual can make that decision to go get further training.
Through our partnership with the DOT, we try to provide some first responder training, again so we can have the folks qualified to respond to any incidents that might happen without fearing the liability. Then we will continue to work on getting as many people in the community trained as possible, and then we can determine next steps after that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Anything further? Mr. Thompson.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that answer, and I fully agree that we need to get people trained. I’m just a little confused about how communities can take the $40,000, apply for it, and then bank it to purchase equipment later on. Because we’re talking about building capacity in this area, so I’m just trying to understand how that is possible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the communities are aware that they can apply for this money and they can bank it. I mean, our staff give annual updates at the NWTAC AGM, and they work closely with the communities. Communities are well aware of some of the options that are available to them. Again, we’ll go back to working to build the capacity and the expertise and having our communities respond to emergencies.
The answer to the Member’s question is the communities are aware of the options that are available to them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No further questions on this page.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. O’Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I’ve been listening to the discussion here. To me, so we’ve got a 2006 report. I’m not sure if all of the recommendations followed up. There’s an amount of funding here that is made available to build capacity for these services. There’s a cap of $40,000 a year for applications. Maybe the problem is with the cap. I don’t know how often the cap has been reconsidered, but there seems to be a problem here with the program, itself. Reducing the amount of money that’s available does not seem to be addressing the need that’s out there. I guess what I’m looking for is a commitment that the Minister is going to come to the committee, look at this issue, and try to find a solution. I don’t think cutting money is the solution that people are looking for. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O’Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I mean, there is a reduction in this because, as I said before, it’s a program that’s not fully subscribed to. We’ll have to try and address that and build capacity, so those. Then, in future, if there is a need to enhance the $185,000, then we’ll consider it at the time. I mean, we’re basing this reduction on the uptake of this program and the communities’ recognition that, once they get certified or they’re able to be first responders, then there’s going to be more demand on this. The priority right now is to ensure that our communities are trained and are able to respond to any emergencies without fearing the liability that might come with it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O’Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, I appreciate that. I guess I’ll just reiterate. I think the problem is with the design of the program. If there’s a $40,000 cap and it’s not fully subscribed, there’s a need there, the problem is with the design of the program. I’m just asking if the Minister will come to committee and try to work out a way to improve the services and redesign the program.
Thank you, Mr. O’Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I take the Member’s point. I mean, there’s a discussion that we should sit down with committee and get some input from committee as to what some of their recommendations are. If there’s a design of the program issue then we’ll have to address that. This is an issue that’s been on people’s radars for a while so I think it would be prudent of us to sit down with committee, get some feedback and go away and maybe come back with a redesigned program working with committee. But I will commit to that process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O’Reilly. Nothing further from Mr. O’Reilly. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of questions on ground transportation or ambulance. As you know, Fort McPherson did receive some funds a year or two ago. You know, that’s a long stretch of highway there, it’s about 140 kilometres, I guess, that the community has towards the NWT-Yukon border and towards Tsiigehtchic to sort of respond to, you know, when we have had some accidents there. Same as Tsiigehtchic, I know they have the first responders there, but there’s always more training needed, especially for Tsiigehtchic because we have no nurse and no RCMP there. People in the community are the first on the scene pretty much all the time, and a lot more training needs to be done. Also expenses, it seems the community takes the brunt of the expenses all the time. I’d just like to know by region, how is this money divided and it would be nice to see some more funding to that area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Tsiigehtchic was actually one of the communities where we did provide some first responder training. The thing with people in the Northwest Territories is somebody is going to respond all the time and they’re not going to worry about where the money is coming from, they will just respond. Our challenge is to ensure that our communities are adequately trained and have the proper equipment to respond. The biggest challenge is dollars. As we continue to go through this process then we can identify some of our bigger challenges and then as the financial situation improves we can work to address some of the challenges. During the formula funding review this issue was discussed, and it wasn’t included as a core program, but, I mean, we’re starting to recognize now that it’s an issue that we need to address because we’re hearing it not only from the southern part of the territory but from the northern part as well. I mean, I have committed to working with committee to look at how we can maybe redesign the program or… Well, we would like to enhance the funding but I’m sure that will happen once we’re in a position to do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it would be nice to increase these funds. I see it actually went down from $400,000 to $185,000. You know it’s a shame because, like I said, we need more funding because, you know, a lot of the highways we have many accidents and we need to help support the communities to be first on the scene and take care of our residents. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Would the Minister like to respond?
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the funding was a reduction because the program wasn’t fully subscribed to. We also recognize that this is an issue that we have to address. We will do our work and then if we can enhance this program we will come back to this Chamber to seek more funds once we’re in a position to do so. We would like to assist the communities and I think the best way to assist the communities is to ensure that we have people in the communities that are able to be first responders, especially if they get on the scene right away. This is a program that we have been hearing about a lot and it’s one that we recognize that we need to do more with. We’re getting more people travelling on the roads and there was even some talk of winter roads, travelling on winter roads as such. MACA will ensure we do our part. I look forward to working with committee and getting feedback from committee as to how we can enhance and improve the program; enhance, improve and encourage people to take the training. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just my final question. I know you said funding is not fully subscribed here, you know, if the community of Tsiigehtchic, for example, would put in a proposal for ambulance-type vehicles, because many times, you know, when we have a serious accident, when a person is in a stretcher many times we have to put them in the back of a truck, so it’s really important to have the proper equipment. Would that meet the criteria? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Would the Minister like to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the community can apply to get an ambulance out of their CPI funding that we provide to them, as well as trying to access some of this funding. Again, the challenge is, as I mentioned before, we had a community who bought an ambulance and realized that they didn’t have the training and there was a liability issue so they actually sold the ambulance to one of the larger communities. We’re trying to address the challenge to ensure our communities are trained. I think once they realize that they’re adequately trained then they may go the next step and look at getting an ambulance or something that they can use to respond. I’ve heard the stories of people being put in the back of a truck just to get them down to the nursing station basically. Our challenge is to ensure our communities are able to respond and then they can take the next step, and we’ll work with them. We’ll work with them to help them identify what money they can use where and also get them recognized. I think the communities do recognize there is a bit of a liability issue, but we’ll continue to work with the communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, as we are funding this program here, why can’t we, as a government, help the communities with the liability issues? You know it is a very important resource for the communities and I think we need to make sure that they have all that they need to fulfill this. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Anything further from the Minister?
