The Department of Justice continues to work with the RCMP to address the concerns of the small communities. I will bring this concern to the RCMP, but I certainly can’t guarantee that the coverage requested could be provided. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the unpopular forest fire season is upon us, and my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I spoke earlier today about how in the riding of Yellowknife North, which includes the Ingraham Trail, there are over 500 "assets" or "values at risk," including many of our own GNWT parks. I am wondering if the Minister could start by maybe informing us what his department is doing in terms of working with other departments, such as Lands and MACA, with regard to identifying values at risk and in communications internally, within those departments, in advance of a fire or emergency situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Mr. Speaker, we all recognize the importance of proper communication during the upcoming forest fire season and forest fire seasons of the past. We are working with Lands on a data-sharing process so that all departments are aware of the good values on the land, and we are also working with MACA through their emergency measures officer on emergency preparedness. We communicate daily with the EMO during extreme fire seasons. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I am happy to hear that internal communications are a priority for our government during these times of necessity for emergency preparedness. Let’s take it a step further. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the department doing with regard to communicating to the property owners who own these assets of value?
We are working on establishing contact information with all property owners. That is why we stress the importance of all property owners to let us know where they are, let the departments know where they are and, more importantly, give us some contact information so we are able to contact them in the event of an emergency. We talk of properties and values, but our most important value is the people who are out there. We need to know who is out there so, in the event of a forest fire that is moving very quickly, we can react to that.
We are looking at different communication methods. I think the Member said in his Member’s statement about the use of Twitter during the last fire, so we are looking at different communication methods that would communicate or improve our communication with folks who are out there. I stress again the importance of folks out there letting us know where they are, so we can have that information at our disposal.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I have to commend some residents on the Ingraham Trail recently for working hard to actually collect a lot of property owner information, so that they can share it with their respective departments within government. That will be forthcoming, if it hasn’t already.
One of the things that we have done, and it is very commendable work in recent years, is the fire smarting program. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, the department has just engaged with the public on Ingraham Trail with regard to fire smarting during a public barbecue. I am just wondering if the Minister can elaborate a little bit more on how many more workshops there are that they want to put on for fire smarting, and more importantly, what are we actually doing to measure the effectiveness of these fire smarting workshops?
We are planning a workshop in every region during this fire season. We have had one that was conducted in North Slave already, and that may be the one Member we spoke of. We have had two conducted in South Slave already so far this year. We are planning a FireSmart representative workshop this fall, so that all the regions will be able to conduct their own workshops in the future. We continue to work with individual value-at-risk owners in communities to protect their values at risk from lowland fire. We also have identified four communities that could be at extreme risk this coming fire season, so we are working with those communities to see if there are opportunities for us to assist them or do some fire smarting breaks with them, which will have another impact on providing some work to some local people. We are working with those four communities and we will work with them to see what we can do to help them with the fire breaks and the fire smarting around their communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister might have partially answered some of this. It is one thing to educate folks on the fire smarting aspects, in terms of what they can do to put a degree of barrier around their property in the instance of a fire. We know that, even when resources are active and on the ground, help may not arrive, so I guess my question to the Minister is: what are we doing to educate the public about how fast a wildfire can spread, and how the onus is on the owners to protect their properties? What we can do to support them in protecting those properties? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the Member said it well when he said that part of the onus is on the property owners to take steps to ensure that their properties are protected. As far as educating the public about how fast a wildfire is, well, it is hard for us to predict. We can help them to try and be prepared in the event that there is a very fast wildfire that is moving. I think the wildfire will educate us more than we can educate the public. We have to be prepared for it, and we will communicate through our websites and other social media.
Again, as I said before, Mr. Speaker, I stress the importance of folks who are out there to let us know where they are so we can be prepared to protect the values at risk, all people, and that is what, at the end of the day, the ultimate goal should be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, last year Health and Social Services authorities amalgamated into the NWT Health and Social Services Authority. The rationale for this move was to improve coordination, communication, and the use of resources, including staff, among the regions. The Hay River health authority was one of the two that were left out of the amalgamation because it was engaging negotiations, but the primary reason appears to me, anyway, to be the costs associated with bringing it on board, due to their underperforming pension plan.
This pension issue has been going on for over a decade, and the price tag is growing. Every time I bring it up, it is a different number: $20 million, $15 million, $25 million. I am bringing it up again because I see the negative effects of being excluded from the NWT Health and Social Services Authority in relation to issues like medical travel, staffing, and mental health. I want to see if we can bring some sort of conclusion to this issue. My first question to the Minister of Health is: how much would it cost to bring the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority into the NWT Health and Social Services Authority? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know. I know that when we looked at bringing the health authority in during the last Assembly, the cost estimates were about $20 million. Things have changed since then. We have put in 12 new positions in Hay River. There have been some other changes. There has been staff turnover. The bottom line is: I can’t tell you what the number is today, but it is likely still around that number, maybe slightly higher. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can add "I don’t know" to the number of responses I have gotten to how much it is going to cost. I know every year that the department tops up this pension plan, and I was wondering if the Minister has the numbers about how much the department has already put into this pension plan over the past 10 or 12 years, however long it has been going on.
In 2005, when I actually worked for the Government of Northwest Territories, we were looking at bringing in the Hay River health and social services into the public service at that time, and I was actually working on that file. At that time, it was estimated to be around $5 million to bring the Hay River authority into the public service. Since then, because it was decided not to move forward at the time because of the cost, we have had to top up their pension every year. Last year, the top-up on the pension was about $872,000 and, for this year, we have an early estimate that suggests we’re going to have to top up their pension $1.2 million. All in all, it’s about a million a year average since 2005. If you do the math, Mr. Speaker, we’re talking $12, $14, $15 million just to keep that pension alive in Hay River.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister is making my case for me. Clearly something needs to be done. I mean the government is just throwing good money after bad here. What’s being done right now to make this happen? What’s in progress?
Late in the life of the last government, it was decided to move the Hay River authority into the public service because there were unknown things at play. There was no finalized collective agreement with the UNW for GNWT employees. There was also no finalized collective agreement with the Hay River employees. It left a lot of questions up in the air as far as what exists in one body, what exists in the other, and how do we make those come across seamlessly so that we don’t adversely affect the employees. At that time, I accepted that logic because we didn’t know those things, but I also believed at that time that it was going to happen much faster than it has as far as reaching some terms on collective agreements.
I’ve had an opportunity to travel to Hay River. I’ve seen the challenges that the Member has raised and I agree wholeheartedly with what the Member is saying. I’ve made commitments to Hay River in the past in the previous Assembly and again in this Assembly, but this is something that we must do. Rather than waiting for the collective agreements to be done, I’ve already directed the department to do an updated analysis on what it would cost but also to develop a plan on how we can move forward prior to having these agreements concluded so that we can move forward to find a way to bring health units in the Hay River into the public service. This is something that I’d like to see happen. This is something that many of us would like to see happen, but we have to be cognizant of the fact that it is going to cost a large amount of money. We’re going to have to work together to find that money if we intend to move forward with Hay River.
Masi. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like there’s a lot of work on that. That’s great to hear. The Minister says it must be done, and so I just want to ask the Minister: now that the 17th Assembly has been dealing with it, can we get a commitment that the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority would be brought into the NWT Health and Social Services Authority before the end of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I badly want to say yes, but I recognize that any financial hit is going to have to be considered in line with all other costs that this government is faced with. We need to do the business case.
I’m looking forward to working with the Member. I’m looking forward to working with all my colleagues on both sides of this House to find a way. Recognizing that, if it has a significant cost, I will not commit to have it done in the life of this government, but I commit to making significant progress by working together to find a way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, after last sitting, I was informed by the Minister that we would not be purchasing a portable ultrasound machine for the Fort Simpson Health Centre. This was a little frustrating because the existing ultrasound is not working properly. Can the Minister explain why the portable ultrasound machine was deemed unnecessary for the Fort Simpson Health Centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first off, I have to apologize. There was clearly some confusion and there have been some changes. The existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated, as the Member has identified, and is actually scheduled to be replaced with a new portable ultrasound machine this summer. We’re hoping that we’ll have one in place by the end of June 2017, barring any unforeseen challenges with purchase and delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for that answer. That’s great to hear, but I was understanding that the portable ultrasound machine was not being purchased and the existing ultrasound wasn’t working. Can the Minister clarify: do we have a portable ultrasound machine and a standard ultrasound machine in the centre?
As I’ve already indicated, the existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated and needs to be replaced. It will be replaced. We’re hoping to have that portable ultrasound on-site by the end of June, barring any challenges with delivery and/or purchasing.
During my constituency term and in my conversations with expectant mothers, it has been brought to my attention that the health centre doesn’t actually use the ultrasound machine. They actually have to send them to Yellowknife. Can the Minister make a commitment or work with myself and the regional authority to get the staff trained so that we can actually have these ultrasound machines in place so that we can save some money and save time for the residents?
There does seem to be some continued confusion and I’m happy to sit down with the Member to talk, but I’d like to clarify for the Member that the ultrasound machine at Fort Simpson is not the kind used by sonographers to perform diagnostic tests. Rather, the machine at Simpson, the portable ultrasound machine, is the kind that is used by doctors and nurse practitioners and midwives at the bedside to help them make immediate decisions about patient care; things such as checking someone in an accident has internal bleeding or to check to see if a baby is in breach. Establishing a full diagnostic ultrasound service in a new site is a very complex undertaking with issues across the board.
As background, Mr. Speaker, sonographers have been identified as one of the leading health and social services positions that are hard to recruit. It’s almost impossible to find these individuals who can do the full diagnostic using the full ultrasound machines. We continue to struggle to find sonographers at the two locations where we do have full ultrasound machines. However, with the more established NWT Health and Social Services Authority, we have the opportunity to make sure that we’re using our resources and diagnostic services in areas such as ultrasound to their full capacity, and that means reviewing the care that is being provided to see if there’s any opportunity.
Can I commit that we’ll have a full ultrasound machine in Simpson? I can’t. We would need to do an analysis on demand. If you’re going to hire a sonographer, you want them working basically full-time on providing those deep diagnostic tests, which is not something that is available in Simpson. The demand is not high enough to justify a full sonographer, which is a hard-to-recruit position. I will commit to looking at it at a territorial level and seeing if there are any opportunities for other places where demand might be higher to see what opportunities exist for rolling out a greater range of sonography services across the territory.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. That’s reassuring because, when we talked about the new boards and the new authorities, we’re talking about utilizing positions, transferring them around. Can the Minister make a commitment, and he’s already made a commitment, but to the year cost analysis to show us that what would it cost to bring a machine into the community regional centres so we don’t have to ship our people to Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the territorial authority looks at expanding services at any point in the Northwest Territories, we would have to build a business case and justify any decisions which are being made, which will obviously include costs analyses and those types of things. I just do not want to set any false impressions.
At this point, a sonography machine, an ultrasound machine for deep exams, things like hearts and deep analysis, is a very expensive piece of machinery that can only be operated by a sonographer. If we are to put these very expensive machines in communities and then only use them occasionally because of demand, we would be losing money or we would be spending money poorly and not to maximum benefit. That does not mean that what you are suggesting is impossible, but we would have to do the business case, we would have to do the work.
With a single authority, we are positioned to do that with some exceptions. I mean, Hay River, as previously described, is a challenge because they have not moved into the singleauthority model, and we have work that we need to do there, as well. There is lots of work that still needs to be done, but, with the single authority, we have the mechanism to do this work to better and improve the quality of care for residents of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Mr. O'Reilly on February 14, 2017, regarding position vacancy and overtime statistics.
The Department of Finance has gathered the requested information and later today at the appropriate time I will table the spreadsheets that detail the information that the Member requested.
The spreadsheets that I will be tabling in the House identify:
The number of vacant, full-time indeterminate positions in the public service by department and agency, except for those positions in the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation on June 30, 2016; September 30, 2016; November 30, 2016; and January 31, 2017. These are the months where the data is available within the requested time period, as this information was previously collected quarterly and is now collected bi-monthly.
The number of job openings that were active within the Human Resource Information System, commonly known as PeopleSoft, to fill vacant positions for each month from April 1, 2016, to February 14, 2017.
The total number of hours entered into PeopleSoft as overtime and the related costs, by month from April 1, 2016, to February 14, 2017.
The total number of overtime hours entered into PeopleSoft, and the related costs in each month from April 1, 2016, to February 14, 2017, to employees whose positions are designated as continuous. Continuous positions are defined as those that must remain operational/open during the shut-down period. Examples of common continuous positions include, but are not limited to, corrections officers, highway maintenance officers, home support workers, social workers, resident care aides, and wildland fire crew members.
The total number of work hours entered as sick leave in PeopleSoft from April 2016 until February 14, 2017 by employees whose positions are designated as continuous. Providing work hours rather than workdays provides more accurate information as not all employees work standard workdays.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Returns to written questions. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to the Written Question asked by Ms. Green on February 23, 2017, regarding complaints of sexual assault classified by RCMP as unfounded.
Mr. Speaker, in order to address the specific questions, I provide the House with the following detailed information related to the overall effort of the RCMP to address these concerns.
RCMP Training on Sexual Assault Investigations
RCMP officers receive in-depth investigative instruction as part of their 24-week Cadet Training Program, or CTP in Regina, Saskatchewan. There are 36 classes of instruction in the CTP dedicated to investigating sexual assault. There are a further four classes specifically related to child sexual abuse. The curriculum takes an integrated approach, but some of the topics relevant to sexual assault investigation include:
Ethics in sexual assault investigations
Victim services
Assault investigation
Five stage role play involving a sexual assault investigation
Major crime scenario exercise i.e. sexual assault investigation
Practical aspects of obtaining bodily substances from suspects for DNA analysis
Sexual Assault Investigation Kit usage
Completing Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System reports
Suspect interviews
Scenario-based exercises
Using the media to assist in major investigations
Processing exhibits to be sent to the forensic laboratory
Conducting a structured interview
Preparing for court
Presenting testimony at trial
The RCMP provides additional training for members to improve their interviewing skills as investigators. This additional training includes topics such as establishing a rapport with the victim and/or witness, steps in obtaining a pure version statement, ethical and legal considerations, and professionalism. Pure version statements, in particular, are considered key in complex investigations such as sexual assault complaints. This technique has the benefit of being considerate to a witness’ experience by allowing them to answer open-ended questions without interruption, but also providing investigators the best information from the witness. Of the approximately 186 RCMP members staffed as of April 2017 in "G" Division, 119 officers have completed the specialized investigative interview training. Priority for this training is given to front-line officers who are responsible for these investigations, and who work directly with victims of crime.
Within "G" Division, 24 members have completed additional training specific to child sexual abuse investigation, with 18 completing this training as recently as January 2017. Many of the skills and investigative steps used in child sexual abuse investigations are applicable to sexual assault investigations involving adult victims. Part of this training is focused on recognizing and responding to drug facilitated sexual assaults. This training was provided by Mr. Craig Smith, a private consultant with years of experience as a sexual assault and homicide investigator. "G" Division provides specialized child sexual assault investigation training each year through Mr. Smith or other similarly qualified instructors.
Analysis of "G" Division Complaints Classified as Unfounded, 2010 to 2016
Mr. Speaker, in order to discuss the analysis and review of complaints coded as unfounded by "G" Division RCMP, it is important to explain the basic data collection requirements. The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey's national data standards require that police services code all reportable incidents in order to measure the incidence of crime in Canadian society, and the characteristics of crime. According to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, incidents are to be coded as unsubstantiated or equivalent, founded or unfounded, and statistical information about incidents coded as founded are sent to Statistics Canada. The definitions of these classifications are:
Unsubstantiated or equivalent internal code: After investigation, it cannot be determined whether or not a violation of the Criminal Code or other federal statute took place at that time or location.
Unfounded: It has been determined through police investigation that the offence reported did not occur, nor was it attempted and therefore no violations of the Criminal Code or other federal statute took place at that time or location.
Founded: After police investigation it has been determined that a Criminal Code or other federal statute violation has occurred even if the charged/suspect chargeable is unknown.
Mr. Speaker, it was deeply concerning that The Globe and Mail investigative report revealed that such a high percentage of sexual assault complaints were deemed to be unfounded by police. The Commanding Officer of "G" Division, Chief Superintendent Jamie Zettler, was equally concerned when I spoke with him. As a result of the report, he immediately initiated an in-depth review of every complaint classified as unfounded in the Northwest Territories between 2010 and 2016.
The Globe and Mail report indicated that 30 per cent of sexual assault complaints in the NWT during that time period were closed as unfounded. The RCMP's detailed review and analysis adjusted the unfounded number of sexual assault complaints to 18.7 per cent. This was because they found that a number of cases classified as unfounded were done so in error due to a coding issue, and not an investigative conclusion. Of the 18.7 per cent unfounded cases, 42 per cent were third-party complaints that were not reported by the victim, but by someone else who had seen or been told something which led them to believe a sexual assault has occurred. The third party then reports it to the RCMP so an investigation can be completed to determine whether or not there has been a sexual assault. It's important to know that a complaint classified as unfounded does not mean that a thorough investigation did not take place, but rather after an investigation, the police were able to determine that the offence reported did not actually occur.
Chief Superintendent Zettler has assured me that they have taken steps to ensure RCMP members are provided with everything they need to investigate allegations of sexual assault thoroughly, while remaining considerate and sensitive to the experience of the person coming forward. This includes appropriate training available for members to support current sexual assault investigation techniques, and the supervision of each of these matters by a senior RCMP member.
Mr. Speaker, some provinces or municipalities have established sexual assault units within their police services to investigate all sexual assault complaints in their jurisdiction, as they have determined that this operational model is the best fit for police to provide this service for communities.
Yukon, for example, established a specialized unit in 2013 to investigate domestic violence, sexual assault, and child welfare matters. This model for police operations makes sense in the Yukon where over 75 per cent of the population resides in Whitehorse, and all but one of the 17 communities are accessible by road. A specialized unit is a better fit for a predominantly urban population like that of Yukon.
In the NWT, the geographic reality of having 33 communities, most of which do not have all season road access, makes a specialized investigation model less appropriate. More than half the population of the NWT is spread among communities outside of Yellowknife, and an investigator's responsiveness to complainants would potentially depend on the weather and available travel options for some of our remote communities. The RCMP advises that these communities are best served by ensuring the general duty RCMP officers stationed at their local detachment have all of the tools available to them to investigate allegations of sexual assault thoroughly, remaining sensitive to the experience of the person coming forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee of Government Operations has reviewed Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, and wishes to report that Bill 17 as amended and reprinted is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
