Mr. Speaker, we are making the final preparations for our new Med-Response clinical support line for community health workers. This innovative project is a priority in the Department of Health and Social Services’ strategic plan and advances the 17th Legislative Assembly’s goal of ensuring a fair and sustainable health care system. It uses technology to connect people with services and it will be an important part of our effective, efficient health system.
The new Med-Response service will provide community health care workers throughout all Northwest Territories regions with a single phone number to call for emergency clinical support.
We have not had a system-wide approach to dealing with emergencies. When there is an emergency situation in a community, the local health care professionals may currently call their regional facility, or they may contact the emergency room physicians at Stanton Territorial Hospital or the Inuvik Hospital.
Mr. Speaker, the new Med-Response service will guarantee community health care staff access to immediate support.
Dedicated clinical staff will respond to calls 24 hours a day to help community health practitioners stabilize critical patients. They will assess patients and dispatch medevac flights quickly when needed.
The new Med-Response system will work with our telehealth service, and staff will have access to the medical information they need to provide appropriate care.
In the early stages, Med-Response will focus on emergency situations. Over time, this 24/7 service can expand to include providing physician support for chronic disease management and non-urgent consultations, and follow-up for patients discharged from hospital. It will also provide direct support for communities without a resident nurse. These changes will improve the care patients receive.
Mr. Speaker, we hope to begin in April. I will inform Members of this Assembly when the service is available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, jobs for Northerners are a priority of all Members of this Assembly. For the Government of the Northwest Territories, the NWT Public Service Strategic Plan and the Workforce Planning Strategy provide multi-pronged approaches to build capacity through recruitment, development and retention. I would like to provide Members an update on some of these initiatives being led by the Department of Human Resources.
Partnering with Aboriginal and community governments through secondment opportunities to build capacity is a win-win. Secondments provide employees with the opportunity to become familiar with other government structures and processes. They also allow employees to gain new knowledge and skills and help form valuable contacts and relationships. As of January 2014, five GNWT employees are on secondment to Aboriginal and community governments and one is on secondment to an Aboriginal association.
We are also very encouraged by the recent initiative with the Gwich’in Tribal Council to work together on designing a pilot program for internships and secondments to build capacity in Gwich’in communities. The Department of Human Resources and the Gwich’in Tribal Council are currently working on a terms of reference and will start work on program details in 2014-2015. Other Aboriginal governments may want to consider similar models. During 2013-14 the GNWT hired 22 northern graduates as interns through the Graduate Internship Program. We currently have 12 apprentices.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT, like many other employers, is facing both current and future occupational shortages and it is recognized that our northern students and graduates can meet some of the demand. I am pleased to announce that existing student and youth programs have changed to more strongly correlate the opportunities in the public service with the studies and aspirations of young Northerners.
Changes to the Internship Program include options for departments to extend the term of the internship to longer than one year in length and link the internship to occupational shortages in the GNWT. To expand the pool of northern graduates available, the eligibility requirement to graduate from post-secondary studies within the last six months has been changed to 12 months. The program guidelines have also been updated to help ensure managers and interns understand the purpose of the program and their roles and responsibilities.
We know many northern students want to work for the GNWT, and changing our internship requirements offers new graduates better and longer opportunities to gain knowledge, skills and experience to more easily transition into the GNWT. By linking internship placements with GNWT occupational shortages, we are gaining the valuable technical and specialized skills the GNWT requires. The changes are effective April 1, 2014, and information will be available on the Department of Human Resources’ website in the coming weeks.
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to building capacity through partnerships with Aboriginal and community governments and initiatives to transition northern graduates into the public service. This approach helps us meet the challenges from current and future occupational shortages. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Last weekend people were getting together for the annual Beavertail Jamboree. People came into Fort Simpson from all over the Deh Cho, Tulita, Fort Providence, Yellowknife and northern Alberta. Our hardworking organizers arranged a mix of events to get people outside into the fresh air. It’s time to enjoy the longer days of sunshine, knowing that summer is just around the corner. I was happy to enjoy the festivities and the great weather, and especially that everyone had a happy and safe weekend.
The tradition of the Beavertail Jamboree began about 35 years ago and the festival is as lively as ever. This may be one of the longest continuous ones in the North. There were activities for youth and folks of all ages.
A great big thanks to the Beavertail Jamboree Committee and all the many volunteers and organizations that contributed to the festival. Corporate sponsors deserve a very honourable mention as well. You have once again put on a great show and once again shown the outstanding hospitality of Fort Simpson. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. February 26th was Anti-Bullying Day, Pink Shirt Day in Canada. However, the Chief Paul Niditchie School, in partnership with the Tsiigehtchic Justice Committee, will hold its own Making Peace in Tsiigehtchic school and community gathering on Monday, March 31st, in order to accommodate the travel schedule of its elected leadership.
Students of the Chief Paul Niditchie School will make a start of making peace with each other by signing a school peace treaty banner. Parents, grandparents, relatives and guardians will be invited to sign on behalf of their families and to say a few words on what it means to make peace with each other.
This school-community peace treaty will be witnessed by the anti-bullying T-shirt partners, which include the Chief Paul Niditchie School, the Tsiigehtchic Justice Committee, Tsiigehtchic charter community, Gwitchya Gwich’in Band, the Gwitchya Gwich’in Council, Tsiigehtchic Health Centre, Tsiigehtchic by-law office, Community Wellness Program, the Tsiigehtchic District Education Authority and the Fort McPherson RCMP “G” Division detachment.
In observance of Anti-Bullying Day, the students will wear pink T-shirts courtesy of the Tsiigehtchic Justice Committee through funding through the community justice and community policing division, Department of Justice, Government of the Northwest Territories.
The banner will be hung at community public offices throughout the year to remind people and students of their promise of their commitment to keep the peace with each other.
Mr. Speaker, the students and people of Tsiigehtchic are against bullying and are for making peace with each other. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I want to talk about an idea, a concept that was once in the Northwest Territories.
Some time ago up in Inuvik, they had the ski program, the TEST program. This program was sponsored to develop young northern skiers. This program was so successful that it produced some high quality athletes, athletes that were so good that we sent them to the Olympics because they made the Olympic Team, Mr. Speaker. They did us proud. Certainly, today in the Northwest Territories, we just celebrated a couple of our northern athletes going to the Olympics.
I’d like to say, of the people in the Northwest Territories, even though we’re small, we’re a powerhouse in terms of the quality of young kids, young athletes in the Northwest Territories from all our schools and communities. I’d like to develop this TEST program again and develop these high-calibre ambassadors of the North and to develop these young athletes to have a strong belief that they can go anywhere as long as they get the support, the coaching and get the programs in place.
Let’s build on the TEST program. There are many good athletes in the Sahtu region that would benefit from the program if it was back in our schools. We could have it in our schools, to teach discipline, self-esteem, self-confidence, healthy eating, a good way of life. We need to have that type of program back in our schools again.
Mr. Speaker, there were many students from the Sahtu who were in the TEST program who made the Canadian junior ski team and the Olympics. We need to look at this again and support these young athletes in the Northwest Territories and the Sahtu. We want to see something like this so we can say we are the world’s best and we’re not lagging behind development. Our students are ready, so we should get ready for them, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The United Nations conference on trade and development released its 2013 trade and environment report, titled “Wake up before it’s too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate.” It included contributions from more than 60 international experts.
It shows recent global food prices were almost 80 percent higher than for the period 2003 to 2008. It also indicated how much slower agricultural productivity growth and fast-rising populations in the most vulnerable regions will almost certainly worsen current problems with hunger, drought, rising food prices and access to land. These pressures may easily lead to massive migrations and to international tensions and conflicts over food and resources such as soil and water.
The report recommends a rapid and significant shift away from conventional, monoculture-based industrial production of food with expensive inputs of fertilizers, agrochemicals and feedlots. Instead, mosaics of sustainable regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers and foster rural development are the way to go.
We in the NWT import a lot of our food and that makes us part of this global food supply system. The recommendations to focus on producing mosaics of small-scale farmers are as applicable here as anywhere in the world. Historically, there were market and domestic gardens in many of our communities, possibly all. There is some return happening, fortunately, but the recovery of commercial gardens will take some initial support.
This past year the Northern Farm Training Institute in Hay River ran a very successful first season of workshops, which has led to small-scale farming operations starting up in several communities across the NWT. Yellowknife had a farmers market that ran for the whole summer, with several small commercial garden vendors participating.
This UN report can help government realize that all over the world, people are looking at how to produce food on a small local scale. This approach makes even more sense in the NWT where, fortunately, we have not gone to over-fertilized monoculture farming. I know ITI is revising its programs to better support local food production, but they are still missing the mark required to help small producers build to sustainable enterprise.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude by statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
There is a lot of enthusiasm for this in the Northwest Territories and I get messages and updates from constituents and others every week. With planting season starting now and wrapping up quickly, let’s get rid of barriers and make sure our programs readily support small-scale market gardens and the food security we want.
I will have questions for the Minister of ITI. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to focus my Member’s statement today on another concern and issue that we have with our Medical Travel Policy. As Members who represent people of the public, we come across situations that we don’t always account for or ever think that would happen. This was the case of one my most recent situations, where an individual who was travelling inside the Northwest Territories – or any individual, for that matter, who runs into some unforeseen health issues and whether or not our government takes care of them while they are in the situation when they might have been travelling for personal or other business issues throughout the Northwest Territories. That’s just the issue that I’m dealing with right now.
I’m not sure how many other MLAs or residents of the Northwest Territories might have run into this problem, where they went travelling for other business for their work or, like I said, other personal commitments, and received some medical attention and were refused. This is the situation: they were refused possible accommodations, even a boarding home, as well as refused possible transportation upon returning to their home when they had to go back to a small community. In such cases, when a person is travelling from a small community, they have some kind of charter vehicle or something to get them back in a proper time after their personal or their work-related events happen, and in this case it was work related and they did miss a charter and a shuttle in and now they’re a little concerned about how they’re going to get back home to the community.
I will ask questions to the Minister of Health in dealing with these kinds of situations when there are unexpected medical issues that happen for our residents of the Northwest Territories who are travelling inside the Northwest Territories when medical travel has told them that they won’t be able to help them out because they weren’t sent out of their home community on their medical travel. That needs to be dealt with.
I will ask questions of the Minister of Health later, on some of these policies and how we can change them and, in this certain case, how can we make things better for the resident and for their family and for other people in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association released a pan-northern study on teacher workload, entitled “Understanding Teacher Workloads.”
It is significant to me that the findings from this study are consistent with national and international research. In fact, across many sectors in North America, overwork is a growing problem marked by work intensification. This report’s findings show that although NWT teachers love their jobs and their students, they are burning themselves out, trying to deliver a quality product within a system that is not supporting their efforts.
Northern teachers are consistently being asked to do more and more with less and less. We must ever be mindful that teachers’ work environments are our children’s learning environments. If working conditions are putting our teachers at risk of burnout and stress, this has a negative effect on the quality of NWT children’s education.
The report finds that NWT teachers are struggling with increasing demands and fewer resources. These demands include such things as:
diverse needs and academic abilities amongst the children in any classroom;
student absenteeism;
lack of clerical support and classroom assistants;
lack of time for planning and professional collaboration;
a perpetual cycle of new teachers leaving the communities and/or the profession due to stress or isolation; and
stress from non-instructional issues.
This report also includes recommendations for positive change, including such things as:
creating flexible curriculums supported by capacity and time to do things;
building time into the teacher’s day for professional collaboration;
support for unworkable systems, multiple grades, ability levels and increasing students’ needs in the classrooms;
recognition and support for workloads, which include increased reporting, changing curriculums, evolving assessment requirements and societal demands;
supporting teachers in classrooms with adequate numbers of EAs and coordination with other community supports, social services, health care and so on.
I applaud the NWTTA for their initiative in doing this study and sharing the findings with all education stakeholders. I sincerely hope that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will seriously consider the report and its findings as it moves ahead with their Education Renewal and Innovation Initiative and that the Minister will continue to work with the NWTTA to make things better for all our NWT teachers. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Saturday, March 8th, was International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the achievement of women and what they have accomplished here in the North, across Canada and certainly across the world.
I personally support the equality of women in all aspects of our world and certainly in our lives. All women so readily deserve our love, appreciation and definitely our respect.
Women, as we know, are equal contributors to the world we know and they must not be thought of in any lesser manner. They are recognized leaders in all aspects of business, politics, academics, sports and family. The results of their work and dedication can be found everywhere we look. Simply, more can be done to recognize the impacts women make in our lives. Sadly, they do not get the recognition they deserve and at times they absolutely have crimes against them, which is certainly unfair and we must highlight the accomplishments and support them in many ways.
At the same time, many women, both young and old, have been unfairly targeted by others through violence and exploitation. We need to look no further than the recently deeply disappointing example in Ottawa, where a Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women failed to act. I believe they failed not just Aboriginal women but all women and girls across Canada and the world through their inaction. Without proceeding to a formal inquiry to address this terrible, terrible problem on addressing the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada, they have failed them.
So, here is a clear example on how women are not being supported in Canada. I certainly hope our territory stands up loud and clear and expresses its objection. We must do everything we can to support women to help them through the education of everyone, and certainly through our actions here as men. We must all join together, because a woman’s fight is a man’s fight as well. We must help them in their relentless struggle for gender equality, which certainly they deserve.
On the weekend, the wise women that certainly deserved our recognition were Karen Willy, Pamela Faith Gordon, Patricia Modeste, Sister Margaret Beaudette and Harriet Geddes.
Of course, I must make sure I mention that wise woman in my life would be, of course, my wife, and I’m very grateful for her, but I especially want to acknowledge the wise woman in my life who I look towards the most, which, of course, is my mother.
I draw this attention because I say in closing that there is so much to celebrate, but to support women on every single occasion we must continue with the work that needs to be done. I believe we can do this through making it a better world and we can do this, certainly, together. I ask all men to join together in the women’s fight for equality.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Each year we spend thousands of dollars servicing the communities of Enterprise and Kakisa with the water truck from Hay River. As expensive as it may be to build and maintain water treatment plants, by now the cost of trucking water has paid for local water treatment systems.
Kakisa is right beside the lake. It’s time to find creative solutions for the construction and operation and maintenance of water treatment plants for both of these communities.
A number of years ago, a hamlet in Sweden with a similar population as Kakisa and Enterprise, came up with six different water treatment options for decision-makers to consider. All of these options met or exceeded standards for quality, cleanliness, community capacity and environmental responsibility.
Water treatment plants are fully operational in communities throughout all three territories and in remote work camps that serve 10 times the number of people living in Kakisa and Enterprise. That proves that water treatment plants can be established in these communities too.
Both Enterprise and Kakisa want to explore the possibly of partnerships between government, local development corporations, band councils and even private industry to fund local water treatment systems. The proposed wood pellet plant in Enterprise will need a water supply and so do the campgrounds at Enterprise and Kakisa. Further development of both of those areas could provide a reliable, long-term partner in the operation of water treatment plants.
We are all aware that water treatment plants need to meet a comprehensive list of standards and codes. It is absolutely necessary that the systems in our communities meet or exceed these standards. Trucked-in water from Hay River guarantees a certain water quality, but in the long term, local water treatment is by far the safest, least expensive option for any municipality. Safe, reliable, functional water and sewer systems are integral to our standard of living. The construction and operation of local water treatment plants is essential to all of our communities. I urge this government to rise to the challenge and work together to reach the solutions that Enterprise and Kakisa need.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was able to go back to Hay River this weekend and saw that there were biathletes training in Hay River for the Arctic Winter Games. Today I thought I’d recognize all those athletes out there practicing and training throughout the Northwest Territories for the Arctic Winter Games next week.
I’d like to commend all those people that have helped them, the coaches, their parents. I look forward to being at the Arctic Winter Games next week. We have 35 athletes and six coaches from Hay River ourselves, and many of their parents are travelling to Fairbanks, Alaska, to be there.
Twenty-six years ago I was there curling in Fairbanks. We ended up with a silver ulu, and I think it’s a great event for most of the youth.
I’d like to read out the youth that are coming from Hay River as well as the coaches: Kaed Blake, Tori Blake, Nicholas Cockney, Clell Crook, Michaela Crook, Kiel Crook, Elli Cunningham, Daniel DaRose, Joel Demarcke, Cordell Gagnier, Logan Gagnier, Jeffrey Groenheyde, Rachel Harder, Bryn Hill, Carter Hill, Alex Huang, Fiona Huang, Calvin King, Paige Kruger, Jared LeBlanc, Andrew Lirette, Tanner Mandeville, Dawson McMeekin, Daniel Melanson, Lochlan Munro, Elliot Pinto, Simon Pittman, Cassidy Ring, Drake Roberts, Brooke Schaefer, Kara Schaefer, Nathan Schepher and Levon Schumann.
The coaches are Claude Crook, Coady Duncan, Charges Lirette, Lorraine McDonald, Curtis Rowe and, obviously, Mr. Paul Delorey for junior curling.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish everybody good luck and let’s bring home some ulus. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Non-government organizations, or NGOs, are non-profit citizen groups who provide essential services to our residents. Everything from feeding the hungry and housing the homeless to providing child care, safe shelters or counselling services for youth and those with addictions or legal issues.
NGOs face unimaginable challenges in doing the work they do. They rely on a core of selfless volunteers who work long hours with little support because they believe in helping others in their communities.
They lack funds and often make do with less than adequate facilities, yet somehow year after year they continue to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and underprivileged among us.
Where is the GNWT in all this? Our NGO funding policy makes a paltry $350,000 per year available to eligible NGOs that meet our vaguely defined criteria. This $350,000 hasn’t changed since the policy inception in 2010-2011.
Let’s put this in perspective. In 2012-2013, 27 organizations applied for funding totalling over $1 million of ask. Of the 27, less than half, 11 applicants, shared in the funding and of those, only three got the full amount they requested.
Only three out of 27 had their funding needs met, yet the GNWT’s own policy says that this elusive funding is for NGOs to “deliver programs and services that the GNWT considers critical and which the GNWT would deliver directly if the NGO were not able to do so.”
Further, for those NGOs seeking funding for the coming 2014-2015 fiscal year, information is non-existent. Information on the Department of Executive’s website is a year old and provides deadlines for applicants for last year’s allocations. I think this speaks volumes about how critical the GNWT really thinks the work of NGOs is.
Members of this House have asked repeatedly for funding for NGOs to be increased, but this alone is not enough. The time NGO volunteers spend fundraising is time they are not spending helping those in need. NGOs need clarity and reliability of funding. They need accurate, up-to-date information. NGOs need a clear decision-making process for funding applications and a list of what the government considers to be priority of critical services.
We need to do more for these NGOs who do not qualify for funding so they can become better qualified.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
We should be providing services to assist emergent NGOs and to take a look at existing stable NGOs to see where there are overlaps in synergies, so we can assist these NGOs to streamline these operations and stretch our funding dollars.
This government has a responsibility to stop paying lip service to NGOs and to start to recognize NGOs as a valued and essential resource. It’s time the government stopped inadequate, piecemeal funding for services that are, by its own admission, critical to NWT residents.
It is time for the government to implement an integrated approach to working with NGOs in the true spirit of partnership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to recognize my wife of 40 years and my lifelong partner, and also another constituent of Yellowknife South, Carmelita Allen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize, to you and through you, a resident of Range Lake, Mr. David Wasylciw. Thank you, David.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a couple of constituents in the gallery. First off, I’d like to acknowledge and recognize Dawn Lacey who’s up there, I just saw her a few minutes ago. I’d also like to recognize Brian Heppelle who’s here to follow our proceedings today. Of course, special to my heart and to the Premier’s obviously, Melody McLeod, who has been a wonderful lady to me for so many years. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that I know that my friend Carmelita is up there, I’d like to recognize Carmel, a long-time friend and co-worker. I would also like to recognize Mr. David Wasylciw and Mrs. McLeod and Mr. Heppelle. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize Brian Heppelle in the gallery today. I had a chance to have coffee with him. I know he’s a concerned citizen and it’s great to see him in the gallery and all those who are out today. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. I’d like to welcome everybody in the public gallery today. Thanks for taking an interest in our proceedings. I’d also like to welcome Mrs. McLeod in the House today. It’s always good to see you.
