Good afternoon, colleagues. Before we get start today, I’d like to wish R.C. McLeod a happy birthday today.
---Applause
Mr. Speaker, we are transforming the way we use technology to deliver health care to our residents. People all over the world use secure, accessible technology for banking or to connect with their friends and family. Now we can use it to improve access to health services and provide better care to our residents.
We are moving from paper records to digital charts to create electronic medical records, often referred to as an EMR. This is an electronic version of a paper chart that contains a patient’s medical history and primary care information. It will be implemented over the next several years and will be used territory-wide.
Paper records in clinics and community health centres present many challenges to our health care providers, such as not having access to their patient’s important medical information to provide safe and effective treatment. This is especially true if the patient has moved from community to community.
Electronic medical records will improve patient care and safety. Information is typed, making it much easier to read than handwritten paper charts. This helps to reduce misinterpretation of clinical information such as medication and dosage.
Mr. Speaker, the new electronic system will better protect patient information. Unlike in a paper file, health care providers only have access to the types of information they need to treat the patient.
Rigorous quality assurance processes are in place to protect patient confidentiality, including password protection and a daily audit function. The EMR has other uses. It can provide reminders, for example flagging for a doctor or nurse when a patient needs a critical test to manage a chronic disease, and it can allow a team of health care workers to provide appropriate care. This will reduce duplicate lab tests and reduce the risk of allergy or drug interactions.
Dr. Ewan Affleck of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority has been a champion of electronic medical records, and was recently awarded the Order of Canada for his commitment to improving health care services in northern communities.
---Applause
He calls the EMR “a patient-centred charting tool that will promote the quality of care of each resident of the Northwest Territories.”
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the main estimates includes more than $2 million to put in place the foundation that will allow us to roll out the EMR, including bringing more health and social services authorities into the government’s shared technology service centre. We will provide better and safer patient care by supporting a team of authorized health care providers at different locations to care for the patient and increase the security of medical information.
The EMR roll out will continue in the coming fiscal year with implementation in the Hay River, Stanton, Fort Smith and Sahtu health and social services authorities. The following year the remaining sites will be implemented, including Beaufort-Delta, Dehcho and Tlicho.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased with the progress in moving this important initiative forward, and I encourage all Members and residents to visit the website betterhealthtogether.ca to learn more about the advantages of moving to a digital system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise this afternoon to commemorate the life and work of the late Sarah Hardisty, a well-respected Aboriginal elder and respected artist of Jean Marie River.
On a special note, she created the band of porcupine quill work that adorns our own territorial Mace.
Sarah Hardisty was born in Jean Marie River in July 1924 when the community was little more than a summer gathering place. Her family lived a traditional life, spending summers in Jean Marie and winters at Fish Lake. Although Sarah recalls many hardships, she fondly recalled a much simpler time and lifestyle.
Sarah married William Hardisty in 1941 and they had 12 children, four of whom have since passed on. When her husband passed away in 1961, she was left to raise eight children. With no formal education or social assistance, she drew strength from her faith, her community and had sheer determination to provide for her family.
Like many Dene women of her generation, Sarah began sewing when she was nine. She could prepare and tan a moosehide by the time she was 12. Sarah’s income was from selling moccasins and other traditional clothing she handmade. She quickly gained a reputation of being one of the best sewers in the region with porcupine quill work being her expertise.
Sarah was a testament to the traditional Dene woman. She touched many lives and inspired many women with her humour, soft-spoken words and wisdom while she was working with them.
Sarah taught workshops and sewing classes at the Jean Marie River school. She loved to travel and demonstrate her quill work in New Mexico, Washington and Arizona.
During the 1970s Sarah belonged to the Jean Marie River Native Arts Group that exhibited their traditional arts in places as far away as Toronto. Among her proudest achievements was making a traditional Dene outfit for the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa in 1988 and stitching a porcupine quill territorial crest out of moosehide that was presented to Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Visit in 1994.
Sarah received various awards over the years and most recently the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medallion presented at a ceremony in Jean Marie River last year in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Aboriginal arts and culture.
In a sad turn of events, Sarah passed away February 9th. She is survived by her children, numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, countless relatives and friends who cherished her hard work and a place she continues to hold in each of our lives.
On behalf of her family who call her “Ama,” she will be greatly missed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to talk about an issue that we, as MLAs, hear about on a very regular basis, and that is sometimes there are issues in our public service.
Mr. Speaker, we have a very large public service for a jurisdiction this size. We heard questions in this House last week about the Safe Disclosure Act and how if employees have problems in the workplace, they can use this as a vehicle to express concern. However, we also heard from the Minister that not one issue has ever been raised through this vehicle.
The Department of Human Resources has been before us in Committee of the Whole and they have shared with us the evolving revolving door, so to speak, on the issue of staffing levels and staffing needs. The Union of Northern Workers, who represents most of our public service, does have a role to play in bringing certain types of concerns, but my concern is that there are divisions, activities, secretariats, different compartments of people within activities of the government where, through changes, whether it’s consolidation or decentralization, shared services is a perfect example where certain activities like procurement and finance are being consolidated under one roof.
There are all these things going on and some of our departments are large. We know that Ministers cannot delve into personnel issues and ultimately, I would suspect that it is the deputy minister who is responsible for ensuring staffing levels are what they should be and everything is working well in every shop and every office in every institution of our government.
I think that’s a very, very tall order. I think we need – this is my idea, I have an idea for you – some form of an agency, a person, a team or something that can go in, that have the people skills and knowledge of human resources, and hear what some of those issues are and report back to the head of that department and tell them what their recommendations are.
I don’t know if that person or team would be out of the Department of Human Resources, if it would be out of the program review office we’ve heard about, but I believe there is a need in our government to assess this. I think there are some troubled areas from time to time, as there would be in an organization of 5,500 public servants, and I’m not saying this as a slight against anybody, but I think there are often needs that need to be assessed and we need some troubleshooting in this area.
I will have questions later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s the beginning of March, March Madness. This weekend I was able to go back home and partake in several of the events. Kamba Carnival, our big annual spring carnival, took place with lots of dog races, pancake breakfasts, talent shows and many other different types of games.
The weekend also involved a novice hockey tournament and the third leg of the Hay River snowmobile races that have been going on the circuit.
I would like to thank all those volunteers who helped out in this busy weekend in Hay River. This is a very valuable thing to Hay River, this type of activity. We would like to thank all of those people that travelled in on the winter roads, from northern Alberta and from all over the country to attend many of these events.
March Madness includes next weekend. Polar Pond Hockey will be out on the 10 rinks on the river, in the outdoors. They were busy this weekend putting the rinks together, flooding the ice and getting ready for the big hockey games next weekend. There are still a few spots open. If you have a four-person team, sign up as soon as you can.
March Madness will continue on March 15th to the 23rd. Many of our young athletes will be going to Fairbanks, Alaska, for the Arctic Winter Games, and some of us will be joining them, and hopefully they bring back a whole bunch of gold ulus and a whole bunch of ulus period.
Obviously, the last weekend in Hay River we have an event that’s called the Ptub Races and cross-country skiers will be out there competing. So, we look forward to the March Madness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last November when the tabled report on Education Renewal and Innovation Framework was originally discussed, the most alarming statistic for me was our truancy rates in the Northwest Territories. This statistical failure, coupled with our students’ low test scores and literacy rates were echoed by many in this room.
The truancy statistic that I couldn’t shake was that by Grade 4 the average NWT student has already missed half a year of school, or two full years by Grade 10. I mean, how do you begin to tackle the biggest elephant in this territory?
My search for answers did not come up with much success in Canada; in fact, even broadening my search yielded very little in terms of tangible solutions, other than more theories. However, I did stumble by chance on an economic paper by one Roland Fryer that talked about what economists were learning about Pay-4-Performance with students. In fact, this was a bona fide 40,000 student study in 261 schools in Greater Washington, DC, New York, Chicago and Dallas area where researchers gave $6.3 million in rewards to schools.
What did these policy-makers, economists and researchers discover in these controlled experiments? For one, incentives for output did not increase achievement. That is, the study showed paying students directly to get higher test scores failed to yield results. However, paying students to read books yielded a large and statistical increase in reading comprehension.
Second, and speaking to our NWT truancy rates, they found students improved their test scores when they were focused on improving the input to achievements such as attendance and behaviour.
Yes, I know, it’s always a bit risky to lean too much in any one study, even though this case study was controlled and randomized. So is there an application for the NWT to learn from? Seriously, if this controlled study concluded that by paying students to read books, come to school daily, sit in class and without causing a ruckus and other so-called input, all this showed a higher yield on test scores, then what is the risk in the NWT to repeat the parameters of this study?
This is the only gold standard study that tested assumptions of financial incentives for student achievement, to my knowledge, yet this has had policy-makers south of the border at least pause and consider such options. Even the Auditor General of Canada reminds us that change starts with the right framework which is measured by the right investment.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Again, I bring today a study that is thus far singular in design, yet I know the policy climate in the NWT is in dire need of change. So if writing cheques or giving out iTunes cards will improve NWT student attendance and behaviour, then I for one welcome that at least we investigate this option. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently the Premier announced that the Alberta Energy Regulator has been chosen to provide expert advice to our new oil and gas regulator, noting, “This model was arrived at by careful review and consideration of several possible models.” I would very much like to see the report that Cabinet considered on this.
Since then, I have received many expressions of dismay from the public at the intent to use the Alberta regulator; with some saying they felt sick to their stomach at this choice. They provide me with a little review and consideration of their own.
Here are some highlights from the report they provided me released last July, assessing Alberta’s regulation and monitoring of oil and gas activity. Lead author Dr. Timoney says, “Examination of the records in the Alberta Government’s Environmental Monitoring System demonstrates a legacy of over 9,000 environmental instances from 1996 to 2012, while environmental legislation remained virtually unenforced. Over 4,000 of the incidents were violations of Alberta’s environmental laws and regulations,” and incidentally, records for the previous 29 years were completely missing.
Minister Ramsay said he took some issue over my concern about the Alberta regulator, and that “they have the technical and professional expertise,” from Hansard. In fact, the report revealed that Alberta has a dismal enforcement rate of 0.9 percent, 17 times lower than the U.S. With that expert advice, we will enforce our own rules in less than one of 100 violations.
Here are a few more conclusions in the report to be tabled later today. “A recurrent feature of the incidents it that the volume, duration and chemical composition of the releases in the air, and spills, leaks and discharges to land or water are unspecified or unknown. This lack of basic data limits the ability to understand the industrial impacts and represents a significant deficiency in government and industrial monitoring,” and, “The contraventions were chronic and repetitive and indicated little progress towards better management practices.” Finally, “Industrial self-reporting as the foundation of the environmental record, both on the part of Alberta government and the Alberta Energy Regulator, fails the test of openness and transparency that are essential to good governance.”
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
On Thursday we heard in the ITI Minister’s statement detailing the support and subsidies that ITI will provide for the fossil fuel industry. I must observe, once again, there is a clear conflict of interest putting the government cheerleader of this industry in the position of its regulator. Devolution could indeed be great, but I already feel our credibility slipping and public confidence draining away. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to return to the subject of disclosure of public sector salaries. The many jurisdictions I have talked about in this House do publish their public service salaries, and believe it or not, as of last Friday the Mackenzie Valley Review Board has finally stepped up to the plate to show some leadership in this territory by publicizing what they pay their chair and their board members. It’s true, public disclosure is what the public wants to find out where their money is going.
As I’ve previously stated, provinces like New Brunswick publicize their salary ranges, Nova Scotia publicizes their salary ranges, Ontario does it and even Ontario puts it on a website that’s easily accessible by all their citizens. Even anyone from the Northwest Territories can click away.
Manitoba has the courage to be honest with their citizens and even British Columbia goes out of their way and says this is what’s important to do, but in the Northwest Territories we hide behind, saying, oh my goodness, it’s confidential. In those salary disclosures, a lot of times they spell out the employee, the position, the location that they work, so are they assuming people in those six provinces out of 10 cannot read and wouldn’t understand that information? Are they assuming people don’t care where their tax dollars go? Are they assuming wrongly? I think so.
It’s time this territorial government starts to follow the lead of what the Mackenzie Valley Review Board has just done. It may not be perfect, but my goodness, it is a true step in accountability of where the public’s money is going. Now, of course, they spent a lot of money on honoraria, but that’s not the point. The point is people know where their money’s going and let them be the judge individually if they feel it appropriately spent.
As I had said, and continue to say, six out of 10 provinces do this. It’s time to stop hiding behind mercurial defences as to why we can’t do something. It’s time to find a way to say how we can do it and achieve this accountability. We will not be able to pry this out of the Ministers because they’ll say, oh, we cannot do that, but I believe last session I tabled an experience, if not a crystal clear example, of the Government of the Northwest Territories tabling or publicizing in the Northern News Services, a few years ago, employee salaries. I think that the amount that I tabled was almost seven pages of facts and figures.
In short, I will be coming back to the Minister of Human Resources to talk about how we can show some leadership on this and shed some light finally, once and for all.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to take a tour to the Conoco lease and the Husky lease up in the Sahtu region. Certainly I took the two days in to look at the whole operation, check out the operation in terms of the campsites, the workers, the oil and gas drilling activities.
When I went to Conoco’s lease, I saw a lot of young people working there, young people that were quite happy. They were talking about their work and it’s something they look forward to, getting up and going to work rather than sitting back in the communities and doing nothing. They are looking forward to some opportunities. One of the things they were talking about is the types of training opportunities that are there for them. Things are moving quite quickly and that they need some training to build capacity.
As soon as I went into the Husky lease, too, I also talked to some of the people there and that they were looking for some training opportunities, training that is going to be needed in the Sahtu region. I talked to them. Also, they were very, very happy to get up, go to work, get a paycheque after two weeks. One of the things I asked them was how it was to work in these camps. How is it to work out here? Basically, they all said it was okay. The food is good. The paycheques are good, and they like getting up early and working 12 hour days. They said that they were quite happy with what’s happening out there, and the companies were treating them well and that they had the opportunity to work.
I ran into these young people on these tours, and actually, there was a young woman who was driving one of the big trucks hauling gravel, young people working in the kitchen, young people working in security, young people monitoring the road for wildlife. Things are happening in the region. I want to ask the Minister of ITI with regard to the Sahtu oil and gas training needs assessment once the appropriate time comes.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Family violence in the NWT is recognized as a problem, but do we really do enough to address it? Violence against women in the NWT is nine times greater than the national average. Several years ago the local YWCA developed and ran a project to look at ways to develop approaches and programs for addressing violence against women. It was a three-year project “to develop and pilot safety options for women fleeing violence in NWT communities without a local RCMP detachment.” That project proved very successful and it provided great insight into the environment in the NWT within which violence against women occurs. A report was prepared at the end of the three-year project and it is titled “Safety in Small Communities,” and I’d like to share some of the findings from that report with you.
First, and perhaps most importantly, in the NWT we have an environment of fear and oppression around family violence. Family violence is still kept secret. There’s rampant fear to talk about it in small communities. There’s a lack of trusted supports for women, people they can talk to and be supported by.
Second, there’s a huge need in small communities for healing activities and greater supports, especially for women in communities where there is no RCMP presence and no informal supports from their peers. There must be an increase in capacity to effectively provide women with safety in their community. As well, women and families must be empowered to work to help their community become safe. These very valuable learnings are too many to mention. I’ve only highlighted a few of them today.
To conclude, I want to say that empowering people is a lengthy process that must be sustained over a long period of time and it requires funding to do so. We need to engage the skills of northern women to address the safety needs of their peers, and it requires funding to do so. Women in small communities need ongoing support to move forward, and that means funding.
Many organizations have come together to create a coalition, a Coalition Against Family Violence, and the GNWT is a partner in that coalition. The recent budget address did little to highlight and recognize the work that needs to be done to assist the coalition and improve the safety of women and families in our communities.
I will have some questions for the Minister of Justice at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 1991 Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The convention recognizes children as citizens with the right to reach their fullest potential to be treated with dignity and respect, to be protected from harm, to exercise a voice, to engage in play and recreational activities, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
Furthermore, our government here just tabled a document Measuring Success and Focusing on Results. In this report it states a few statistics that I’d like to share with the Members here today as well as residents of the Northwest Territories.
It shows that in the NWT we have 132 foster families. It also mentions that the percentage of children receiving services in their home community is at 87.5 percent, which is great; we’re keeping the child at home. However, what that also says to me is that it’s putting a little extra stress on some of our social care workers and our service providers.
It also mentions percentage of children receiving services in their home or with a relative, and that’s at 59 percent. What this tells me, when I look at it, it talks about the added stress as well as the financial pressures that it might bring to a family or possibly a grandparent.
Further into this report it talks about child and family services committees, where we set out at least a target of six with a baseline of one, but we had none, which is all in this report.
Some other positives are that we do have 15 communities with a Healthy Family Program. We’re not the only ones doing good work on behalf of children across the Northwest Territories, but the NWT Foster Family Coalition is another area that focuses on improving the quality of life for children and youth in care, by supporting foster families.
I believe our government is doing the best that it can with the resources that we have and the programs and services that we provide. We have organizations that are putting in the same effort and acknowledgement in this area, and we want to follow this United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. All I say is that we’re doing our part; we need the communities, the residents and the families to also step up and do their part as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Take a Kid Trapping is a popular program through Industry, Tourism and Investment. It’s designed to introduce youth in the NWT to the traditional harvesting practices of hunting, trapping, fishing and outdoor survival.
[Translation] The students that are going to school are also taking up trapping. They set the traps and snares and also learn how to fish. In the past, our history, our elders have been able to make a trap and make a living doing such. Secondary school students, starting on March 7th, will be doing an on-the-land program, then in one week they will check their traps. They have been doing well. [Translation ends]
Being on the land gives our youth a better understanding of who they are, where they come from and where they live. People who spend time on the land learn to value in a greater way. They see the connection between plants, animals, wind, water and sun that earlier generations always knew. It helps us understand our natural environment and take care of our land so that it can continue to take care of us.
[Translation] They learn how to trap and this is the way our ancestors survived. There are a lot of them that don’t have time to be out in the bush, so it is good that they’re learning how to trap and be on the land. If they are able to learn to trap, then they will be able to learn how to survive. They also would know how to live on the land safely and it also exposes them to a healthy life.
When they learn how to survive on the land, they learn how to trap. It’s also a healthy way of life, so it’s good that they’re learning to do this out-in-the-land program.
Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided]
…to the late Johnny Andrew Boucher, originally from Rocher on the Taltson River.
Johnny was born May 24, 1951, and passed away on February 19, 2014, at age 62. He passed away from difficulties of asthma. I often saw Johnny walking on the streets and he told me that he was not able to get better from his asthma because of his living conditions.
Johnny Boucher was born in Rocher River and was raised in Rocher River and Fort Resolution by his grandfather, Bonaface Boucher. Johnny enjoyed his childhood of being on and living off the land, and was an adventurous type and loved to roam around.
Although Johnny decided to live in the South while he was in his early twenties, he always made sure his immediate family in Resolution and Lutselk’e knew how much he cared for them and loved them, and would make sure to visit whenever he could.
Johnny was an artist and a fishing guide. He was known for his art, but mainly for his art that he did when he lived in the South. Johnny lived in Lutselk’e for a few years in the early 2000s, where he thoroughly enjoyed connecting with the land and living off the land and working as a tour guide for the Lutselk’e Frontier Lodge.
Johnny was predeceased by his mother, Elizabeth Boucher; stepfather, Noel Abraham; brothers Frank (Eddie) and James Boucher; his grandparents Catherine and Boniface Boucher; aunt, Mary-Rose; and his aunt and uncle, Archie and Louise. Johnny is survived by his children Elizabeth Lockhart, Cheyenne Rose Good, Johnny B. Good and Ashley Boucher; grandchildren Amber and Catherine.
My condolences go out to Johnny Boucher, commonly known as Spot. That was his nickname. I know that he was in residential school for a long time; I think almost all of his school years were spent in residential school. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a couple of different individuals. First I’d like to recognize Dr. Ewan Affleck who I mentioned earlier as the champion of electronic medical records, and he was recently awarded the Order of Canada. I’d like to thank him for his commitment to improving health care services for the Northwest Territories.
I’d also like to recognize another important group of individuals, our Anti-Poverty Advisory Committee, who is helping us with the development of the territorial response to the Anti-Poverty Framework. They are Chief Minnie Letcher of the Liidlii K’ue First Nation, who is one of our co-chairs; Bronwyn Watters, who is the GNWT representative and one of our co-chairs; Julie Green from the No Place for Poverty Coalition; His Worship Mark Heyck, the mayor of Yellowknife; Chief Herbert Blake of the Inuvik Native Band. Bob Simpson is also one of our advisory committee members; unfortunately, he’s unable to be here today and he’s with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. I’d also like to recognize Grant Gowans, who is our senior advisor on the anti-poverty file. Thank you all for being here today.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome Dr. Ewan Affleck, M.C., to the House today, a resident of Weledeh, and of course, welcome all of the Anti-Poverty Strategy Advisory Committee members that could make it today, and the mayor of Yellowknife, Mark Heyck. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome Chief Herbert Blake, Inuvik Native Band, as well as His Worship Mayor Mark Heyck. Grant Gowans is up there. He’s a childhood friend of mine and we grew up together on the streets of Inuvik and I want to welcome him to the House today. As well, I’d like to recognize and welcome all the Anti-Poverty Working Group here and I just want to wish them the best of luck, and keep up the good work that they’re doing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have three constituents in the gallery and I’d certainly like to recognize and give them their due Grant Gowans, Julie Green and certainly His Worship Mark Heyck. As well, I’d like to acknowledge Chief Minnie Letcher, I haven’t seen you in a number of years and, as well, I’d also like to acknowledge the Anti-Poverty Committee and thank them for their work and their commitment to the people of the Northwest Territories. The work that they do is certainly significant and important. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Chief Minnie Letcher. Welcome to the gallery and I hope you enjoy the proceedings here. Mahsi.
