Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been five short weeks since 19 MLAs of different backgrounds and viewpoints were sworn in to form the 14th Legislative Assembly. In that five weeks, these new MLAs have held their first session, met with the DIAND Minister, resolved a strike, and grappled with the potential delay of a mega-project. They also found the time to hold a week-long strategic planning and priority setting workshop, to organize and install their standing committee system and to hold a two-day Cabinet strategy session.

Mr. Speaker, busy as the last five weeks have been, it is going to get even busier. There is an urgent need to complete our initial orientation and planning discussions and move on to consultation and decision making. There are fiscal, economic and social crises that must be dealt with. And there are several early conclusions we have already reached.

The first conclusion is that we cannot do what needs to be done without first building trust and effective partnerships with aboriginal governments, with the federal government, with industry and with all other Northwest Territories stakeholders.

The second conclusion is that there is no short term fix to most of the issues we face. These issues developed over a long period of time and solving them will take the education, understanding, acceptance and participation of a lot of people. In some areas we have already made progress and plans are ready, but more needs to be done and, as the Report of the Minister's Forum on Health and Social Services suggests, we need to get on with it.

The third conclusion we have reached is that without new sources of revenue our ability to get the job done is going to be severely limited. We need to secure the resources needed to achieve our goals. Otherwise we will end up tinkering around the edges of our economic and social issues while they only get worse.

Mr. Speaker, based on these early conclusions we have developed an initial plan of action.

The government will immediately request meetings with aboriginal governments and the federal government to discuss common issues and solutions.

In March, 2000 the government will bring in its full budget for fiscal year 2000-2001. This budget will be designed to move forward on a few of the early decisions of the 14th Legislative Assembly and it will ensure we do not exceed our borrowing limits or, in any avoidable way, worsen our fiscal situation or create a fiscal crisis.

Over the next few months, priority will be given to working through Caucus to complete the development of the 14th Legislative Assembly's goals, priorities and strategies. This work will need to be performed in close consultation with aboriginal governments, and with other Northwest Territories stakeholders. Once completed in May or June, this agenda of the 14th Legislative Assembly will be publicly tabled and discussed. The directions established by the new agenda will guide further government initiatives this year and the development of business plans and budgets for the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

Mr. Speaker, this is an ambitious timetable. For it to succeed, we will need to be focused in our work and we will need the participation and contribution of many parties. But that is what operating in a consensus system is all about. We are all in this together and we must all be part of the solution.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. The Member for Hay River South, the Honourable Jane Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update the Members of this House on the Department of Health and Social Services' continuing efforts and achievements in building a strong and stable health and social services workforce in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the Members of this House are well aware of the challenges we face concerning the shortage of health and social services professionals in the Northwest Territories. This shortage has been a regular story in the news both here at home as well as nationally. It is common knowledge that we must compete with other jurisdictions across Canada and North America for the same pool of professionals. And while a great deal of media attention has been given to nurses and physicians, Members of this House need to be aware that we are also experiencing shortages of social workers and other health and social services professionals who make up our workforce.

As Members may recall, Mr. Speaker, the department received additional funding in November of 1998 to implement a recruitment and retention strategy. At that time, we were experiencing critical staffing shortages in nursing and social work. Some health centres had to be closed because we did not have enough staff to maintain a safe and appropriate level of service.

A strategy was created to implement short and long term actions to address this critical shortage. This strategy moved beyond the continuous cycle of short-term hiring and into a position where we were bringing long-term stability to our workforce.

I am pleased to report that we have made great progress in just 15 months. A working group that includes representatives from the department, health and social services boards and professional associations has been putting this strategy into action. And while we sometimes have to wait to see if our efforts are successful, I am happy to be able to report to this House some areas of actions that we have undertaken.

In order to fill our immediate vacancies, the department, boards and professional associations have teamed up to develop an aggressive marketing campaign to reach professionals in the south:

• • Department and board staff regularly attend job fairs to promote our health and social services system and career opportunities. They select events which draw professionals with an interest in the kinds of career opportunities we offer.
• • We have also developed resources to promote who we are and what we have to offer. Examples of these resources are on display in the Great Hall all this week and I invite Members to take time to look at the display.
• • We have a set of advertisements that are placed in professional journals and selected newspapers across the country. Again, staff are selective in where these ads are placed in order to attract people who are interested in the type of professional practice we offer.
• • This spring we will launch a recruitment page on our public web site to enhance our national and international search efforts. The department and boards already get e-mail from interested professionals. This site will improve our electronic correspondence and will take this one step further by providing a "one-stop" shopping career approach. This site will have job postings, information about our boards and professional licensing requirements. People around the world will be able to view employment opportunities and apply for these positions on-line. And with on-line service, we will be able to respond to interested professionals in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks.

Of course, all of these activities are about improving our methods of recruiting. We also must consider what professionals are looking for and what we can offer that other jurisdictions cannot. For example, our long-term doctors, nurses, and social workers tell us that they enjoy working in the North for the following reasons:

• • We offer a diversity of practice that is unmatched in most of Canada or the United States;
• • The level of teamwork, collaboration and dedication within and across the various professions is high; and
• • Professionals can develop personalized care for individuals and families - people do not disappear into the system like they can in the south, and our workers experience the rewards of maintaining close contact with their clients, often seeing them get better.

We know from our front-line workers that these are highly desirable features for many in their profession, and that people will move to places which offer these opportunities. Our marketing strategies must highlight these strengths.

Are these efforts paying off? I believe they are, Mr. Speaker. Since January of last year, the number of vacancies for full-time nurses across the Northwest Territories has fallen from 18 percent to under seven percent. For social workers, vacancies have fallen quite dramatically in just the last four months - from about 23 percent to just over four percent.

This is good news. It has taken the edge off of our staffing shortage. But we cannot relax our efforts because keeping these vacancy levels down requires on-going commitment. This means finding ways to keep the staff we hire. To do this, we must consider income, working conditions and quality of life.

As Members know, the previous government implemented a temporary market supplement for nurses. This pay increase meant that the Northwest Territories offers nurses one of the highest income levels in Canada. As well, we are presently working with the Northwest Territories Medical Association to examine alternative forms of payment that would result in competitive and fair payments, and consistency for all physicians across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, working conditions and quality of life are extremely important to our efforts of retaining staff. The long hours and issues of personal safety while on the job are causing staff to leave. We have made progress in these areas as well.

• • A few weeks ago, the department, boards and Northwest Territories Medical Association signed an agreement with the Alberta Medical Association to provide temporary replacement services for our physicians. This arrangement improves our physicians' quality of life as they can now take planned breaks for professional development or holidays.
• • We have also joined with the Union of Northern Workers to improve workplace conditions for our front-line workers. The department and the union recently held a workshop attended by various professional associations, the RCMP and government agencies. At this workshop, participants identified issues that related to personal safety and well-being while on the job. This workshop is an important step to resolving these issues.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that developing a "home-grown" workforce is an investment that will pay dividends in the future. I am pleased to report to the Members that the department has made great gains in this area.

A completely new program - the Northern Development Program - has been created to provide hands-on assistance to northern students in their pursuit of health and social services careers. The program provides support to northern students with financial assistance, mentorship opportunities, summer employment placement assistance and marketing of new professionals to our boards. I am pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that 37 northern students received bursaries in the past year. Additional information about the Northern Development Program is available at the display in the Great Hall.

Staff of this program also worked with various boards to launch the Health Careers Orientation Program in July, 1999. This initiative gives high school students the opportunity to shadow health and social services professionals, providing students a great introduction to these professions and incentive to pursue these careers. In our first year, 12 high school students participated in the program, but we expect that number to triple this year.

Another area of success is the Aurora College Nursing Program. Members may recall how well our first graduates did on their national exams. This program is an important step towards developing a "home-grown" nursing workforce. We hope that in the near future, Aurora College can also offer a Bachelor's degree in nursing.

Mr. Speaker, these are only highlights of our progress. There are many other activities I would like to speak to but it is obvious that the department, with its partners, has made a significant commitment to improving our workforce.

This commitment will continue with the development of a comprehensive human resource plan for our system. It will build on the successes of our recruitment and retention strategy and provide a broad framework for human resource planning in all of our health and social services professions.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I wish to emphasize that the gains we have made are significant, but long-term stability of our workforce can only be realized with the active support of this government. Members can help by getting the message out to communities about our Northern Development Program, and by supporting our workers.

I look forward to keeping this House informed of both the issues and successes in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Honourable Jane Groenewegen, Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of the high level of interest expressed by Members yesterday with respect to the review of child and family services by the Department of Health and Social Services, I would like to provide Members with a brief overview of this important study.

The Child and Family Services Program involves a number of different program components such as prevention, intervention, children in care, foster care, adoptions, medical foster care, treatment group home care and support services to families. The program is administered by the Department of Health and Social Services, under the authority of the Child and Family Services Act.

This Act is a relatively new piece of legislation. It was passed by the last Assembly and proclaimed in October, 1998, following 10 years of community consultation, including the Family Law Review.

As Members are aware, the number of children and families involved with the Child and Family Services Program is increasing dramatically. Currently, the Northwest Territories takes children into protective custody at a rate of two to three times that of the Prairie Provinces. Social workers are reporting an increase not only in the number of cases, but also in the complexity and severity of the child protection issues they are dealing with in the communities.

Mr. Speaker, there has never been a formal, comprehensive evaluation of child welfare practice in the Northwest Territories. Last fall, the department decided to contract with the Child Welfare League of Canada - the pre-eminent national child protection organization in the country - to undertake a review of the Child and Family Services Program.

The review was sole-sourced and later today, as promised, I will table the terms and conditions of that contract for the information of Members and the public.

The child and family services review is focusing primarily on the child protection component of the program. The review is comprehensive in its scope. It is meant to be a program evaluation and functional review of child welfare practice in the Northwest Territories. The reviewers have examined caseloads and practice standards, supervision, monitoring and competency based training requirements for child protection workers. In this context, the review will provide a blueprint for both the present and future needs, priorities, resource requirements and supports needed to ensure improved community-based child protection services with the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, as Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, I want to be able to assure Members and the public that child welfare practices in the Northwest Territories are appropriate and responsive to the needs of our children and families, and that they meet best practice standards which are in place elsewhere in Canada and North America.

Our residents, and especially children who are in need of protection from neglect and abuse, deserve the best support we can provide. The department has taken the initiative to subject itself and this very important program to a rigorous review. This is a quality assurance initiative that will provide valuable advice in the best interest of services to families and children.

I am confident the report will document the very difficult and complex challenges facing our social workers every day as they do their best to meet the needs of children and families. Child protection work is extremely emotional and, as evidenced by our recent discussions, generates considerable debate and concern.

It is important not to lose sight of what child protection is all about - the protection of children from abuse and neglect.

The time allowed for Ministers' statements has elapsed.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Minister is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mrs. Groenewegen, you have unanimous consent to conclude your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I encourage Members to consider the review methodology and the resumes of the Child Welfare League of Canada review team. I am certain you will be impressed with the level of professional expertise and experience they bring to the project. I also would like to inform Members that, in addition to Mr. Corbin Shangreaux, a First Nations child welfare consultant, the review team also includes a Northerner, Ms. Gay Hansen, who is a former deputy minister of Social Services of the Yukon. Ms. Hansen has also worked in the Northwest Territories. These members are well aware of the northern and aboriginal context and could hardly be considered culturally disconnected southerners.

Mr. Speaker, I plan to table the Report of the Review of Child and Family Services in this House this spring. I would like to thank Members for their interest in the review and I look forward to your continued support in ensuring that our child protection system is of the highest possible quality and meets best practice standards.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely heartened by the level of interest that the review is generating. I believe that all Members share my concern that our child protection system should provide the best possible support and services to children and their families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today is about something we all take for granted - water. Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink. I think we take for granted the ability to pick up a glass of water and drink it without having any second thoughts as to what is in the water and where it may have come from.

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue I have raised in this House over the last four years, the issue of the water quality in Fort McPherson. I have not spoken publicly on this issue in some time, but I believe it is now more grave than ever. There is a chemical in the water system in Fort McPherson called THM, or trihalomethane.

The concern comes when the water is mixed in with chlorine, because it causes a reaction. As everyone here knows, all water in Canada has to be treated with chlorine. The community of Fort McPherson has made statements publicly on this concern through the airwaves, and the newspapers.

I have been doing my best to ensure that this issue is dealt with through the means that I have. I have raised this issue with the Minister of Indian Affairs, and with our Member of Parliament, the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, and with the newly elected Premier, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, along with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

To try to find a quick solution to deal with this problem, and to ensure this will be done with our best efforts, realizing that we do have some restrictions and restraints in the process of reaching a conclusion, I would like to make the public and the people of Fort McPherson aware that this issue is high on my agenda. It has been brought up with the Minister of Indian Affairs, who, along with the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs and this government must work to ensure that this public issue is dealt with as an emergency crisis.

With that, I will be asking the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs questions on this matter later on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the Child and Family Services Review. I have strong concerns about the process, and the steps being taken.

I speak as a Northerner who is concerned about child welfare issues. I have spent 15 years in the health and social services field, many of it in the child welfare area, and as a MLA, I spent the last three years of the 13th Assembly on the Social Programs Committee.

I am interested in northern solutions to northern problems. I am interested in using the tremendous amount of skill, talent and northern expertise that we have developed in this area to reach those solutions.

What I see is a sole-sourced contract with an outfit from Yonge Street, totally bypassing any Northerner's involvement in this, except for the visiting of eight out of 33 communities and what can only be described, in my opinion, as a cursory public involvement given the incredibly short and compressed timeframes.

The Department of Health and Social Services has been telling us for at least two years they are working on this. I submit, Mr. Speaker, that what we see here is a compressed attempt to make up for two years of inactivity in this area, knowing they are going to be coming before the Social Programs Committee again, of which I have the good fortune to be a Member, to have to speak to this issue.

They will have to tell us why they are trying to deal with it in six weeks, with incredibly complex issues, doing 100 case audits of child welfare cases. Let alone all of the structural and program issues they are going to deal with. I submit, Mr. Speaker, it is physically impossible unless it is done in the most cursory and superficial way.

It is not rigorous. I look forward to the Minister tabling this report and standing up to tell us how she has managed to do all of this in six weeks in any in-depth way that is going to speak to these very fundamental issues that she said, and I agree with, are very emotional and important to all Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, I am not reassured by the Minister's comments. I know she has to defend this, but I do not think it is going to be adequate. The time is too short. The people may be well-intentioned, but the time is not there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the decisions of this government go well beyond our government. They impact the daily lives of those whom we govern. That is why we must take proactive steps now to ensure we do not hit the debt wall. Once again it must be said it is time for government to look at the way it does business.

This, Mr. Speaker, has been said many times during the previous Assembly. Now is the time to have a look inward, to see if government is actually serving the people, or has it become a nightmare of rules and regulations which is starting to feed on itself. I believe the door has been opened that will allow us to do this much needed review.

Change is a difficult process, even at the best of times. It is even more difficult when times are tight. A question we must ask ourselves is if we cannot even keep up to today's ever-increasing expenditures, how can we afford more regions with an increased bureaucracy without making huge changes to the way government carries on with its daily business?

The Members who have been re-elected from previous assemblies are aware of the difficult choices that had to be made to deal with a budget shortfall. The choices will not be any easier this time around if we do not look at evaluating the programs and services that this government provides to its residents.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the situation we find ourselves in, as a government, requires we look for new ways and ideas. For example, can we afford as many boards and agencies as we have? Is it time to take a stand on how many dollars are spent on administration versus programs? In every community there are numerous groups that provide services on behalf of government. All have an administration component. Let us take a look at our own departments. Another example is the requirement to have regional staff prepare documents for decisions that are made in headquarters.

Mr. Speaker, when reductions were made in the area of positions, we were told that this would streamline government operations. I understood that to mean we would get rid of some of the unnecessary paperwork as well. My earlier example of the decision-making process that is still in use today proves that has not happened.

Mr. Speaker, in the work we are about to set on as Members of the 14th Assembly, we must look beyond this fiscal year. We must look to our future, that being our children. What legacy will we leave them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every two years, athletes from across the northern part of our world come together to participate in the Arctic Winter Games. This event was first hosted in Yellowknife in 1970. This year, from March 5th through the 11th, athletes from the Northwest Territories will travel to Whitehorse to participate in the 16th Arctic Winter Games. Three hundred sixteen athletes from the Northwest Territories will participate.

At this point in time, I would like to congratulate each of these athletes for making the Northwest Territories Arctic Winter Games team. I would especially like to congratulate the three athletes from the Deh Cho who have attained positions on Team NWT.

Mr. Speaker, although I celebrate the three athletes from the Deh Cho who made the team, I have to express my concern that only three athletes from the four communities in my constituency were successful.

Mr. Speaker, colleagues, perhaps it is time for the Northwest Territories to re-evaluate its participation in the Arctic Winter Games. We must ensure that youth from smaller communities are given a fair opportunity to participate. We must investigate further to determine the barriers that prevent youth in a small community from being selected to the Northwest Territories teams.

The costs for participating in the Arctic Winter Games selection process are high. In my region, in order to participate in the regional trials, all athletes had to pay a fee. If the athlete is successful at the regional level, they must pay an additional fee to participate at the territorial level. Then again, if the athlete is successful at making the Northwest Territories team, they pay another fee. Mr. Speaker, the hockey team from my community could not raise the funds so did not participate in the trials. We have to question how families with low incomes and a number of children raise the money.

Further, Mr. Speaker, we all know the social problems in our communities are high. However, most of our youth that participate at the games are under the age of 19 years. How do we address the youth from the ages of 20 to 24? Are we sending the message that participation in sport ends once you have reached 20?

We are entering a new millennium. Perhaps now is the time to enter into a new type of games for the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for the riding of Inuvik Twin Lakes, I would like to extend my sympathies to the family of Mr. Stanley "Goo Goo" Tyrell, who passed away after a short battle with cancer.

Mr. Tyrell was a prominent and well-respected elder from Aklavik who spent his entire life working with his people. He was very instrumental as a carpenter, having spent his early adult life building up many of Inuvik's existing buildings, such as the Mackenzie and Eskimo Inn hotels.

Mr. Tyrell leaves to mourn his sisters, Rose Larocque, Dolly McLeod, and Florence Carpenter, his son Wally and his wife Jeannie, wife Jane, life-long friend Ida and granddaughters Tammy and Annie Tyrell. He also leaves in mourning his many nieces and nephews and his well-regarded friends throughout the Mackenzie Delta and the surrounding communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Allen. The sympathies of the House are extended to the Tyrell family. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.