Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to talk about the health care workers at Stanton regarding fairness, a stress-free, and safe working environment. As of late, this weekend I had spoken to a constituent in regards to this important issue; their concern that a staff survey is being done, but want to know if the staff survey is independent. Who's writing the questions? Are they yes's and no's? Are there any interviews being done? Are they really drilling down to what the problems are and are they part of the solution? There are concerns out there, Mr. Speaker, and that needs to be answered. Is the hospital administration running this survey, or is it a complete and fair, open process?

Money may be spent by moving it out of the hospital administration, but I can guarantee the Minister in charge that there will be buy-in. Is there whistle-blower legislation coming forward so workers feel comfortable bringing forward their concerns without pressures that they're not putting their heads on the chopping block when they bring forward issues? Are there pressures or fairness being done to ensure that worker safety and comfort are there?

We have fairness, Mr. Speaker, in some areas. We have some places you can have 150 hours of overtime where others you're only allowed to have 100, and that's being reduced next year down to 75 because of operational requirements. But the fact is, people need to be happy and feel good in their environment. Have we created a two-tier overtime system? We have workers working side by side, shoulder by shoulder.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes you need to do things to make sure everyone is happy. Although reasons will tell us we shouldn't, we still need to find ways to make them happy. Let's make it refillable, Mr. Speaker, for at least the shift workers. Have we done things to start off by creating anti-harassment training and legislation to work within our hospitals by both union and non-union, Mr. Speaker? What strides have we made there? Are we pitting friend against friend? Sometimes we forget about that because, at the end of the day, we have to work as a family to build morale and strength within our working environment.

I have to tell you, I hear about people working to exhaustion on their holidays, expected to work overtime. Our health care workers can't be worked to the bone, Mr. Speaker, because if they're sick, stressed and burned out, how are they going to care for our loved ones when they have to? We have no one else to turn to. Do we have better solutions out there, such as using agency nurses? They come with a different pay level, Mr. Speaker, but they create different types of pressures.

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent at this time to conclude my statement? Thank you.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Hiring agency nursing, Mr. Speaker, may help with the short-term pressures, but the question is, do we have the right staff levels there in the first place? Fixing the Public Service Act constantly gets raised about finding solutions. I say it's time we be innovative and lead Canada rather than someone else coming up with a solution. Let's find a made-in-the-north solution that recognizes seniorities. Sometimes we need to put the rules aside and look for solutions.

Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you a flag has been raised at that hospital. It's not a crisis flag, but it's the white flag of stressed workers, Mr. Speaker. Areas such as OB, X-ray, lab, just to name a few, and I don't have the time to list them all today, but people are being overworked.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, our senior staff are there to help us, but if they're leaving, where is our mentorship and our experience? If patient safety is priority number one, then we need to make sure that our health care workers are provided the best and most supportive work environment we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to speak today about day cares and what our government is doing to address the need for more spaces for our children; the inequities that continue to be allowed to exist amongst day care providers, the low number of trained childcare workers, and options that the government should be exploring in addressing the issue.

In February, during our budget session, I asked the Minister of ECE a number of questions regarding the government's role in addressing the need for more space and the fact that inequities are allowed to exist via charity leases and that some day cares are operating in government-owned premises. Yellowknife and other communities here in the NWT are very expensive places to live. Most families here have to rely on the income of both parents to make ends meet. This government has an obligation to parents to ensure that there is an adequate space and a level playing field when it comes to day cares.

Currently, there is a shortage of available spaces and a shortage of childcare workers. The GNWT has to recognize that we need more trained childcare workers. Are we doing everything we can? I don't think so. We need more things, such as wage subsidies, incentives for persons to take early childhood courses, and other beneficial programs to grow and retain our childcare workers.

Mr. Speaker, just to put it all in perspective for this government, as a government we spend about $32 million per year in the area of corrections. Do you want to know what we spend in the area of early childhood programming? Four point seven million dollars. This, to me, is a travesty and this government should be ashamed of itself for not making early childhood development more of a priority.

Mr. Speaker, our children are our future and the responsibility for day care and early childhood programming has to be shared with parents, the government, both territorially and federally, and employers. In such a small jurisdiction, maybe we should explore the establishment of government-run day cares. The GNWT is an employer of roughly 4,500 persons and we should also be looking at subsidies for our employees requiring day care. Something must be done, Mr. Speaker. If we can't rely totally on the federal government, then we must look at our own operation and come up with a better solution than we currently have. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Along with yourself from our community of Hay River, it's a pleasure today to welcome here in the gallery. I will call out the names and you can quickly stand if you like, but I won't look up again because I know we have a limited time; Cecile Bonnetrouge, Misty Bourdages, Faye Duval, Margaret Elleze, Phillip Fabian, Eloise Fineday, Mary Gardiner, Tracy Hoff, Angela Jones, Crystal King, Lucille Lafferty, Ruth Lafferty, Angus McKay, Linda McBeth, Brandon McKay, Harriet McKay, Robert McKay, Bill Plunkett, David Poitras, Marlene Villebrun and John Young.

With the UNW president Todd Parsons, first vice-president Gayla Wick. From the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Jean Francois Des Lauriers. I also see two Mr. Coutoureilles, both Roy and Ed in the gallery today. Also, I notice Ann Juneau's name on the list. Welcome to the Assembly. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize the Nats'ejee K'eh workers today in the gallery and a constituent of Great Slave, an ally of these workers, Mr. Todd Parsons, the president of the Union of Northern Workers, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to welcome the representatives from Nats'ejee K'eh and the UNW and PSAC. At the same time I would like to especially welcome a family friend who was helping my family get our foot into our new life in Canada. She's visiting the North from Ponoka for the second time in 20 years. I would like to welcome Mrs. Campbell who is with my mother. Welcome, Mrs. Campbell. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's not very often I get to recognize visitors from my riding into the House. I would like to welcome a number of people from the Hay River Reserve; Phillip Fabian, Robert McKay, Angus McKay, Harriet McKay, Brendan McKay and there are also a couple of people who are here who live on the reserve but are formally from my home town of Fort Providence. I would like to say welcome to them. Margaret Elleze is here and also Cecile Bonnetrouge. They are both from Fort Providence. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome also people from Nats'ejee K'eh, Dave Poitras, my sister-in-law Cecile Bonnetrouge, Phillip Fabian, Margaret Elleze and Tracy Hoff. I would also like to welcome the members from the union also for being with the membership. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we have missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Assembly. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It's always nice to have an audience in here. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Honourable Floyd Roland, Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, it was almost 18 years ago that I was involved as a part of a lobby along with the Hay River Reserve and many others who felt it necessary that we have a residential treatment program for drug and alcohol addictions in the Northwest Territories. You can imagine how pleased we were when this government decided to invest the money in capital and to build a treatment centre on the Hay River Reserve. That facility has been operating for the last 13 years, but, as you can see by the presence of the employees here in the gallery today, they aren't at work because they have been locked out of their workplace and the valuable work that they do there.

The workers and the treatment centre helps residents from right across the Northwest Territories and there are many success stories to be told. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister what he can do in this regard. I know there has been correspondence that has gone to employer and to the union. The Minister has said that he hopes they can get back to the table. Is that the extent of what we can do, and what influence we have as a government on this situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is the first stage we are at with the situation that is happening on the reserve, is to encourage both parties to get back to the negotiation table and bring a successful conclusion to this process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that time is of the essence. We have our residents who are now having to receive treatment in Alberta. Also we have 22 people who are out of work. Mr. Speaker, this is a third-party contract, but it is this government's contract. It is taxpayers' money that is paying for this contract to receive these services. I would like to ask the Minister, is there adequate funding being provided to this third party to perform this contract that would see these employees paid on a wage and benefit parity with other similar workers in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.