Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber.

Before we begin, colleagues, I would refer to Written Question 14-16(2) asked yesterday by the Member for Tu Nedhe. Rule 39(1) states that written questions are intended to provide Members the opportunity to seek detailed, complex and lengthy information from a Minister on a matter that would not be reasonably assumed to be within the present knowledge of the Minister.

It is my view that the written question submitted by the Member for Tu Nedhe does not meet that definition of a written question, because the information should be properly within the Minister’s present knowledge.

Therefore, I rule Written Question 14-16(2) out of order and direct that it be removed from the Orders of the Day. Members are reminded that written questions should not be used as an extension to oral questions.

Thank you, colleagues.

Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity today as the lead Minister to provide an update on the activities of the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee. The Refocusing Government initiative is one of five strategic initiatives that form the backbone of our government’s strategic plan. These five strategic initiatives have their foundation

in the vision, goals and priorities we developed as a Caucus.

The actions planned under this initiative are to conduct program review, change the GNWT’s approach to infrastructure, improve human resource management in the Northwest Territories, improve service delivery and manage the cost of government.

This initiative and its actions will advance us toward our goal of becoming a more efficient and effective government by addressing priorities identified by Caucus under this goal. The strengthening-service-delivery action will also contribute to the 16th Legislative Assembly’s goal of sustainable, vibrant and safe communities.

Significant work on this initiative begins this year. We are improving service delivery by beginning the work to implement structural change to boards and agencies in the Northwest Territories. In order to advance our priority of ensuring a more service-oriented approach by the GNWT, we need to have boards and related administrative structures that facilitate working together and allow for flexibility to respond to regional priorities. We also can’t have our limited resources tied up in duplicate administrative efforts when these resources would be more effectively used for programming.

We are developing plans to create multi-purpose boards, integrating health and social services, education and housing programs at the regional level and at the community level where appropriate. This work will build off the successes of the service model in the Tlicho region and will impact all areas and communities of the Northwest Territories.

We will bring forward our detailed implementation plans for structural reform by the fall and begin the process of transition. The effort to implement the types of changes we are developing will be considerable. We need to ensure that the GNWT equips the new board with integrated policy, regulatory and legislative approaches and that its financial and administrative systems align from the community to the Cabinet. We expect the new board structure will be operational by April 1, 2010.

There are a number of other activities of the Refocusing Government committee that I would like to briefly touch on. A program review office will be

established whose overall objective is to ensure that programs are meeting their objectives and that government resources are being used efficiently, consistent with the Assembly’s priority. In addition to developing a framework for a disciplined system of program evaluation, a number of priorities for target review has also been identified for this year.

We have also initiated work on changing our government’s approach to infrastructure, including identifying options for improving efficiency in the delivery of infrastructure projects. This work is being coordinated by Minister Michael McLeod, and he will be providing additional information on other elements of the project.

As part of the managing the cost of government action, we are examining additional approaches to ensure the cost-effectiveness of government operations. An early priority is to examine options related to lowering costs for travel, such as negotiating discount fares to southern destinations, expanded use of on-line bookings or implementing changes that would lower booking fees and allow the GNWT to access lower fees.

This year we will also begin other work under the improved service and delivery action in addition to board reform. We are taking steps to ensure appropriate support for non-government organizations, which play an important role in delivering services to residents. This will begin this year as we complete our NGO funding policy, identify potential support to different components of the sector and prepare training materials for staff working to support the government’s relationship with NGOs.

We are making investments to improve official languages services by piloting a single-window service centre for French and for one or more aboriginal languages. These activities will enhance the GNWT’s capacity to deliver public services in the official languages, while members of the NWT official languages communities will have improved access to GNWT public services.

While this provides some highlights for the initial actions we are working on for the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee, it is not everything we hoped to accomplish. We are examining additional options for improving service delivery at the community, regional and territorial levels as we take steps to ensure that services delivered at the community level are of equal quality in all places.

More work is also needed to continue to improve human resource management, and activities are being developed to improve public service capacity in the Northwest Territories and examine innovative approaches to public service delivery. Our employees are critical to our success, and we need to confront our recruitment and retention challenges in our ever-changing labour markets.

As lead Minister for the Refocusing Government initiative, I am confident these initiatives will lead to a positive change for people across the Northwest Territories and help bring our territory closer to our long-term vision.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Hon. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to announce that the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association have reached a tentative four-year collective agreement.

The negotiations began in April 2008 and were concluded last week. The meetings were positive, and both parties are pleased with the agreement.

This agreement makes a number of important changes that assist us in improving overall administration. Ratification of the tentative agreement is recommended, and the process will be concluded by June 16, 2008.

Ministers’ statements, the Hon. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, in the last ten years we have witnessed an incredible surge in the Northwest Territories’ economy driven by strong investment in non-renewable resource development and, in particular, diamond mining and oil and gas exploration. The prospects of the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project promise even greater economic potential for the future.

As a government we are working to ensure economic development is managed in a way that fosters continued growth, builds business capacity and will allow NWT residents to benefit fully from their participation in the resource sector. It is to this end that I am announcing today the creation of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy to serve as a forum to which we can identify initiatives and practices that will position our residents and businesses to benefit from the enormous potential our future holds.

I have been working closely with the president of the NWT Chamber of Commerce to develop a structure and process that will foster an ongoing dialogue between my office and representatives and leaders of the NWT’s wide-ranging private sector and business communities. I have also invited local and community chambers to participate as members of this panel along with industry representatives, including NWT Tourism, NWT and

Nunavut Chamber of Mines and the newly formed Aboriginal Business Association. The size of the panel will be up to 12 people.

The GNWT relies on the input of key stakeholders in the development of its policies, strategies, programs and initiatives. As the Minister of ITI it is my intent to call on this ministerial panel in coming years as a resource that will help to ensure that benefits from the economic development of the Northwest Territories are maximized for all NWT residents, their families, businesses, and communities.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. The honourable Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the Hon. Floyd Roland will be absent from the House for the remainder of the week to attend the Western Premiers’ Conference in Prince Albert.

Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just on the outskirts of Inuvik there’s a gravel quarry, and this quarry was transferred from the federal government to the territorial government a number of years ago. Since then the GNWT has harvested hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of gravel. There are two pits there. We call them the upper pit and the lower pit. They’ve harvested that from the lower pit, and this pit is within the municipal boundaries of the town of Inuvik.

A little while ago there was an MOU being worked on by the Town of Inuvik and the Department of Transportation. After many discussions and drafts and dialogue back and forth, the Town of Inuvik thought they had an MOU, an agreement, in place. Apparently, this is not the case.

In the first draft they had, there were a few issues that the town had with the MOU. They brought those back to Transportation. They managed to get six of their questions answered. The seventh question was on the setback from the road, which was 100 feet, and that dialogue went on back and forth for quite a while.

During breakfast in Inuvik with the current Minister, the superintendent of Transportation and the mayor, we got the understanding that we had a

gentleman’s agreement as to the final condition on the MOU. Apparently, we were one gentleman short in that meeting, because the draft went out and came back to the Town of Inuvik with more conditions and more stipulations on it.

My understanding is that the MOU is just an understanding between the Town of Inuvik and the Department of Transportation as to access and all the other stuff with the gravel pit, and for it to get to the point of where it is now is just not acceptable to the Town of Inuvik. We understood we had an agreement, and I think the Minister would agree with me on that. The last remaining condition on the MOU we thought we had taken care of, but now there are, like, 33 more conditions and sections in the whole document. I think the legal department got their hands on it and made a mountain out of a molehill.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the process surrounding the potential job reductions in our public service. I want to restate the disbelief on the part of my constituents who got notices and then approached me, having to be told I had no idea their jobs were potentially affected — people who had worked, many of them, for the GNWT for over 20 years. It was bewildering to have to tell them I did not know their jobs were impacted.

The normal process for any job loss in a Member’s riding would be a letter from the relevant Minister giving the name, job title and reasons why the position was being eliminated. After employees had received their notification, it took three weeks for the GNWT to respond to Members, giving them a list of the positions affected in their constituencies. Naturally, then came the request for some kind of explanation why things were handled the way they were.

I want to provide some examples of some very valid concerns that have been raised with me and for which I did not have an answer. If there are four people working in one shop, all doing relatively the same function, why would the GNWT tell them they’re all affected employees and then conduct a competition to fill three of the positions? Would it not have been better to canvass the four employees to see if anyone wanted voluntary separation or early retirement? Early retirement might cost the government if they were offering retirement without any penalty to pension benefits, but how would that cost compare to the severance

they would be paying to the employee who was being eliminated? Those are answers we don’t have.

What grounds would be used to decide the three successful candidates? If they were all equal, would it be based on merit? Would it be based on seniority? If it was based on seniority, potentially you’d be losing employees with fewer years of service and soon thereafter losing the employee who had the seniority, perhaps even six to 12 months later. All this while we say we are struggling to recruit and retain workers and keep some status as an employer of choice.

Let me provide another curious scenario. An employee receives notification of being affected. They have the credentials to provide a service that’s similar to a lot of other people who work in the same shop. They are in the prime of their career. Another employee with similar experience and qualifications comes forward and asks for voluntary separation, assuming that the affected employee would then be able to fill that position. In my mind, that would solve a problem for two employees: the one who wanted to leave and the one who wanted to stay. But the employee requesting voluntary separation is denied the request. Then the question arises: what was the motivation for the position-eliminating in the first place? Was it cost savings, or were the reductions a licence to remove employees no longer wanted for some other reason?

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

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I’ve asked before and have not got an answer, what recourse does the affected employee have? In fact, the government could be cited for wrongful dismissal. How many employees without the benefit of the protection and the advocacy of their union in this instance would have the resources to seek a legal opinion and take the GNWT on? What kind of unbearable work environment would that create for them going forward?

These are real cases. They are questions I don’t have answers for. I’ve tried to pursue some answers from the Minister of Human Resources, but I have not had satisfactory responses. Again, today, I will try to get some clear indication about the process by which these affected positions were identified.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, it’s been raised a number of times in this House that the 2 per cent cost-escalator cap by Indian and Northern Affairs has placed significant difficulty on our hospital and physician services we provide to status Inuit, Indian and Metis people. Today I wish to state for the record that I’m also very concerned about the failure of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to acknowledge their fiduciary responsibility to provide health care to status aboriginal peoples of the North.

It is also concerning to me that the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is, by placing an annual expenditure growth cap of 2 per cent, effectively downloading its fiduciary responsibility, its treaty responsibility, to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Over the last nine years the total difference between the GNWT on what they’re paying for health care costs for eligible aboriginal people and what the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is willing to pay is approaching $100 million.

Over the last five years the amount owed to the GNWT has ranged from $12.2 million to nearly $16 million per year. This works out to an average funding shortfall of approximately $15 million a year. Using a rough cost of $100,000 per PY, that is enough money annually to fund 150 government positions. This is money that could be used to fund things like that teachers’ agreement the Minister just announced, nurses, a daycare program. As well, it could have helped protect the laid-off folks we all know about today. This $15 million could have mitigated some of these unpalatable budget reductions we’re seeing before this House as we continue to go through them. We are in no position to be subsidizing our federal government, especially in light of our financial situation.

An agreement needs to be moved forward, and an agreement needs to be negotiated. We need to start to do something today, because if the federal government is not willing to pay for their treaty rights — that’s right, their fiduciary rights to northern aboriginal people and to Inuit people — then we should start talking about and negotiating to give the Department of Health back to them, because that is truly their responsibility. These are negotiated treaty rights, and they’re guaranteed.

So in closing, I will have questions for the Deputy Premier, because I think this problem goes to the highest office of this Assembly. Somebody, if we are owed that type of money, should be….

Your time for the Member’s statement has expired, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak again today about Stanton Territorial Hospital. Yesterday I spoke about the fact that the hospital has built up an accrued deficit of $11.5 million over the past few years. I questioned the Minister yesterday in regard to what plan the government had to address the deficit, and she mentioned the fact that it will be coming before the House under Supplementary Appropriation No. 4 during the life of this session. I look forward to her disclosing what the government’s plan is at the appropriate time.

I want to talk today about what I see as a lack of accountability and a lack of due diligence in the oversight and operation of what is supposedly the flagship of our health care system. Mr. Speaker, not only has the hospital amassed this huge deficit of $11.5 million, the Minister stated yesterday that FMBS has been paying the payroll at our hospital for the past 12 pay periods — roughly equivalent to six months. If FMBS is paying the $4 million to $4.5 million in payroll every month, what is the hospital doing with the money that was budgeted or allocated for salaries? If FMBS is paying the payroll, how could they ever get that money back? We’re talking about in excess of $20 million and counting. Where is that money going to come from, especially in this lean time of reductions?

Mr. Speaker, the employees are going to continue to get paid at the hospital. That’s a certainty. It’ll come from somewhere. However, what this leads me to believe is that, again, there are some very serious problems in the governance, management and direction that the hospital is being operated under. The Minister said yesterday that she has hired or appointed a public administrator who would have a very broad mandate to look into everything from management to programs, the development of a master plan, human resources and the deficit. Thankfully, the Minister admits there are problems there. But how are these problems going to be addressed in a three-month time frame? The problems run deep.

At the appropriate time today I will have some more questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mahsi.

The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I briefly mentioned homelessness in the smaller communities. Today I want to say that this is an issue common to many northern communities. Some people end up in larger centres like Yellowknife and Edmonton, but we do have some

who fall through the cracks and are homeless in their own home communities. Even though I have heard new budget pledges to build new, affordable houses, we are concerned that there will still be homelessness for some.

I’ll be asking the Minister responsible for public housing if the department has any reliable information on the number of homeless individuals in the smaller communities and if that issue has ever been addressed by senior departmental managers.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to talk about the Highway No. 1 emergency road closure on May 4 and 5, 2008. There were a couple of washouts that caused great inconvenience and distress to Nahendeh travellers. I do want to say that I do recognize the travelling public and safety of transportation infrastructure is key. But what happened in this instance is that information to the travelling public was very lacking. I don’t believe there was any strategy in place for this road closure, for this emergency.

Many constituents called my office repeatedly, stating that they had no answers. They had no knowledge of when the road was going to be opened or resumed or if it had, indeed, been closed.

For instance, I had two busloads of children returning to Fort Simpson from a hockey tournament in Grande Prairie. They had phoned ahead. Everything seemed to be fine. They arrived in Hay River only to be told the road was closed. They were quite infuriated, because they did phone ahead. Somebody should have informed them at that time that there were potential problems on the road. They would have made alternative arrangements to drive back to Fort Simpson, which they did, Mr. Speaker. They waited around and tried phoning people all day. They made many, many calls to the Transportation offices in Hay River and Fort Simpson but didn’t get any answers. So they made a decision to drive from Hay River back to Grande Prairie over to Fort St. John up to Fort Liard and back to Fort Simpson, that way having an extra two days of travel and 17 hours of inconvenience just to get the children and the parents and the coaches back to Fort Simpson.

Once again I’d just like to reiterate, Mr. Speaker, that a better, more efficient communications strategy, on-time updates and a contact point or call centre would have alleviated this. Not knowing is the worst thing for people, and timeliness of information is also important. This is an incident

that my constituents are not happy about to this date. I did get a response from the department, but the events did not correspond to the report given to me.

Mr. Speaker, I think we can go back and forth on this issue, but I think it’s more useful to me that the Minister….

Mr. Menicoche, your time for the Member’s statement has expired.

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

Unanimous consent granted.

I think we can go back and forth and dispute facts, but it’s more useful to me and my constituents that the Minister of Transportation be aware of this. I look forward to a better prepared communication strategy for the next event.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about the impact the diamond mines have in my Tu Nedhe riding. One of the positive impacts is increased employment for Tu Nedhe residents. Though there are some opportunities for the diamond mines when you look the big picture, the community is very marginal.

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that a good majority of the residents who wish to remain and work in their communities are faced with bleak employment opportunities. I know that employment activity in the communities is a function of natural market and economic forces, but I believe the government has a role to play not only as a regulator but to facilitate and initiate employment opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, according to the most recent stats from the 2006 statistics, the employment rate in Lutselk’e is only 48 per cent, with a 30 per cent unemployment rate. In Fort Resolution the employment rate is a low 44 per cent, with a 24 per cent unemployment rate. By comparison, the employment rate for the NWT is 69 per cent, with a 10 per cent unemployment rate. As you can see, the unemployment rate is two and a half times as high in Fort Resolution, and in Lutselk’e it’s almost three times the rate of the NWT.

Education levels look to be a large factor if unemployment rates are examined further. Eighty-six per cent of the unemployed people in Lutselk’e and 50 per cent of those unemployed in Fort Resolution do not have high school diplomas. Currently in Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e, industry

and local government are the two main agents providing employment. Perhaps the GNWT could play a bigger role in this area.

Later today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on career and employment development for Tu Nedhe communities.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, I was going to talk about something different today, but after hearing the lead Minister responsible for the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee, I thought I would talk about his statement instead. I’m happy to see the government is moving forward with refocusing government. I’m happy to hear that the government is planning on conducting program reviews. I’m happy to hear that the government is planning to change the GNWT’s approach to infrastructure. I’m also happy they’re going to be improving human resource management, improving service delivery and managing the cost of the government.

Unfortunately, I think these things should have been done before this budget came forward. These are the types of things we were hoping to hear and hoping to see prior to the budget coming forward. When the Premier came and talked to us about the need to change the way we do business, change the way the government operates, we were hoping to see that.

What we see with the budget that has come forward is cuts, cuts, cuts, and we don’t see these types of things. It would have been better for all of us — it would have been better for the people of the Northwest Territories — if we had held off on many of the budget cuts we’re proposing now and gone through this process the Minister was talking about today rather than jumping into cuts immediately. I would love to see this government take back this budget and give us a status quo budget for the next couple of months, another interim budget so they could have the opportunity and the time they require to actually follow these processes and come forward with a decent, responsible budget that will allow the Northwest Territories to prosper.

Ultimately, though, I’m quite happy to hear what the Minister had to say. I think it’s just a little too late. I think this needed to happen before the budget came forward. I’ll stop repeating myself. I’ll now sit down.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to discuss the availability of housing policies at both the community and the territorial level. Like most MLAs, the interactions I have with constituents very often centre on housing issues. By the time the constituent gets to their MLA, it’s usually difficulties they’ve encountered with their housing, not happy occurrences, they want to discuss. We’ve heard references previously from members of the Auditor General’s office that applications for housing from NWT residents are not always fairly dealt with by local housing authorities. In these situations, when faced with trying to find some answers, I discovered there are no housing policies or guidelines I can reference. Yet constituents are routinely advised by the LHO, the local housing office, that their requests are being denied because of a policy.

Inquiries to both the LHO and the NWT Housing Corporation offices have provided me with minimal information. I asked for a copy of the policy book — the policies that govern the LHO. I wrongly assumed that an organization such as an LHO would be able to articulate the policies and the guidelines on which they assign housing. I was advised, and I quote, “that they have as few policies as possible, because they want to provide service based on individuals and do not want to spend their time quoting or debating policy.” I asked for any policies they have and was advised they couldn’t provide them. I was advised by the LHO that they follow national standards. To their credit, I did receive a list of the National Occupancy Standards on which the LHO bases their decisions for assigning housing. That information came to me by an e-mail.

Housing is a basic human right, Mr. Speaker, and the GNWT spends some $40 million annually to ensure the NWT residents have proper housing. We should be able to articulate just how housing needs for families, disabled persons, single persons and so on are determined. We should be able to articulate the restrictions that exist for some of our residents who apply for public housing, yet I can’t access these or any other policies that govern decisions made daily by our LHOs. It is no wonder the Auditor General found unfair allocations of housing. How can it be fair when each LHO operates on a case-by-case basis? How can it be fair when each LHO can set its own rules and guidelines? No wonder we, as MLAs, get so many complaints about housing from our constituents. I hope my experience is an aberration, Mr. Speaker, not the norm.

At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister Responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to reply — again I am changing my statement today to the Minister of ITI — to the Minister’s rather surprising announcement on the Advisory Panel on the Economy. This seems to be reflecting the ongoing and apparently typical modus operandi of this government to keep MLAs completely uninformed and certainly not to include their input. The vision this Caucus came up with was strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory. The Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy — well named as the Minister’s; certainly not anybody else’s that I know of — simply serves the community that is already benefiting from the roaring economy we already have. The basic principles of sustainability are to include economic development along with social sustainability and environmental sustainability. Those three pillars must be there for something to be sustainable — and to benefit all members of the Northwest Territories.

Let’s look at how this panel was formed. This Minister worked with the president of the NWT Chamber of Commerce — which I am sure has been enjoying the growth, as it should, but has a focus, as does all the development that has resulted in the homelessness, social issues and environmental issues this society is dealing with today…. Ten years ago and more there was an economic development strategy. A panel was put together that actually included representatives of the social and environmental community.

Mr. Speaker, we are regressing incredibly, and it obviously has gotten me very upset, because I know we can do so much better. There has got to be some basic understanding that develops here on this stuff. Let’s stop repeating the errors of the past. Let’s include representatives on these panels of all three legs of our stool here. Let’s try including the input of our MLAs and informing them so we can make sure such initiatives actually have some strength in them and aren’t destined to failure.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, today I will speak about the ongoing issue of Dene fonts. With the fast pace of computer technology and the loss of the ability to convert and print existing Dene language

documents, aboriginal language communities have difficulty producing new resource documents, because the Dene fonts are not compatible with present-day software.

The Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute as well as the government urgently need Dene fonts incorporated into the Unicode system. That way, everyone who opens any computer program can read and write documents with the Dene language and with the appropriate spelling.

Mr. Speaker, we are running out of time. This government urgently needs to deal with the technical problems and create solutions to solving this problem.

With the government seriously stating their support for aboriginal languages, it needs to demonstrate action by helping to maintain and revitalize our Dene languages. The time of lip service is over. If we want to save our cultural heritage and Dene languages, we have to do it now.

The Dene font issue goes back some time. In 2003 a Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act included recommendations with regard to Dene fonts in its final report — and I was a member of that committee.

The Gwich’in cultural institute is recognized for its quality work and its dedication to saving and revitalizing the Gwich’in language. The institution has made appeals and recommendations, providing names of experts to assist the government with creating Dene fonts with compatible, up-to-date technology, but with no response.

The Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute had hoped that finally something would be done during this week, in which a meeting was scheduled for yesterday and today, and were dismayed this government had cancelled that meeting until later on in the summer. This would have included government experts and regional aboriginal language coordinators.

These groups are very disheartened to see the government back off again with this commitment.

Officials are trying to reschedule a meeting….

Mr.

Krutko, your time for the

Member’s statement has expired.

Mr.

Speaker, I seek unanimous

consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.

Again, this shows how we end up year after year talking about an issue and saying, “Yes, it is important,” but at the end of it all you have nothing to show of success, achievement or results on these matters.

In the meantime, every day, technology keeps changing, and outdated existing Dene fonts become almost impossible for community organizations to use to develop resource materials.

I will be asking questions of the Minister responsible for official languages at the appropriate time.

Thank you, Mr.

Krutko. Item

4,

returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

It is my pleasure today to welcome four of my constituents to the gallery today. We have Roy Courtoreille,

regional vice-president for

the UNW. Dawna O’Brien, Pam Jones and Leon Nason are in the gallery today. Welcome to the House.

Mr. Speaker, I can see a number of people from my constituency of Thebacha: Mr. Al Dumont, Mrs. Lynn Dumont, Paul McAdams, Loretta Laviolette, Marilyn Napier and Ethel Chalifoux. I’d like to welcome you to the Assembly.

I’d like to welcome to the Assembly two constituents of mine down from Inuvik: Val Robertson and Rosa Kayotuk. Welcome to the Assembly.

I’d like to recognize my constituent from Fort Simpson, also with the UNW here in Yellowknife, Ms. Candy Brown.

It’s not very often I get visitors in the gallery, so I’d like to recognize a couple of people from Fort Providence: Loretta Landry, who’s with the Housing Corporation, and Peter Canadien, who works for the hamlet in Fort Providence.

Also, a number of people from Fort Smith. Pam Villeneuve, Marion Napier, Ethel Chalifoux and a former instructor, Paul McAdams,

are joining us

today. Welcome.

I’d like to recognize Sheila Laity, Gayla Wick and Paul Goldney, all Yellowknife South constituents.

If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. In my

Member’s statement I was talking about an MOU. I thought that agreement was made between the Town of Inuvik and the Department of Transportation, but apparently, that’s not happening. This has been two, almost three, years in the making for a simple little MOU.

I’d like to direct my questions today to the Minister of Transportation. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s aware of the status of the MOU as of today.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Minister of Transportation.

Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has alluded to in his Member’s statement, we had a meeting in Inuvik to discuss this issue with the mayor and the regional superintendent. One issue we did talk about was the issue of the long-standing MOU negotiations that happened in the previous government with the Town of Inuvik and the Department of Transportation.

My understanding is there were some issues that have been going back and forth. There were some delays, in terms of the change of the town council membership and the department’s commercial development staff.

The department recently received a letter from the town to respond to some of their concerns. We hope this agreement will be concluded within the next couple of weeks.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things I admire about old-timers is that when they say, “We have a deal,” their word is as good as a piece of document.

My understanding in this case is that an agreement was reached. We sat at the table and we said, “We do have an agreement.” Whether it was on the whole MOU or that particular issue…. My understanding is it was the whole MOU.

I’d like to ask the Minister: was he under the impression that an agreement was reached on the MOU between Transportation and the Town of Inuvik?

Mr.

Speaker, my

understanding is that we had a deal to conclude the MOU between the Town of Inuvik and the department. There were issues we felt we could resolve in a short time and have a deal concluded. That was my understanding, and that’s the basis on which I’m going forward to see this MOU resolved shortly.

Mr. Speaker, my understanding was that the last outstanding issue was the setback of 100 feet from the road. That was the one issue that was holding up the whole agreement. Again, I say I was under the impression that we did have an agreement for the whole MOU.

I would like to ask the Minister: what’s the reluctance on the part of Transportation to have this MOU finalized?

Certainly there are some legal issues in terms of the transfer. The town wishes to have the use of the quarry before the transfer of the lands, and we are obligated to proceed this way.

There are also issues around the transfer of the lands with regard to MACA being somewhat involved with the issue with the Town of Inuvik, of course. NAV Canada has some issues. Natural Resources Canada also has some issues around the transfer.

We are proceeding to work with the town in terms of the use of the quarry and also proceeding with the transfer of the land. However, there are some legal issues that we certainly have to be cognizant of in terms of giving the final signature on the MOU.

Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was a simple memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Northwest Territories’ Transportation and the Town of Inuvik, and somehow the document is getting bigger and bigger. It started off with a few sections. The last count, I

think, was 33

sections. Every time, it

seems, it goes back to the department there are more sections added on. Pretty soon we’ll end up with a document this thick.

I would like to ask the Minister today — and he is the Minister of Transportation; he has the authority to direct his department to get issues resolved — to assert that authority and direct his department to expedite the signing of this MOU between Transportation and the Town of Inuvik. This is something that’s been going on for three years, and it’s just taking too long.

Would the Minister commit to directing — I repeat “directing” — his department to have this thing finalized within the next month?

Mr. Speaker, when the Member and

I, along with the mayor and the

regional superintendent, sat down in Inuvik…. I have asked the department, when the Member was there, to get this MOU dealt with, to see what we can do and what some of the issues are here.

I still maintain that position; let’s work on the issues. Those issues sometimes take somewhat careful consideration. We are in an MOU. We have to look

after the interests of not only the town but the department.

I will give my assurance to the Member here and the Town of Inuvik that the department will do everything within reason to satisfy an MOU that the Town of Inuvik and the department can be happy with.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you. Mr.

Speaker, my

questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It gets back, again, to what I talked about yesterday and what I had mentioned earlier in my Member’s statement. That’s the fact that FMBS has been paying the payroll at Stanton Territorial Hospital for the past six months, and they’re into FMBS now to the tune of over $20 million.

I’d like to ask the Minister — and the alarm bells should be going off for somebody somewhere if this is the case, and it looks like it is: does the Minister know what the hospital is doing with the $4 million to $4.5 million per month that normally would be spent on or allocated to salaries?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health, Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I want to state, first of all, that the payroll for all of the health authorities — not just Stanton but all government departments and everyone — are first paid by FMBS. That’s a regular procedure, so this is not new. Then the authorities have to pay back those amounts. Because of the cash-flow issues with Stanton Territorial Health Authority, they have not been able to pay that back.

As we know, the authority has been experiencing a deficit situation for about five years now and in the last three years more significantly than the previous two. Because they started with a deficit situation, they are falling behind in paying for their payroll. It’s strictly a cash-flow issue. As the Member stated, no employees should be concerned about their pay not being paid and such. It’s really a strictly cash-flow issue.

Mr. Speaker, we’re talking a little bit about semantics, whether FMBS pays first or Stanton pays. The bottom line is they’re not paying their bills. I’d like to ask the Minister again: if they’re not paying the $4.5 million to FMBS to address the salaries question, what are they spending that $4.5 million on?

Mr. Speaker,

we

should

remember that we do recognize — and I agree with

the Member — that we do have a serious situation with the deficit situation, and we have to work to resolve those.

The authority has a budget of about $88 million. Each payroll is about $2 million. Money comes in; money comes out. They have receivables in their budget, and they are having to pay for lots of things. It’s a cash-flow issue.

The accumulated-deficit issue is something I’m working on with the public administrator and the management of the authority.

Mr. Speaker, the problems at that hospital have been around for a number of years, going back eight years now. I don’t know how waving a magic wand and getting a public administrator in there for three months is going to address the problems.

There are some serious issues with management and the operation of that hospital that need to be addressed, and they haven’t been addressed to date. I’d like to ask the Minister: what are the plans to address the management at that hospital? That, to me, is where the problems lie.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure there is one black-and-white, short answer to that issue, and I would have to disagree with the Member that there have been major problems there for eight years.

We do agree there is an accumulated-deficit situation. The government has tried to figure out exactly where the issues are. That was the reason the zero base review was initiated last fall. When I came on board, that process was in the works. We have a preliminary report that came out in April that tells us the Stanton authority does not have the money to deliver the 53 programs as funded and running now.

For me as a Minister, instead of subjecting the authority to another extensive review of some kind, I thought it would be helpful to install a public administrator who is familiar with the operation of the hospital, who doesn’t have to study the institution for a long time. He will go in and look at the information we have now and see what structural recommendations he could make to me as a Minister so that I could make some changes as necessary and as recommended, with participation from the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my knowledge, there was a public administrator there over the past number of years. I’d like to ask the question: what were the former public administrators doing, and what was the CEO doing? Why do we have to get another public administrator in there again to tell us what’s going

on when we know what the problems are? It’s in management, and we have to take care of that. Can I ask the Minister that?

It is true the Stanton territorial authority has been under the oversight of public administrators, because there has not been a board since 2003. The law requires that, and we have had a series of public administrators.

What’s new about the new administrator is that he was given a very specific mandate, a very broad mandate, to go in and take advantage of his experience and knowledge of the operation as well as some of the studies we have done, such as the zero-base review, and to make recommendations to me about precise actions that need to be taken.

Thank you, Ms. Lee.The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I

talked about some of the

problems that have been raised to me by constituents with respect to the way these position reductions were gone about. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for Human Resources: can he assure the House today that none of the potentially affected employees were singled out for some reason other than budget reductions on the part of this government?

The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, the process that was followed is that departments made proposals that were reviewed by the Financial Management Board. Those decisions that were made were communicated back to the departments, and the departments wrote up the proposals in final form. The positions that were directed…. It’s my understanding that due diligence was followed and an orderly process was followed in identifying potentially affected employees.

So the Minister is saying the departments received their instructions to go and look for ways to reduce their spending, including positions being cut, and that he is confident those reductions came back in a well thought-out manner, and they did not target employees for any other reason than just the review of the program or the service that was being delivered.

In the instance, though, Mr. Speaker — I’m trying to represent my constituents — where a constituent comes and tells me they have substantial evidence that, in fact, that was the case, what recourse does that constituent have? I don’t know what to do for them. I could give them the Minister’s e-mail address — [email protected] — and ask

them if they want to send you an e-mail directly. But what recourse do these people have?

Mr.

Speaker, I’m glad the

Member knows my e-mail address.

Laughter.

The Department of Human Resources works very closely with all of the departments within the government. In developing the Main Estimates, we worked closely with the departments to ensure the process was followed so that all employees were dealt with fairly, and also, that the merit principle was followed in cases where there was a number of employees who were affected. For example, if there were five people who were eligible for four positions, we would want to make sure all of the employees who were affected were dealt with fairly.

If there are any cases where an employee feels they haven’t been dealt with properly, then I would encourage them to raise it with the Department of Human Resources. There is a process that has been developed with the UNW in which they can file grievances as well. So I think there are some avenues for government employees who feel they have not been dealt with fairly.

In this case that I’m referring to — and I’m not naming names — it’s particularly concerning because someone else within the same organization, with the same credentials, came forward and requested at the same time that they be granted voluntary separation. So theoretically, their application could have been approved and the person who was losing their job could have moved into that position. But the same manager who identified the person whose position was being eliminated denied the other employee from getting voluntary separation. It would seem this would have to go to some independent, outside higher authority for this kind of a situation to be managed. Is the Minister willing to hear from that constituent in which this incident occurred?

I’m quite prepared to hear from that individual. I should also point out that individuals who want to retire or are close to retirement…. We can’t be seen to be coercing them into retirement, because then it becomes a human rights issue. But our existing policies provide for voluntary separation for those individuals who are close to retirement and would like to see themselves replaced by potentially affected employees. Certainly, I would be very pleased to hear about it, because our existing policies do provide for exactly what the Member is telling me.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess what I’m speaking about is fairness and

impartial decision making and analysis of some of these situations that have occurred.

To the issue of voluntary early retirement: I understand what the Minister is saying. They cannot be seen to be coercing people who have had many years of service into departing early. I understand that would be a human rights issue.

However, for those — I’m glad this is on the public record today — who would like to leave early, will the government approve that, even in the instance where it may cost some money? Because I think giving some people early retirement is going to cost less than the severance for some other people who’d like to stay.

And with the concurrence and approval of the rest of the Members of this House, I’d like to ask the Minister for the public record today if the government would be willing to expend the kind of money that would be necessary to allow people early retirement without any reduction or damage to their pension benefits, or added adjustment costs.

As I’ve told some of the Members, this is certainly an option we’re prepared to look at for potentially affected employees. And we are seeking some direction from the standing committees, as we briefed them. If we get some direction, we’re quite prepared to look at that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the fact that DIAND owes this government approximately $100 million. That money could go a long way to fulfilling some of the needs that our Finance Minister’s often described, as our expenditures are certainly…. We’re not able to keep pace with them.

This is a problem that goes to the highest office of this Assembly. And I’d prefer it not be pawned off to a particular Minister.

I’d like to know what the deputy minister, who would be well-informed on this file, is doing to help play a role and to help negotiate these dollars to be returned to the Northwest Territories, so we can use them properly.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Would you clarify for the record who your question’s addressed to?

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. That’s a problem of not getting any sleep. I meant to say the Deputy Premier. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I have some familiarity with the file, this is an issue that’s clearly within the mandate of the Minister of Health and Social Services. I will ask her to respond.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to advise the Member that I do agree with him in his Member’s statement.

Obviously, this is a big issue for us. They’re having progressive actions taken. As I indicated earlier in the session in answering Mr. Abernethy’s question on the same topic, the Premier has raised this issue repeatedly with the Prime Minister as well as the Minister of DIAND.

We, at the Department of Health, have communicated with the Minister of DIAND, asking for renegotiations. And we were actively negotiating right up to March 31, when we signed the most recent agreement. I’ve also indicated that I’m in the process of trying to get a direct meeting with Minister Clement so we could look at ways to renegotiate this agreement.

Remember, this is not just a situation of where the NWT is paying the bills — where we send the bill to the federal government, and they’re not paying that. That’s not the case at all, Mr. Speaker.

We have an agreement in place, which has a 2 per cent gap. The cost is rising at 5 per cent. We have about a 3 per cent gap we need to address. I and the whole Cabinet and Premier are looking at all possible options to push this file forward as quickly as possible and as strongly as possible.

It’s really nice to hear all possible options are being moved forward to fight this issue, because this is the same Minister it had taken over eight weeks to find out how much that file is. It was a simple question at the time, which was how much money is outstanding to the government.

Mr. Speaker, the Finance Minister has talked many times to the fact that we’re broke or our revenues aren’t keeping up to pace with our expenditures. I would think that the Minister would be phoning DIAND every day. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this House: when was the last time this issue was brought up, and what is the response from that Minister who is responsible for this money that should be paid back to the GNWT?

For the record, I should state that when the Member asked about this question, we were actively negotiating this situation, and I had indicated this to the Member. The Member was not clear about whether he was asking questions on DIAND’s funding gap, and I had three questions I had to clarify.

Mr. Speaker, I could advise you that the former Minister of Health and Social Services wrote to the DIAND Minister on June of 2007. We again wrote in October of 2007. In early November 2007, the Premier talked to Minister Strahl about this issue when he met, and I believe when the Prime Minister was in Yellowknife that issue was discussed. I have written to Minister of DIAND Chuck Strahl to renegotiate this situation, as well as to Minister Clement, looking for a meeting. I’m hoping we can meet in person before September at the Health Ministers’ meeting in Quebec, if we don’t get the meeting by then. I hope to be talking to him in person then.

I’ve just heard a perfect explanation of nothing-itis. I mean, it’s a lot of talk, but no results on this file. If somebody owed me this type of money — and I’m not saying $100 million — I’d be calling every day. The fact is, it has been over nine years that this file continues to be a problem.

What message does Cabinet need to get through their head? The fact is: stop providing the services they refuse to pay for. Has the Department of Health ever taken a serious look at this file by saying maybe we should stop providing these services; get DIAND to provide the services, and the territorial government will subsidize the additional benefits. It would be a lot cheaper.

I can tell you that when I was on the other side, I was always looking for a silver-bullet solution. But when you are Minister of Health and Social Services, it would not be wise to stop providing health and hospital and medical services to Indian and Inuit people of the Northwest Territories. I’ve been saying this; I think Members should be very clear that this is not an account receivable with $96 million written on it that we can post to Ottawa and send a collection agency after them. If that were the case, we would have done that. I think it’s really important that all the people out there also understand this issue.

We have an agreement in place that was signed back in 1999, following the health transfer from the federal government, where a cap was placed. We have not been able to renegotiate this. We are trying to do this. Part of the situation, also, is that there is a different understanding between the federal government and us. The federal government believes they are paying this cost through their transfer money, and we want to make a different case on that. The only way to do that is to renegotiate. It’s just not about sending a collection agency after them, as we would an invoice outstanding for $96 million.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. Well,

maybe sending a collection agency would be much wiser. I mean, it’s $100 million. Does no one get

this? We’re short $135 million. The Minister’s been in the ministerial office almost eight months, and all I’ve heard is nothing. We need some action on this. What about the serious result of stopping defending the federal government, and what about taking on the role you proclaim you’re in charge of and you’ve always fought for? So where are those results? Show the House this.

I don’t think it would be wise for me to reread what I’ve read, so let me just state again that the government considers this a very serious issue. We are looking at all options to see how we could reopen this agreement, so we can get the escalator at 2 per cent raised. I have discussed these…. We have to work with the Dene Nation leader, as well as all aboriginal leaders in the North. They have indicated their interest in working with us. This will be front and centre as we move forward to get a better agreement and reopen the agreement to start with, so we can change that escalator provision.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker. In reference to my Member’s

statement on Highway No. 1, I’d also like to indicate that the same type of emergency closures happened on Highway No. 7 and the Liard Highway as well. The same types of things happened there, as well: the travelling public was uninformed and unaware there were issues on the road. When they went there, in Highway No. 7’s case, because there weren’t enough warning signs, they actually got stuck in the highway because the highway deteriorated really bad there.

I’d just like to ask the Minister: exactly what is the communication strategy when there are emergencies or road closures, and how do we inform the travelling public?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For all the highways in the Northwest Territories, the web site is updated, as the resource people working on them are dedicated to informing the public of the most recent, current, updated conditions of the highways this time of the season. I’d like the Member to know that due to the spring thaw, in the spring season there are unforeseen conditions that hinder the conditions of our roads, and with these unforeseen conditions of the spring season — heavy rainfalls and the conditions of the roads — sometimes our staff positions are not manned 24 hours. However, we do keep a close

eye on our roads, as foremen, superintendents and workers are out there — even the travelling public — inform the staff of the conditions of the roads.

The point I’m coming from is: how do we mitigate these interruptions on our highway systems?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. I’ll allow the Minister to answer that question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department certainly is very concerned at this time of the season, as I said, in the springtime and the fall time, in terms of our best ways and best solutions. I certainly look forward to Members’ comments and suggestions as to how we can close the window in terms of the mitigation of certain conditions we have. We certainly have those kinds of conditions in my own regions and we have very limited opportunity in terms of our winter road

seasons,

and these conditions sometimes are very

difficult to work with. However, we do have plans in place; we do have systems in place. I look forward to improving our communication awareness in terms of letting the public know these are conditions that could be coming to the roads in their area.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure glad the Minister picked a question out of that.

Laughter.

One of the other questions I had is: where is the contact point when incidents do happen? Is there one single window where constituents can phone? And how current is the web site as well?

The department offers a 1-800 number to all residents of the Northwest Territories, and I’ll be very happy to send a notification right over to the Member’s office for his constituents and all constituents of the Northwest Territories. We have regional operations, and the regional superintendents know there are contact numbers for the driving public. The department continues to look for ways to improve their communication. The web site, I believe, is updated on a daily basis by our staff, and sometimes, even, our staff does come in over the weekends when conditions like this warrant it. We certainly appreciate the patience of some of the travelling public when they have to drive through some of the conditions we have endured for the last couple of months.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. These incidents happened on the weekend. Is there a way for the department to update the information on a weekend? That would really, really help the travelling public.

Mr. Speaker, I will check with my officials to ensure that with the incidences that do happen after hours and on the weekends, and sometimes in the wee early hours of the morning, there is a contact number for the travelling public to get hold of us if they have concerns on the highways, on our ferries, within our infrastructure. I will make sure this is directed to our officials and get back to the Member as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I was speaking about homelessness. Does the Minister responsible for the public housing department have any reliable information on the homeless, the number of homeless individuals in the smaller communities?

The honourable Minister responsible for the homeless, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, there’s a distinction we have to make as we talk about the homeless. Or are we talking about individuals who may be hard to house? They are, I believe, in almost every community, including the one I come from. They have had every opportunity. Their families don’t want them staying in their houses. They have addictions issues. They have lifestyle issues. So if there is an issue of not enough houses for people, there are waiting lists for public housing.

We do struggle with the issue of hard-to-house, where they have often had programs, and they have often left the houses in considerable disrepair. So yes, it is an issue we struggle with. There is a program for homelessness, so there is funding over winter to ensure there is, hopefully, a warm place for every homeless person if they need it. But it is an issue on which there is no final solution that we have come up with yet.

Just for the Minister. Let’s just pick one and we could start somewhere. These issues are big in the smaller communities. Once you walk out of this building, you see it in downtown Yellowknife. We have to start somewhere. If the Minister and government are willing to work with us, as the Regular Members, to do something about it, I really urge them to.