With our assessment in putting forward a business case, it is the department’s view that if we can do it as soon as possible without other types of amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, we will certainly do it. We’ll look at our existing legislation and look at how soon we can implement this program. I believe we can do it as soon as possible.

Certainly, we’d get back to the Member in terms of putting this program in place right away so that we

will discourage drinking and driving and keep our roads safe.

If the Minister can provide any of the details he’s talking about, or any documentation, that would be helpful to me and my constituents. Certainly, he’ll have my support in moving this forward too.

I’d be happy to work with all the MLAs. Certainly, Mr. Menicoche has raised a very important issue regarding our safety and transportation, and it helps us with this issue. I will certainly work with him in terms of this constituent in the Nahendeh riding and this issue. We also offer training for drivers in terms of safety on the road. I will continue working with the Member in terms of providing safety to our travelling public.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to continue with the autism questioning. I just want to be clear, to make sure that everything gets on the record so parents can get access for their children for services.

As I highlighted earlier in my questions about the limited ability to receive speech and OT therapy, I wasn’t 100 per cent clear on the fact that…. Can parents access funding through the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority to obtain speech and OT therapy in the community, if it’s available and in the community to access?

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not aware of parents being able to receive funding from Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority or any authority.

What I’m telling the Member is that parents can receive the services. We still have more speech therapists — or any other specialists — that the children with autism or any other disability need. They’re mostly hired by the health authorities. There is a team of people who would work with children and families to provide the services they need.

You have to understand that children with autism come with all sorts of individual and varying degrees of needs. Some children with autism are much more high-functioning than others. Children need different care at different stages of their life, and our health care system and the social service

system are available to intervene as needed by different professionals that can help them.

Parents are flocking to the province of Alberta, because Alberta sees this as an issue on which they can make significant ground on this disorder by early intervention.

The issue I keep bringing up is the fact of early intervention for speech and OT therapy, which I would prefer to always fall under the umbrella of Stanton Hospital and that leadership, but it can’t happen in every case.

When I say “access private services,” I want it to be seen that I’m not advocating that’s the best or the only result. But it seems to be the only one to access extra service.

Can the Minister describe this team and how many hours are being provided as speech and OT therapy within the Stanton unit so parents can access it?

I am aware that the Alberta government has instituted intensive behavioural intervention programs. It is one of the most aggressive programs in the country, but it’s not something that’s available everywhere, and the success and merits of that Alberta program are not conclusive.

I do also believe this is an area where the federal government needs to step in to provide some comprehensive national response.

With respect to Yellowknife or the Territories, it is really hard to speak about exactly what services are available to children without knowing exactly who the child is. Autism is not a one-time, one-situation condition. It’s something a child and family have to live with throughout life.

What I’m saying is that we have programs available in schools, at hospitals, with rehab teams. Whether they need a psychologist, speech therapist or physiotherapist, the child in need and the family have to…. If the Member wants to give me the name of the person, I’d be happy to look into that, but it is a multi-faceted and multi-stage process that the GNWT provides.

I’m finally really glad to say that I can agree with the Minister in the sense of this being a federal responsibility. I’m glad the day has come that we both see eye to eye on this issue.

The program provided through the Ministry through Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority goes down to the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities. Right now, as I understand it, there are 14 people on that list providing services only a couple of hours a week. Furthermore, there are 14 on the waiting list.

The issue really is, where is the framework and policy to develop this concept, to make sure we’re

providing the best services for families and children with autism? That’s really the question: where is that framework, so we can move forward on this issue?

I have worked with parents of children with autism, and I am aware of situations in Yellowknife where certain children with autism have someone with them the entire day at school because that child needs a full-time aide every minute he is in school.

What I’m saying is it’s hard to talk about how many hours we provide a child with autism. My answer is: it depends. It depends on the needs of the child as well as what services are available. Children with autism sometimes need…. I don’t know; I’m not a professional. I think that’s all I can say for now.

Thank you, Ms.

Lee. Final

supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

The issue keeps coming around to this, which is the framework. We need a framework so we have a baseline to work from. We don’t have to look too far — just a little south of us; Alberta — to see what they’re doing with their ABA, the Applied Behaviour Analysis, and their IBI, which is the Intensive Behaviour Intervention. Would the Minister work on a framework so we have a model developed on those principles?

Yes, I did indicate in my letter to the Member that we are working on a framework to have a coordinated intervention plan. I look forward to having this framework reviewed with the standing committee members and working to make it more concrete through our upcoming business-development process.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on a statement made by the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs earlier today and on some of the questions posed by my colleague Mr. Krutko.

I need to say that I’m extremely pleased this agreement has been signed. It allows us to go forward and get started on many of the projects we know this territory needs.

Part of the Minister’s statement was that some $140 million was going to critical transportation infrastructure. He also stated the government plans to make $6.5

million per year available to

community government.

My question to the Minister is: is that all the money that’s going to community government —

$6.5 million per year? That’s the only funding that’s available for community government?

Thank you, Ms.

Bisaro. The

honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Minister Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker,

that’s

correct. The money will be distributed on an annual basis over seven years. It comes to about $26.5

million annually. It was decided that

$20 million will go toward transportation projects and $6.5 million would go toward municipalities.

Thank you to the Minister for the clarification. I guess I need the clarification, then, on the money that is going to the communities.

The first priority is water treatment plants, and I have no problem with that. It then says the balance of the funding will be made available to communities to address their own priority projects. If I could get some clarification on how communities are able to use the $6.5 million they are going to get annually.

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of projects that were left over on our capital plan when we transferred the dollars to our communities. These projects are all in the area of water plants. We have met with the NWT Association of Communities and have discussed with them. They have indicated we should have these projects completed, and that the remainder of the money, as it comes forward, should be distributed to the communities on a formula basis, similar to what we’re doing with our capital money and our gas tax money.

There are a number of different areas that have been put forward as national priorities, and those are water and waste water, public transit, highways and green energy.

We really negotiated strongly for flexibility in this agreement. We also have local priorities put in place, and those are in the area of sports and culture, disaster mitigation, solid waste management, local roads and airports. Within these broad categories, each jurisdiction has to then negotiate the details of what projects will come forward.

Mr.

Speaker, thank you to the

Minister. It’s good information. That was the kind of information I was hoping to hear, the response that I think…. Obviously, he has worked with the communities, and that’s the response they want to hear.

To the money that’s available for transportation infrastructure. I know we have huge needs in that area, but how will a community get their projects on a list, if there is going to be a list — that famous list we all know about. If the money is being handled through either MACA or Transportation, how are

communities going to be able to indicate the urgency of transportation infrastructure needs other than that of their local roads, which, I gather, come out of their own community funds?

Mr. Speaker,

the

methodology that is being used right now is to have each community develop a capital plan, an undertaking that has been already started. We require that information as part of our Gas Tax Agreement.

We also have transferred all the capital dollars to the communities, and they now decide what projects they want to see in their communities. It’s the same plan, the same capital projections that will come forward and will be utilized as we have the discussion with the federal minister to sign off on community projects. It will indicate what portions of dollars will come from where, and it will also indicate…. We’ll have a plan to see which ones come forward. It will be a process we don’t expect to be very complicated. Each community will have a plan. Each community will decide what projects. We have the criteria already, so that’s how we plan to move forward.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. Final

supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for the information. I’m gratified to hear it, and I think it’s going to be a workable process. I guess I would like to ask the Minister: if there are communities that don’t feel they have the human resource capacity to develop their own community capital plan, will the department be able to help them to finish off these plans in a timely manner so they can get their priorities known to the department?