Mr. Speaker, I would really like to work with the Minister responsible for Seniors on this. There’s a very valuable opportunity in working with seniors and putting them at a level where we are taking care of them and showing the community that we are taking care of them.

Can I ask the Minister in terms of the involvement of Regular Members or myself, would we have some options to look at some of these areas that we could work on together?

Mr. Speaker, there are lots of issues that we need to work on with respect to the needs of seniors, one of the most pressing being expanding services for seniors in senior centres. The Member for Tu Nedhe has been asking from day one about enhancing services in the Great Elders Centre. The Member for Mackenzie Delta is looking to replace or to refurbish the elder centre in Aklavik. I know that the Member for Sahtu…. There’s an elders’ facility in Délînê that could always use more programming.

So I’m saying that if we have extra money, I think the focus should be on enhancing services. I understand it’s more convenient to go to one place, but if the programs are not there, going to one place is not going to be helpful. I think we need to balance between enhancing services for seniors and making it more efficient.

I have made a commitment to the Member that I will look into this and will have some kind of paper for us to discuss. I’ll be happy to take it to the Standing Committee on Social Programs or any Members on that side to look at it.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to a time and date as to when we can expect some discussion paper so we could have some input before it circulates through the various committees and to Cabinet for some type of recommendation?

I could have a discussion paper prepared in time for the next business plan review, which is scheduled to be at the end of November.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. A final short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for that commitment. Could the Minister commit herself to also looking at initiatives such as the Strategic

Initiative Committee

on Refocusing Government and various options to again work with boards and agencies on how to deliver services like this to our community members, especially seniors?

I will consult with colleagues on the Strategic Initiative Committee on Refocusing

Government, and we’ll see if we can incorporate that into the discussion paper. Thank you.

Thankyou, Ms. Lee. Oral Questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for Minister of Health and Social Services. My questions pertain to the Dental Profession Act. There are some phrases in this act which preclude Canadian dentists from recruiting students from universities outside of Canada for doing practicums, which would help in the provision of services, particularly here in the Northwest Territories. I’m going to ask the Minister about section 24(1) of this act that refers to “will provide dental services under the direct supervision of a licensee who is also employed by the Faculty of Dentistry of a Canadian University.” There are other accredited universities which are not Canadian, and I’d like to ask the Minister: how will we go about making this small but important change to the Dental Profession Act?

Thank you Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that information readily available. I’d be happy to look into that for the Member. My understanding is that for the dental profession, as well as other professions like physicians or nurses, we follow the guidelines and standards of other provinces with the credits with which the universities graduate these grads, so I’m not sure if we have it completely within our control to change our own laws to allow foreign trained dentiststo come and practise. That’s one point that I am not aware of. So my understanding is that it’s not within our power, but I just want to look into that to confirm it. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I probably didn’t have enough detail to be very clear about my request. In a more general sense, what would be the most expedient way to make a minor adjustment to an act like this that would be of assistance to the dental profession in the Northwest Territories? What would be the process? Would it come from the department, or could it be raised by the Regular Members on this side of the House? Thank you.

If it is something that’s within our legislation, it’s obviously something that we could do right here. If that is so, I think we could consider that sort of amendment. My understanding is that there’s nothing we can do in our legislation that would change that, because for professionals like

dentists, doctors, nurses, lawyers and engineers, their licensing requirements are controlled by their own profession. It’s not within the powers of the government to change those. That is my understanding. I need to confirm that, so we’ll get back to the Member on that.

Mr. Speaker, it’s my understanding that some American universities actually have exams and accreditation, which they ensure compliance with so that it is interchangeable between American or Canadian standards, and that they actually apply these tests and standards to students who are attending their universities in these professions. It opens up a vast pool of resources for us in terms of dental students or dentists.

Since professions regulate themselves, as the Minister has said, would a proposal from the NWT Dental Association

aid in expediting such

amendments?

This government is working on a territorial nomination program, which we hope will enhance and improve the services of overseas residents who could come to work and fill jobs that we cannot.

The second thing is that it may be possible, as the Member stated, that American university graduates could come and practise in the provinces. Now, there is a difference between provinces and territories in that provinces have their own professional organizations that determine who goes into these professions. We don’t have that in the Territories. All of our professional bodies rely on other provinces to admit our students.

Let me just make a commitment again to see what is possible. I have had the opportunity to talk to the department about this, because this question was raised. My understanding was that it’s not really in our power to change. Let me just get the details on why that’s so and what our options are. If it requires any recommendations from anybody to help that process, I’d be happy to do that.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dental Profession Act is an act of the Government of the Northwest Territories. In summary, what I think the dental profession of the Northwest Territories would like is to replace the words “Canadian university” with “accredited university,” and that would make a vast difference in terms of opening that up. That’s in summary. I would just ask the Minister, then, if she would take the initiative to consult with the dental association on this.

I will undertake to see if changing those words would help the process. I’ll consult with the necessary bodies and stakeholders and get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI regarding his Minister’s statement today. In terms of the 2008 NWT Aboriginal Business Conference and Trade Show next week in Yellowknife by the Denendeh Development Corporation, my question to the Minister is: will the GNWT be making a presentation in terms of the forum to the small businesses that are going to be participating in the conference?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d be pleased to send a copy of the agenda and the registration package to the Member, but for his information, both the Business Development and Investment Corporation and the department will be participating in the workshops and making presentations. As well, I believe the Premier and I will be making speeches at various times.

I’ll be happy to receive that package from the Minister in terms of all this. This is a very worthwhile, golden opportunity in that we have strong aboriginal people coming together.

We talk about the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We talk about the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. We talk about the hydro potential. We talk about partnerships with groups with unsettled land claims that have negotiated contract policies and memorandums of understanding with the Government of the Northwest Territories. You have unsettled claims.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister: is this a golden opportunity for this government to sit down with the real owners of the land, talk about these big projects and get them recharging their batteries, as he stated in his statement? Will the Minister talk about these big project items so we can, as the people of the North, see a vision that will happen for our people?

Mr. Speaker, the conference next week also provides aboriginal businesses with an opportunity to interact with aboriginal businesses from all across Canada. That’s one of the main benefits. All large development projects and some success stories and best practices will be shared.

Another very important part of the conference, which was a highlight last year, was the youth component whereby youth representatives from every region participated. They were kind of a highlight of the conference because of their enthusiasm and new ideas.