Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. On April 1 of this year, with the exception of education, all GNWT government services for Lutselk’e were transferred from the South Slave to the North Slave region.

The community has been asking for this for some time, and now it has become a reality. The leadership feels this is a good opportunity to become more involved with respect to the delivery of GNWT services for the community residents.

In conjunction with this transfer, the leadership has taken a proactive approach with this issue and has been discussing the issue of implementing a community services board–type approach that would see the community assume full responsibility for the management and administration of some or all of the GNWT programs and services currently being managed by the GNWT. Doing so would allow for an improved community-based decision-making process that would enable the community to better manage the needs of its residents.

The administration model that the community is considering would be very similar to that of the current Tlicho Community Services Agency. The Tlicho Community Services Agency has been operating since 1997, so the model is already in place.

Lutselk’e is a community of 400 residents, not all of whom are band members. The only elected government is the Lutselk’e Dene Band, which is responsible for the delivery of many programs and services through contractual arrangements with the GNWT. The chief and council are also responsible for all of its band membership no matter where they reside. They’re also responsible for the management of all land resources within the traditional territory. In short, the Lutselk’e band is very busy and has wide-ranging government responsibilities.

With Lutselk’e being a community with only one governing body, the Lutselk’e Dene Band, and with the recent election of the new chief, former MLA Steve Nitah, and new council, the conditions and timing support the wishes of the leadership for the community to take advantage of this opportunity.

When the community wishes to take the next important step, there will be a transition period, a learning curve, that will present its own set of challenges for both the community and the GNWT. It is during this period that the community will need the support and assistance of this government to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Mr.

Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to

conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, colleagues. In my recent statements about government programs and services in small communities I talked about the need to engage communities in finding solutions. Here is a perfect opportunity for that process.

Thank you, Mr.

Beaulieu. The

honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Mr.

Bromley, your time for the

Member’s statement has expired.

Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Bromley. The

honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Merci, M. le Président. Today I wish to speak about the use of locum nurses. I think we all know that nurses are the backbone of delivering health care in the Northwest Territories. They are the first line of contact in smaller communities, and these communities rely upon them to keep them healthy and to make sure their residents get the level of health care they need.

In the larger communities with hospitals nurses are an absolutely essential part for the smooth operation of those facilities and often in achieving those patient outcomes. I know that I speak on behalf of probably all Northerners when I say we certainly owe a debt of gratitude to those persons who take up that vocation of nursing. However, we need to do a better job in reducing stress and making a stress-free environment, because the current staffing model is inflicting serious problems on our nursing situation.

We’ve all heard stories of nurses who have trouble accessing vacation time or professional development opportunities because of the shortages of nurses to cover them off. We’ve also heard stories of nurses employed by Stanton who are reluctant to answer their phone after hours because they know someone from the hospital’s calling them to work overtime when they’re on either their family time or their day off.

We continue to hear the frustration on the part of nurses employed by the authorities in our hospitals and in our communities about the agency nurses that are better paid and do not have to pay for their expenses, such as accommodation and travel. Mr. Speaker, this is a swivet that needs to be dealt with in a timely way.

Between burning out our nurses with the overtime they work and the morale-breaking effect surrounding them, the usage of locum nurses is a

financial cost that is hurting our system. It is clear we need to examine this and overhaul the process we are using. The nursing staffing model that’s used in our communities and hospitals will be our end. We need to fix it.

I seriously know that hiring more resident nurses in the NWT would result in a lower overall cost to our system, and it certainly would dramatically improve the working relationships we have in our workplace. I will be encouraging the Minister later — as well, I’ll also be encouraging the Minister of Finance — that this is a business model that makes sense.

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to name 20 people right now. From Chief Albert Wright School: Twyla Etchinelle, Kyle Yakeleya, Brendan Norn-Lennie, Vanessa Kenny-Andrew. From ?ehtseo Ayha School: Carla Kenny, Doris Sewi, Valerie Makeinzo, Sheldon Takazo, Shane Naedzo, Chelsey Elemie, Louie Nitsiza, Connie Modeste, Kayleen Kenny. From Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells: Evertt McCoy, Joel Erb. From Chief T’Selehye School in Fort Good Hope: Nathanial Kelley, Lindsay McNelley, Lloyd Edgi, Ian Jackson and Carrie Kakfwi.

Other Members talked about a time in their life when their parents had received them in their loving arms and grew with them into their lives. These young people I named are today going to be celebrating, with their communities, achieving in an education system, recognizing their accomplishments to get a grade 12 diploma and continue on with their life.

These young people have struggled through the education system, through growing up in the small communities. I’ve seen them. Actually, Kyle is my nephew. I remember him being six years old and growing up. I know the troubles and the challenges he went through, and obtaining his grade 12 is remarkable. All of these children we have in the Northwest Territories have gone through some difficult times in their communities.

My message to these students in the Sahtu region, and to other students, is that life is out there. Life will be challenging. There are a lot of successes in life. Take these challenges with the goodness of your heart. Pray for some powerful guidance in your life that will help you deal with things. Things are tough out there. However, there are successes out there. Many of our people here today have recognized the success of the people of the Northwest Territories.

I wish them well, and I thank the parents, the teachers and the families for supporting these young people’s lives. God bless you all. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

I’d like to welcome our guests in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. My

questions today are for the Premier. It gets back to my Member’s statement and discussions we’ve had in this House regarding the deliberations over the ’08–09 budget and notification letters that were sent out to employees.

I know, going through the process, that there have been decisions made by the government to notify employees not only for this year’s budget, but if you look at Transportation and ITI, there’s a clear indication that notification letters have been sent out to employees who are going to be affected in the ’09–10 budget.

I’d like the Premier to explain to me and explain to the House how the government can operate like this without us having passed the legislation that would give them the authority to do these things.

Thank you, Mr.

Ramsay. The

Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Members were aware that when we looked at our target for reductions and reinvestments in the Northwest Territories, we talked about two years of planning and implementation that would happen. We were fully aware, from past experience, that with some of the reductions that are accepted in one year the full impact doesn’t occur until the following year. So the numbers of potentially affected employees — and that’s the term we use, “potentially affected,” until the budget passes — was discussed. All employees were informed of being potentially affected. So ’08–09 employees, ’09–10 potentially affected employees were notified.

I am fully aware that those employees cannot be removed or their positions terminated until that budget is passed by the Legislative Assembly, but the numbers we’re using for potentially affected employees are the numbers that Members are aware of.

Yes, there was a concern about timing of that notification. Members were to be made aware before the message got out. That didn’t happen. But the fact is that since that information got out, all the numbers there are included in ’09–10, except for those that haven’t had any decisions made. For anything further we would have to come back in our ’09–10 business plan process coming up.

The Member is right; notifications went out to potentially affected employees, but the only ones who are approved in ’08–09 will be the ones that get implemented through this process.

That, to me, is very confusing. I’ve been here for four and a half years, and I can only imagine how confusing it is to our public service.

I’d like to know — just so we’re clear here — what else is happening out there that we don’t know about. I’d like the Premier and maybe the Minister of Human Resources, who didn’t seem to know what was going on, on Tuesday, to give us a list of people who have received written notices of notification and those who have received verbal notifications, as the Minister of Human Resources referred to on Tuesday. Can we get that list?

Mr. Speaker, we have shared the list of potentially affected employees — ’08–09, ’09–10 — with Members. There are initiatives that have to be reviewed on which no decisions have been made. For example, the Business Incentive Policy is one of those. We’re going to go out with consultation. No final decisions have been made on that. We’re going to work with committee. We’re going to go out to the public and the business community to get input. Once we decide on how that program gets changed, that’s when it goes into the business plan process.

Clearly, Members have been given the information of potentially affected employees. It included ’08–09, ’09–10. We laid it out the same way as we laid out the fact that the reduction targets would have to go for two years. From past experience of governments that had to make decisions on reductions, it’s fully realized that some of the impact of making a decision this year will not be felt till the next year. But the initial impact starts this year. In some cases, that will happen.

In other cases, where it’s ’09–10, clearly a decision for an ultimate change in that program and delivery and the people affected will not be made until that ’09–10 budget comes before this House.

Mr. Speaker, yes; we have received the information on reduction exercises in ’08–09 and ’09–10. I think the Premier maybe is missing what I’m asking for here. I’m asking for employees who have received notification letters. It’s one thing to show us in the information we receive from you guys that these are the reductions. Are we just to guess which employees are going to get notification letters? Some are; some aren’t. As we move through the process, we’re seeing that’s the case. Some are getting verbal notification. Some are getting written notification. So what is it?

I’d like to know: who is the lead Minister responsible for coordinating this effort government-wide? Is it the Premier, or is the Minister of Human Resources?

Mr. Speaker, this scenario started as a result of when we first talked about the fact that we were going to have to reduce our budgets, the fact that we had to live within our means, and it would be over two years. We were going to try to find enough money for reinvestment scenarios as well. We haven’t met our target, and we’ve had to lower our reinvestment target as well.

The fact of how we did it was laid over a two-year process. The list we’ve shared with Members — the decisions and direction we’ve set…. Members have been notified of that. We will get the information to the Members to clearly establish the fact that the list we’ve given Members is the same. No other discussions have been made on any further reductions in future years, because we’re going to go into a business planning exercise coming up.

In fact, we’ve sat down now, as a result of some of the back and forth in Committee of the Whole, to clearly set out the guidelines as to what the process is, and we’ll share that with Members as well.

For the record, when we talked about reductions we had to make as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we were urged by Members and the UNW that if employees were to be affected, we give them as much time to do their planning and to know they were potentially affected. We’ve done that. We’ve been following that practice. It is different from what we’ve done before. With the confusion it’s caused, for future practice in this area we may have to go back to the traditional way of doing business.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to know which Members the Premier is referring to when they consulted with us on sending out notification letters and what form that was in. Maybe I wasn’t at that meeting; I don’t recall that.

The implementation has started; we can’t deny that. Again, people are being moved around. This is happening government-wide. I’d like to know which Minister — is it the Premier, or is it the Minister of Human Resources? — is responsible for sending out notification letters to employees. Can we get a list of notification letters that have gone out to each individual employee? We know they’re impacted — that we can read — but where have the letters gone, and who has been verbally told that their job is going to be affected in the ’09–10 budget as well as this one?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A couple of questions there. I’ll allow the Premier to answer one or both if he wants.

Mr. Speaker, from the list that was shared with Members, potentially affected employees were all given notification: ’08–09, ’09–10. That’s information we’ve shared with Members. There are other decisions that are yet to be made that we’re not making decisions on. It has to go through the business plan process, and that authority then has to be given in the next budget cycle.

We’re going to get the full list again and share it with Members to ensure that everybody is working from the same sheet as we plan to do our business. In fact, as Members go into the business planning cycle, any new initiatives will be put on that table for discussion and input as to whether we go down that path or not.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.