This is page numbers 3501 - 3522 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was communities.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February 2008 the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation tabled the Auditor General’s Report on the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation’s Public Housing and Homeownership Programs. This report shed light on many shortcomings in the Public Housing Program and made 11 recommendations addressing three major areas of concern: the management of public housing, the management of the Homeownership Program, and the planning and reporting conducted by the NWT Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, my concern today is that these recommendations have not been addressed. What improvements have been seen in NWT public housing for our Territory? In the NWT Housing Corporation’s response to committee’s report on the Auditor General’s performance audit, the corporation stated: “A key element of the NWT Housing Corporation’s response will be a revised framework for action to be released in early 2009.” The document I am referring to was tabled in October 2008. I have yet to see a revised framework for action that specifically details how the corporation plans to address the

recommendations from the Auditor General and, certainly, committee.

Another one of the standing committee’s recommendations was the Minister provide periodic updates on the progress of the implementation of the Housing Corporation’s action plan. The corporation agreed to this recommendation, but we need to clarify what this reporting period will be. What progress has been made in the area of rent collection? What is being done to get LHOs out of arrears? What are the results of renewed and upgraded policies and procedures designed to address issues raised by the Auditor General?

A new formal housing appeal mechanism was scheduled for implementation on April 1, 2009. Is this mechanism working well? In the overall picture, what progress is being made in the corporation’s primary mandate of reducing the number of NWT households in core need from housing assistance?

Mr. Speaker, it is a challenging mandate and I acknowledge that, but we need to make sure they are moving in the direction of our goals. We owe our full accountability to public housing clientele and the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We come to these sessions several times a year and express our concerns from our home communities and our region. Some of our concerns are serious in that we bring them up every time we are here, and hoping and demanding the government act upon their commitments.

One of these issues is a lack of counsellors and social workers. Some of the communities never have access to counsellors, social workers, or the system lacks necessary resources and the effort seems unnoticeable, and that seems a shame. All across the Territory, communities, government organizations are saying the same thing: the community’s number one problem is not enough counselling support. As a government, we must provide proper services that are needed in the community. The fact that communities lack real support for people returning from substance abuse treatment.

Centralization of these services does not work. People can no longer go to the Territorial Treatment Centre and then go back to their communities while all of the support systems are in the major centres, Mr. Speaker.

The solution to this is to provide the services in the communities. Social workers and counsellors work

in Inuvik and are supposed to be servicing the communities, but when talking to front-line workers in the community, they have never heard of visits of that nature.

What our communities need are facilities that people can go to without the huge paperwork and long waits. A small, fully functional, around-the-clock, fully equipped addictions centre with nurses and counsellors is what we need.

The Beaufort-Delta Social Services Authority and mental health addictions services office have operations in the Inuvik Regional Hospital. The office offers counselling programs for clients, people coping with loved ones dealing with drug and alcohol addictions or other social problems.

In order to receive service, we must see a nurse to be referred to a doctor and wait for the doctor’s visits in the community. People with real problems, and often very complicated problems, have nowhere to go and no one to talk to. This contradicts the commitments made by previous governments and this government.

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Capacity building with real social supports is very important and it’s very critical that government commits and delivers the required support, not just deliver the rhetoric on local communities. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is no secret that NWT communities are diverse. They are small, medium and large. They are on the road system and not on the road system. They follow the traditional economy, the modern economy, and sometimes both. Providing services to our communities is a serious challenge for the GNWT given this diversity. It is particularly difficult to ensure that the same services are available in each of our 33 communities.

My colleagues on this side of the House have often spoken to our failure in that regard. But do we, as a government, really know what level of programs and services we should be providing to our residents? Have we established standards for the delivery of programs and services in the NWT? If we have, they haven’t made it to my desk, Mr. Speaker.

We should know what level of service and what programs we want or need to provide. We should have a target level of service, particularly in the areas of health and social services, education, income support, housing and community services, all of the GNWT service departments. For instance, should every community have a nurse and a doctor, a mental health worker, an addictions counsellor? What is the minimum acceptable level of service for our income support and housing programs? Should every community have staff on site or should service be provided by regional office staff? Should every community have a recreation officer and who should take financial responsibility for that position? Should every community have child care available for working parents?

I have no doubt that all of these questions have been considered by various Assemblies at one time or another, but did we get answers? Are the answers documented and in any organized and coordinated way? Have we, as a government, ever looked at the provision of GNWT programs and services across the whole system to determine the must haves, the nice to haves, and then delivered them as allowed by our available finances? I think not and I think we need to do that.

I realize what I am suggesting is a big undertaking, but it is a necessary step. To quote a well used expression, how do we know where we are going if we don’t know where we are? We need to do the work to find out where we are, to determine the standards for our programs, the services required. We owe it to our residents, particularly those in our smaller, isolated communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize my dad. Mike Krutko is in the gallery. He is 94 years young. I noticed he drove over here today. Also, sitting beside my dad is Ed Jeske. Hi, Ed. And a friend of mine from Hay River, Rocky Simpson. Good to see you, Rocky.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize my constituent, Mr. Rocky Simpson from Hay River South and also in the visitor’s gallery today is Al Stan who is with a company called Avro Canadiana up here looking at business opportunities in the North. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, first off, would like to thank the Member for Mackenzie Delta recognizing my two constituents. His father, Mike Krutko, a very well-known Northerner, and certainly Mr. Ed Jeske is a very well-known hockey supporter in this community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I welcome everyone in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Mr. Ed Jeske, a long time educator, hockey supporter from minor hockey to old-timer, and also he now has an arena named after himself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report that came out in the National Post today reporting that the federal government has decided not to proceed with its investment with the MGP really changes nothing in regards to the need for a comprehensive reply to the Joint Review Panel report. The federal government could reverse its decision at any time or economics could improve for unexpected reasons. The independent analysis and even the comments of the members of the Joint Review Panel indicate that GNWT negotiated a bad socio-economic benefits agreement for our public with the proponents. We even may need to consider renegotiating this agreement, but we can’t do that if the Ministers dash off a blind endorsement of the project. Will the Ministers commit to seeking input and review of Regular Members on the response to the JRP report and recommendations before they announce any firm positions on it? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a couple of Ministers or, actually, a number of Ministers working on this file between the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and the Minister of ITI. The response will be a joint one put together. The Ministers will be collaborating as well as seeking input from Members on our response.

Just for the record, the article that the Member has raised in National Post is one where it is an article from a reporter. There is no confirmation, in fact, that the federal government has said anything regarding the pipeline itself and where that project is. There are a lot of stories floating about right now. We are trying to confirm just where things are. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate comments of the Premier on the news report and, like I say, I think, regardless of that, that could change any time. So we need to do this work. I will ask again, will the Premier, with the coordinated response of the split personalities of ENR and ITI apparently coordinating a review, as I understand it -- the Minister of ENR for the Joint Review Panel report, the Minister of ITI for dealing with the NEB documents and eventual decision -- will Members be assured of input to our responses? Will the Premier commit to ensuring our input to those responses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, we have stated earlier a number of departments involved in this. There will be a government position. We will coordinate that and we will be working with Members as to what gets done. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Again, a typically opaque response from the Premier. I will take it, though, as a yes. I would also like to know, will the Minister commit to referral of both the JRP report and the NEB decision for review by Regular Members, commit to forwarding those reports to us for our direct input into the process? Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, I believe I made a commitment to the Members of this Assembly, through that earlier response, that we will work with Members. It is a coordinated effort from the Government of the Northwest Territories. We will contact Members through standing committees as to the process we will adopt going forward. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Premier Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, the reason I seek these assurances is because we did such a lousy job in the previous review of the submissions to the JRP panel. I really would like to hear the reiterative responses there. Recognizing that there is always demand on the staff and the expertise and to have a comprehensive and coordinated response, we need to have our staff ready to be able to reply within the time frames available. Will the Premier commit, and what preparations have been made to ensuring that our in-house expertise is clearing their desks and will be able to give a really meaningful piece of analysis and response to those reports? Mahsi.