This is page numbers 4577 - 4596 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th 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 need.

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Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thanks to the Premier. I would have to disagree with his description that it’s a scenario. It’s, unfortunately, not at all a figment of anybody’s imagination. It’s real. There is a very likely huge collapse of sewer infrastructure in the very near future.

I mentioned in my statement that Yellowknife is the only NWT community that does not receive water and sewer funding through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. I’d like to know from the Premier whether or not there would be any consideration to changing that formula for a period of years to allow some of that funding to flow through the city and, therefore, through to the residents.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

The formula situation that’s been set up for communities has been designed for the level of support and the ability for a municipality to be able to raise revenue for its own repairs. But the City of Yellowknife does get O and M funding as well as capital funding, as well as they’re eligible for some of federal initiatives that are out there that could help assist and offset this type of work.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I won’t thank the Premier because I didn’t like that answer at all. I guess I would have to say to the Premier that the capital funding that goes to the city, the gas tax money that goes to the city, that’s like asking the city to give me, for my personal home, some of the gas tax funding which the city gets. This is private property. This is a group of homeowners who happen to be on a private piece of land. So it’s very unlikely that the residents of this city are going to approve gas tax money going to an individual homeowner.

I really feel that the funding that the Premier is referencing is incorrect. I do appreciate his commitment to sit down and look at that funding. I feel that this Assembly designates an executive to manage the government finances and to manage emergence and emergency situations, so I’d like to ask the Premier what kind of funding exists in this government to deal with emergency funding issues that arise. Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

There are a number of emergency funds that are out there; again, depending on the department, the initiative or the emergency itself. For a community, Municipal and Community Affairs, again, holds that area and the commitment, as I was stating, is a commitment on behalf of Municipal and Community Affairs to sit down with the City of Yellowknife to look at alternative funding areas that might be looked at.

As to the area of the Condominium Act, if this was to be in any community in the Northwest Territories, they would be faced with the same situation and having to have a reserve fund established.

As I stated, I am aware the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is prepared to sit down with the City of Yellowknife and explore alternative solutions. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have to say to the Premier that I have previously asked the question of whether or not there are funds available from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and was advised that there’s not. So I’m very happy to hear that there is some and that they can be discussed and I take his commitment with thanks.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. I didn’t hear a question there. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to acknowledge the Minister of Health is not seeking to reduce the cost of supplementary health benefits, but costs are clearly rising. So I assume, at a minimum, she’s strongly motivated to control future costs whole providing the best benefits possible. I think that is what she was saying yesterday.

However, pharmaceuticals are clearly the single biggest driver of increasing costs. My question, Mr. Speaker: will the Minister commit to bringing back detailed options for reducing drug costs, including information on the proposed western province’s drug buying plan our Premier discussed at the last Western Premiers’ Meeting? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the drug cost is a key part of the landscape of health care spending going forward. In the Globe and Mail on Saturday, there was a two page spread about health care issues and drug costs being one of the biggest items. I think we are much more advanced in the North in terms of this issue than most other jurisdictions.

To answer the Member’s question, the department is right now working on a formal strategy. It is highly complex. It has lots of stakeholders, but we have undertaken to do that work. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I assume the results of that will be brought forward in a timely fashion to the House or at least to Members.

On the question of affordability, I don’t see any analysis of the impact of different means thresholds or consideration of how our high cost of living, which is crucial for the great majority of low-income people who use these benefits, as being considered. Will the Minister commit to doing these detailed analyses and bring them forward as part of our consultation? Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

We are asking that very question to our general public. In the material that we put into the website -- and that will go out to every household -- we do ask people about at what income level, if we were to consider co-payments, that we should begin to do that, instead of coming out and saying X, Y, Z and asking people whether they say yes or no. We are asking the people. We are explaining to the people what this program is, how it differs from the rest of Canada, who’s using it, and we are asking whether or not income thresholds should be used for a criteria for accessing information, whereas right now it’s whether you have a condition or your age is the determining factor. So we are opening that up to the public to tell us. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thanks for those comments from the Minister. I assume, then, she will be doing a second and third round of consultation taking that back with the implications of different selected thresholds.

On what basis does the Minister take a year -- that’s 12 months, Mr. Speaker -- to start producing the basic research into what should have been provided in the original effort 18 months ago, and then expect the public consultation to be done in six weeks? Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

As the Member knows, these changes were done and announced in 2007, as a result of what I know because I was here for about seven years’ work. Those were announced in 2007. The motion was passed in 2008…no, 2009, last year, to go back and do the work. We have done that. We have done a lot of intense research on who this program is serving right now. We feel we have an excellent set of information to go out to the public to engage public discussion on. I think that we should be applauded, actually, for going out to the public with the information we have and asking the public to give us input.

Mr. Speaker, we’re not going to be engaged in paralysis by analysis and have every t crossed, every i dotted, and have an answer to those who would like nothing changed. I think, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we look at this and engage in public debate. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, what a scathing comment to our public that is. If there is one possible kernel I could pick out of that it is that the Minister has finally produced initial baseline research that can get intelligent discussion in the public, but it’s initial.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister recognize the need, duty and opportunity for meaningful public engagement in the Supplementary Health Benefits Program by extending consultation through the fall with an implementation target in 2011? Mahsi.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, the Members across often advise us that we should be open and transparent in what we do. As far as I’m concerned, I blew the door open. We are open. We want to hear from the people. We are not going to predetermine. The Member often tells us about the need for an Anti-Poverty Strategy.

Mr. Speaker, this one, we should be concerned that there are a group of people right now who don’t get benefits of supplementary health, even though they cannot afford it. I think the Member and everybody in the House owes it to us to make sure that we look at this, and we make sure that this program is fair and equitable. We’re going to go to the public and we are getting lots of interest from people. We’re going to have a very thorough, comprehensive, intelligent, two-way dialogue, and we’re going to improve this program for generations to come. We’re not going to wait for 10 more years to make this fair and equitable. We’re going to get it done. We’re not going to consult to consult. We’re not going to analyze to death. We’re going to ask the people, and people are going to answer. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions today for the Minister of ITI and it gets back to my Member’s statement where I was speaking about the government’s involvement in the secondary industry. Mr. Speaker, what started out with some very good intentions on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories in a secondary industry established here in the Northwest Territories over the last number of years has been nothing but a train wreck.

I’d like to begin by asking the Minister of ITI what is taking so long to get a new policy established so that people here in the Northwest Territories involved in the secondary industry know what the

rules of engagement are going to be going forward. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mining industry, and particularly diamonds are the most important part of the economy of the Northwest Territories. So I think the Member has his facts wrong or he didn’t check the facts, but the Northwest Territories was the first jurisdiction that provided for an allocation of rough diamonds from the diamond mines in order to provide for a secondary diamond industry. Plus, secondly, with the downturn in the economy, the largest market for diamond purchases is in the United States, and purchases dropped off by 75 percent. To suggest that we could operate outside of that environment is a bit of a stretch.

Secondly, we have been directed to revive the secondary diamond industry on a business basis only so that there will be no government funds involved. We are working on a policy. The Member knows that it’s very important to get the policy right. We have to make sure we got all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted, because it’s very important to get the process right, and we’re fully involving the committees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, I’ve talked about this before. I mean, we need to pursue opportunities with the vigor and aggression that I think… You know, if we do not do this, other jurisdictions now across this country are going to pursue those opportunities when they present themselves. As I said earlier, we have investors here who are waiting for this new policy to be developed and to be out there. So, again, I’d like to ask the Minister, when does the Minister believe that we will have a workable policy in front of the committee so that we can get this out there to the public. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We have undertaken consultation with the industry stakeholders and we have requested that they respond to us by the end of February. We now have all of the diamond mines responses. We’re developing a draft government response to proposed changes and we will be back to committee. Our expectation is probably April/May. If everybody concurs, then we’ll look at implementation shortly after. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

In my Member’s statement I also talked about Botswana, the world’s leading producer of diamonds, and the fact that they understand and appreciate that mining is not going to be forever in Botswana. The Government of the Northwest Territories, I think, could take a page out of Botswana’s book and develop something like the Diamond Trading Company Northwest Territories. In Botswana it’s called Diamond Trading Company Botswana, where they mix, sort and trade

diamonds in Botswana. I’d like to ask the Minister if that’s part of the new policy framework that the department’s looking at. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I should point out also that in Botswana they shut all their mines down for a period of about two or three months during the downturn in the economy. But I can assure the Member that his suggestion, we are looking, it’s part of our policy, but I don’t want to pre-assume what the recommendations will be or the responses that we would receive through our consultation process. Thank you.