This is page numbers 4991 - 5034 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 territories.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Minister of Transportation

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an issue that’s been raised by a number of Members in this House. We have committed to do some work in the area of what other jurisdictions are doing, what are some of the situations that we are facing here in the NWT. We’ve compiled some information and we have provided it to committee and we’ve written a letter to committee that requests to have some time to discuss this and get their comments and feedback. This will be a very public issue that will have a lot of discussion and we anticipate as we go forward all this information will be made public. Thank you.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thanks to the Minister for that information, and I guess I’ll just have to wait for it to come in the fullness of time, as another Minister would say. I appreciate the fact that there’s going to be input from the public. I think that’s a good thing, but recently the NWT Association of Communities passed a resolution at their meeting in Hay River in which they said they urge the Members of the NWT Legislative Assembly to move forward with legislation prohibiting the use of cell phones and hand-held communication devices, excluding two-way radios, while operating a motor vehicle. I guess I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not the sort of input he is looking for is this kind of input from an organization that represents 27 of our 33 communities. Will he take this sort of information from our communities into advisement as well? Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

I was at the NWT Association of Communities meeting. I didn’t vote on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I think we have compiled quite a bit of information. It’s fairly

comprehensive. We want to have the ability to have that discussion with the EDI committee and we’re hoping we’ll have some time. In fact, maybe even during this session we’d be able to do that or in the next little while. If we’re going to do anything major, we’d need to have it at least into the House for discussion by next sitting. That’s something that we have been looking at. However, before I make that decision, before I make that commitment, I need to be able to have some feedback from committee and have that face-to-face discussion.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I don’t think I heard an answer to the questions, but that’s alright.

I did mention in my statement, I quoted a GNWT policy. I have a question for the Minister. I’d like to know whether or not he’s aware of this policy. The department has a public education campaign on distracted driving, I believe. I’d like know if the Minister will be publicizing and promoting this GNWT policy as part of the department’s distracted driving public education campaign. Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

I believe I was the one that informed the Member of this clause that’s in our policies. It is public information already. I’m not sure how much more public she would like to make it, but if that’s not what she’s asking, I’d sure like to sit down with her and seek clarity on her quest.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you. I’m not sure if I got it from the Minister or from my assistant, but I got the information. I guess, having had difficulty getting another policy from the government recently, I’m a little sceptical about the public availability of our GNWT policies. Basically, what I’m looking for from the Minister is that we ensure that our employees are aware of this policy and that they adhere to the policy. So my last question to the Minister is whether he can tell me of efforts on the part of either the Department of Transportation, any other department within government or the government as a whole, what efforts are there to enforce this policy amongst our employees? Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, if the Members or our staff were not aware of this policy, we certainly would not be able to enforce it. Our supervisors and each department are responsible for providing that information and they’re also responsible for providing discipline in this area. That is public information that the Member’s referring to. It’s on the website, I believe. It’s a policy that is government-wide and it’s public. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of ECE regarding the food basket. Mr. Speaker, it adds to our frustration the government’s formula for calculating social assistance. It’s simply inadequate to compare food prices between Yellowknife and Sachs Harbour. It’s just not realistic.

Mr. Speaker, the people don’t get enough money for food and our people are going hungry. People are living in poverty. No wonder; the cost of living in Nunakput is 81 percent and in some areas higher, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not right in a rich land like ours.

So I ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: will this government change the way the food basket is calculated for us to get assistance to the people of Nunakput who can’t afford good food? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Minister of Justice

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are currently, through income security and a variety of support to the communities to deal with basic food, shelter and clothing allowances. We also have other subsidies such as seniors’ home fuel subsidy, public housing rental subsidy, which will be transferred to the Housing Corporation soon, and a variety of supports that are available such as NWT child benefits, child care user subsidy, and senior citizen supplementary benefits, along with other benefits that we do provide. We’ve made some changes to our income security in 2007 to increase our funding as well. At the same time, we just highlighted $400,000 towards a new initiative on promoting healthy foods in the Northwest Territories. The $400,000 will go directly to the children in need in the Northwest Territories, to the schools. Mahsi.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the Minister. He’s referring to the breakfast program for the schools in the Northwest Territories and I am thankful for that. Mr. Speaker, there are many federal government programs that this government can tap into to provide the communities with affordable healthy foods. I wonder if this government is taking full advantage of these programs. I see, with the federal government changing the Food Mail Program, the subsidy will go directly to the stores in the communities. I wonder if the government had anything to say about the change. Would the prices really go down, Mr. Speaker? I would like to know, Mr. Speaker, if the federal programs this government is using to complement the assistance our government provides to our people without enough food. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, we continue to deliver a subsidy program to the communities. It’s also adjusted by the region. So the higher the costs of the community, the rate changes in that area as well.

With the federal subsidy that was delivered through Canada Post previous years back. There have been some changes in that area. I believe they’re focusing on three main companies that will be delivering that for the food delivery. This will not complement what we do. We will continue to deliver the subsidy program to those communities that are in need, the 33 communities that we service. Mr. Speaker, that federal delivery program is with another department at this time, but with the Income Security we continue to deliver that subsidy program. Mahsi.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, I brought it up more than once, you know. When you go visiting elders in the communities they always try to feed you, give you tea and whatever they can feed you to give you a meal. Mr. Speaker, the cost of living in the communities is a lot higher than Yellowknife or anywhere in the South Slave. Mr. Speaker, it’s wrong for the people to suffer. People are suffering in the communities. Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister: will the government find a way to increase social assistance so it meets the most basic needs of people even in the communities where prices are high? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, we did increase in 2007 for basic food, clothing and other expenses. We have a program that’s always changing the Income Security Framework. Definitely, those are areas that we continue to look at and we continue to make changes.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is alluding to the high cost of living. We include that into our programming as well. So we’re fully aware of the high cost of living in the communities and continuously we change our programming. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the program is not enough. The funding that the people are getting for social assistance is not enough to provide proper clothing for the kids, not enough to buy food for the month -- it’s lasting three weeks. I get calls every third week of every month in my hometown. People need help. We’re not helping, Mr. Speaker, and I’m going to hold them accountable in regard to that. Will the Minister commit to me to come to the communities and walk through the stores once this food implementation program gets kicked off, to see if there’s any change in prices of food and it’s being passed along to the people? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, with the recent announcement of the power rate reduction, I’m sure that will support and also benefit the community. With regard to the Income Security Framework, we continue to provide that service, Mr. Speaker. Again, we are aware of the high cost of living in small communities. We did visit the Member’s riding. I did visit the Member’s riding when I was a Regular MLA and toured the store as well. We know the high cost. That is why we want to increase our programming as it is comes out to funding as well. We did increase the funding in 2007. We will definitely look at it again. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I gave praise to those who were participating in the Stem Cell Challenge there and the swab program. I certainly think that more people, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, should consider the Living Donor Program. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what work has been done to date to bring forward a program for living donors. Thank you very much.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I appreciated the Member’s statement on Stem Cell Challenge as well as the one from Mr. Abernethy. I would like to join them in encouraging everybody in Yellowknife to take the opportunity of this challenge and register and take steps into becoming a donor.

Second, the answer to the Member’s question, Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is part of the National Donor Registry System. We do participate in helping and assisting in that way. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, what type of public campaign or information awareness campaign does the GNWT provide for the citizens of the Northwest Territories here so they know they could consider this option? How are they approached on the particular subject? I have been made aware that most people don’t know anything about it. I would like to find out what the government is doing to make sure that it is available, whether people want to register for kidney donation or other types of matters, that they know where to go and what to do and how our government supports that. What does the government actually do to promote these things? Thank you.