This is page numbers 1113 - 1136 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 3rd 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 services.

Topics

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My follow-up questions are directed to the Minister responsible for seniors. [English translation not provided.]

I wanted to ask the Minister what kind of current programs and services are available from the GNWT in the interest and care of elders.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for seniors, Mr. Tom Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know recently that a seniors handbook was published which lays out the programs from the various departments. For Health and Social Services, we are offering things in the health area. We offer home care for independent living, long-term care for elders and seniors that need it, and also for other health programs and extended health benefits which provide prescription drugs, medical travel, medical supplies, appliances, prostheses, hearing aids, dental services and eye glasses.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I wanted to thank the Minister for the general response. Currently the elders population is fairly low with the number of elders over the age of 65, but with the current estimates, I believe within 10 years those figures will dramatically change and we’ll have an increased population of elders. How is the government preparing to try and meet the needs of elders at that age? How is this government preparing for that eventuality?

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

As is across the country, the NWT recognizes that the seniors population will be growing quickly, and it’s been an issue, I think, for at least 25 years when they started to do the projections and recognizing that. For the Department of Health and Social Services, we have some senior citizens consultants to consult about what type of rehabilitation services are going to be needed, the extent of what type of services will be needed within the department. Aside from that we are funding the NWT Seniors’ Society. We give them now close to $200,000 a year for them to work with the Seniors’ Society on a Seniors Advisory Council and the Community Outreach

Program, so that they can try to keep their membership advised of what is up and coming.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I’d like to thank the Minister for pointing out that there is at least an engagement with elders of the Seniors’ Society, in terms of trying to prepare for the eventuality that indeed we will have more elders perhaps within the next 10 or 20 years in terms of population, my next question is in regard to the federal government’s recent discussion of raising the retirement from 65 to 67. What’s the position of the GNWT on that?

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

We haven’t engaged the federal government in this area at this time because this is still going through the budget process. As soon as the budget process is through, I think we would be… As the Minister responsible for Seniors, I know that we are having an FPT meeting and I’m sure that will be one of the topics coming up. If not, I could ensure the Member that I will engage the other federal Minister responsible for Seniors to see how that is going to impact the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the section of Highway No. 1 that goes up to Wrigley. Residents of Wrigley have always brought it to my attention that the maintenance cycle is not what they think it should be. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation what level of attention they pay to this section of the road. Residents often say that they do not maintain it as often as regular, and they do not pay too much attention to that road. I’d like to ask that to the Minister.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. David Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d be more than happy to look into the intervals on maintenance on that section of highway in comparison to other sections. It does have, and I do know this, something to do with the amount of traffic that is on the road, but I will get the information for the Member and then we can do a comparison. If there are issues with maintenance, the Member and the communities can certainly bring that to my attention and we will address that.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I’m glad the Minister offered some kind of mechanism, because that is truly needed. They often bring their complaints either to the ferry operations at Ndulee and/or call the regional office. Often they don’t get adequate

responses that they feel they should. If the Minister is offering a route that the community or community leadership can contact his office directly, I’d be pleased to hear about it.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Safety is our number one priority, so again, if the Member feels there are maintenance issues on that section of highway and he wants to bring that to my attention, I would be more than happy to look into those concerns for the Member and for the community.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I guess the key thing is the maintenance cycles. It seems that the department often skips it because of the lower volume of traffic. I don’t think this is right, because this highway is on the national highway system and it shouldn’t be dismissed just because there’s a lower amount of traffic. It’s equally important to that community and for the whole North as well.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

The Member brings up a good point and we’ll take that into consideration.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister can also provide to me the amount of the operations budget that is going towards that section and a bit of a plan for maintenance for this coming summer and fall.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

I’ve got the information pertaining to capital upgrades on that highway, and there is some money that we’ve got going forward. On the detail on the maintenance side of things, I will endeavour to get that level of detail for the Member.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some time ago the Minister of ITI made a ministerial statement on the oil and gas potential activities in the Northwest Territories. In his statement he said that the industry experts believe that there’s a potential of one or two billion barrels in the area just waiting to be tapped in the Tulita district.

I want to ask the Minister, because of the renewed interest in oil and gas exploration and development in the Sahtu region, and as the Minister also noted in his ministerial statement of infrastructure in Transportation, I want to ask the Minister in his statement what it means in terms of is the Minister looking at putting some roads into the Sahtu that would support extracting the resources of one or two billion barrels of oil, as he stated in his statement.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is well aware, building roads in the Northwest Territories is an expensive endeavour. With the resource development in the central Mackenzie and the Sahtu, I certainly believe there is opportunity, as we go forward, to develop transportation infrastructure, and that would include all-weather roads, by working with industry and also with our partner in Ottawa. I believe those discussions will take place as that resource is proven up and that resource continues to move forward. There are going to be a lot of opportunities in that area.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

In the Ministerial statement, certainly he talks about the activities happening all in the Northwest Territories, and certainly, he mentioned some of the things about Ottawa and partnerships. He is correct; it is costly to build infrastructure. I mean, we already had this known to us on the Deh Cho Bridge. We also know this from the Inuvik-Tuk road. We also know that those are great lessons for us to continue moving, but, hopefully, this does not stop us from putting in some major infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister, will he meet with the oil and gas companies and corporations that are working in the Sahtu, and also have an opportunity to meet with his federal counterpart, the Minister of Transportation in Ottawa, to look at if there could be a partnership that could build a road from Norman Wells south.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I’ve taken every opportunity to meet with industry. I’ve also met with the federal Minister of Transportation. Certainly, this is high on our list. We’re not going to do this alone. Any opportunity and every opportunity that comes our way, I think we need to take full advantage of it. We will get somewhere by working together with industry and with the federal government. That’s how I intend to move forward with this. At the earliest opportunity, I will try to get together with the Sahtu Explorers Group and start to outline some ways that we can work together collectively on the advancement of all-weather roads in the Sahtu. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

I noted also in the Minister’s statement about the airports, how Norman Wells and Tulita have been very busy with the activity of the last year’s winter program. Now we are just getting some indication that Husky will probably ramp up their oil and gas exploration to almost a year-round type of activity. They’re also talking about some roads that they want to build in the Sahtu. Would the Minister, sometime in the next three or four months, start to let the industry know, for example, the Explorer Group that’s formed in

the Sahtu region, to look at the concept of partnership in terms of building transportation such as roads and ramping up some of the infrastructure around the airports?