This is page numbers 3323 – 3346 of the Hansard for the 17th 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 public.

Topics

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I would certainly like to sit down with the Member and have that conversation. We do have a hiring practice and procedures that we utilize here in the Government of the Northwest Territories and our authorities. The public administrator will play a key role in the recruitment and retention of a CEO for that health authority. I look forward to having discussions with both the public administrator and the Member on how we’re going to move forward with that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, then the Minister can probably clarify for me, because what I heard is that the Deh Cho Health and Social Services will have its own CEO. I’m hoping that position is the same as it was before, established in Fort Simpson to deliver health to the people of the Deh Cho from a local central body from Fort Simpson. Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, that’s the way it is now. We actually have an acting CEO in the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Authority. As I indicated, I believe we will be moving forward and I look forward to working with the public administrator to see exactly how that’s going to work out. I will keep the Member informed and I’ll have more discussions with the Member as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much. Once the Minister works with the public administrator in establishing dates, I’d certainly like to be informed. Should I be available, I would certainly like to attend those meetings as well. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. More of a comment. Oh, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Member knows who the public administrator is. I encourage the Member to talk to the public administrator about maybe participating in some of those tours. I also know that the former Minister of Health and Social Services made a commitment to the Member to go into the community and have a public meeting in Fort Simpson with the entire region and I’m going to live up to that commitment. We’re going to work out the dates. It would likely be after the public administrator has finished his tour, but I look forward to coming to your community and having the discussion around the authority and how things will move forward with your community once we get some dates confirmed after the public administrator has finished his tour. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be for the new Minister of Health. Earlier today I gave the Minister a brief update of what’s been happening in the Mackenzie Delta region.

With no board in place for years now in the Beaufort-Delta, how are residents of my region supposed to provide input on health care in our region? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my responses to MLA Menicoche, there is no question that we want the input from our citizens and our residents. Right now, as the Member knows, we do have a public administrator in the Deh Cho. The previous Minister of Health and Social Services made a commitment to reinstating the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority before the end of this government and we will live up to that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, that’s great news. The previous Health Minister said in May the process of appointing a new board in the Delta would begin immediately. What progress has been made? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my last response, we need to make some changes to this system. It’s not working. We want to make sure we are getting the input from the people and from the communities and regions. We also know, as the Member has clearly outlined in his Member’s statement, that there are some real challenges. We want to focus on the care of our residents, the individuals. We want to focus on the person. So we do need to do some work. We need to finish that work before we move forward with re-establishing the authority in whichever capacity we move forward in, whether it’s a board of management, as the Member identified, or an advisory board. We need to know what we’re doing because we want to make sure that the delivery is effective and efficient and it’s the best services that we can provide to our people.

We need a bit of time. But as I have indicated, we are going to live up to the previous Minister’s commitment and we will have something established in the Deh Cho before the end of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

I would just like to remind the Minister that I am from the Mackenzie Delta, not the Deh Cho.

---Laughter

My next question is Deputy Minister DeLancey spoke recently on changing legislation, but that is the first I’ve heard of it. No such legislation is before the House. The process takes time, as we all know. So what changes are being made and when will this legislation come forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I apologize. I know the Member is from the Mackenzie Delta. We have toured the Mackenzie Delta together and I look forward to touring it again.

Mr. Speaker, as we move forward with reviewing the authorities and how things are going and what changes we may have to make, it will most likely, most definitely take some legislation changes. I expect I will be working with committee in short order and I think we will likely have to bring some amendments to the Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act that will provide more clarity on accountability, roles and responsibilities and this will be an important first step, but we will work with committee on that. All legislation has to go through the legislative process. We are seeking input from the boards, public administrators and the public on how to make the system work better. We will work with committee on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A former board member told me that one of the major challenges was the financial part of operating the board. Will the Minister assure that finance training will be made available to those future members? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, if it’s a management board we go with, that would make perfect sense. If it’s an advisory board that we go with, it may not make as much sense, but regardless, we will work with the members of the boards that exist and the future boards to make sure that they have the training so they can adequately provide informed direction and decisions within their particular mandates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up from my Member’s statement on Friday, which was on the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure’s tabled document on responsible extraction, wherein the Pembina Institute reviewed the Industry Panel Report on Pathways to Mineral Development. I’d

like to note right off that the panel public consultation effort was about a third of what was funded, unlike the economic development opportunities report which was its full budget and did a comprehensive consultation.

To focus on subsidies today, could the Minister please explain how this government calculates how much we should subsidize industry to set up a mine in the NWT compared to the benefits we get back? Is the Minister suggesting we pay them double what they pay back or should it be triple? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have in place socio-economic agreements with mining companies doing work here in the Northwest Territories. The expert panel on the Mineral Development Strategy went out, consulted far and wide across the Northwest Territories, and we have to keep sight of the fact that this is a development, a Mineral Development Strategy. We’re not interested in scaring away investment and we are going to have to ensure that as we continue along the path of implementing this Mineral Development Strategy. I thank the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure for going out and commissioning a report, but that report runs contrary to what the panel heard across the Northwest Territories in many cases and the views of people who live in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

How does the Minister know? He didn’t talk to them. Clearly, the Minister is not interested in speaking to residents. He said it himself. This is talking to the industry, saying what is our wish list here. I think we all agree that mines should produce a net benefit for the public, not a liability. The Mineral Development Strategy Industry Panel Report, on behalf of our 42,000 people, proposes at least seven new government subsidies for the mining industry.

Could the Minister explain which of these subsidies provides the best return on investment for the public? Is it the publicly funded marketing campaign, the full-time GNWT mining industry assistants we’re going to hire for them, or the power lines, highways, airports that we’re going to construct for them on taxpayers’ backs?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

The expert panel talked to a variety of stakeholders here in the Northwest Territories, including municipalities, industry, Aboriginal government and organizations including NGOs. They talked to Alternatives North, regulatory bodies, chambers of commerce, education and training institutions and non-government organizations, so for the Member to say that we didn’t talk to anybody, that’s not an accurate statement.

We haven’t opened a mine outside of a diamond mine in well over 20 years here in the Northwest Territories. Our interest is in getting more mines open so we can have jobs and opportunities for the people who call the Northwest Territories home. As to the subsidies the Member talks about, or the incentives, that is yet to be determined as we move forward. We’ll be working with the standing committee and Members of this government to ensure that we have a Mineral Development Strategy that is going to attract investment and get jobs and opportunities for residents of the Northwest Territories.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

This Minister is out to lunch. The expert panel was an industry panel. There have been two mines approved in the last few months. There’s a list of mines that are on the docket to be approved. The biggest subsidy of all may be the pre-cleanup service that we offer when mines close. Past experiences at Faro, Giant, Colomac, Ptarmigan and Tom Mines should teach us that. All are costing more to clean up than either we or the federal government get back ever in revenues.

Under devolution we will assume full responsibility for cleanup costs on new mines. Given the clear and unaddressed inadequacies already detailed, how does the Minister propose that we ensure a net public benefit, a benefit – think of it – from new mines and not a cleanup liability?