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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Gone are the days of Giant Mine. Governments today certainly have the tools to put in place sizeable security deposits when mines open up, and the reclamation is planned into the development of the mine. Some mining now takes place with progressive reclamation as the mine goes forward. Certainly, again, as we move forward here, we can certainly look at opportunities here in the Northwest Territories to ensure that that does not happen. Again, this is a Mineral Development Strategy, not an anti-development strategy.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seventy percent of inspections have failed to happen. We know that. Jericho. The Minister says there are no failures today. Baloney. The National Energy Board recently proposed new requirements to make sure companies exploring for oil and gas in the Sahtu don’t get to leave the public on the hook to clean up after them. Does the Minister support these new requirements?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I support our Mineral Development Strategy, and I hope that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and the Regular Members support the Mineral Development Strategy and what it means to the future of mining here in the Northwest Territories. That’s what I support.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I talked about medical travel and the policy and how it needs to be fixed up. I have questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It was brought to my attention last week, and the Minister knows that we do lack some services in the communities, specifically psychiatrists, psychologists and, to put it into perspective, child psychiatrists

I would like to ask the Minister, in terms of dealing with medical travel, when we have children that don’t have access to some of these services that we are lacking in the NWT, sometimes our families have to take their children down south to see a specialist and sometimes these individuals are non-status so they’re not covered in terms of paying for the airfare. They have to pay partial airfare for their children when they go down as well as cover accommodations, or if accommodations come up by somebody who is status, then they’re removed. I would like to ask the Minister how are these going to be addressed in the Medical Travel Policy moving forward.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, what I can say is that we are doing a review of medical travel and we are certainly hearing the concerns that are being brought up by the Member and by committee and by the public at large. There is no question that we’re certainly having some challenges with the way that medical travel works today. What I can say is we hear the Member. I will take the information he’s providing. If he has any additional information, please get it to us so that we can include it in the review. As far as how it works out, we need to do that and we need to bring it to committee for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, my questions are arising because we’re lacking some services in the NWT. I know the department is looking at developing physician recruitment and possibly developing a pool of physicians here in Yellowknife. What’s lacking there is we don’t have psychiatrists or psychologists that we do need in the small communities for so many different issues.

Would the Minister be looking to address these concerns of medical travel, look at doing a recruitment on psychiatrists for the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, we’re always looking to fill the established positions that

we have. We will continue to go out and actively recruit physicians and physician specialists to fill the positions that exist within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, we already have a high cost of living. We are adding more costs to our long-term residents of the Northwest Territories and we’re asking them to front costs on medical travel for their children and family members that are non-status.

Can the Minister give me a timeline on the revision of this Medical Travel Policy that can come before committee so we can start working on that? Does he have a timeline so we will see the revision of this Medical Travel Policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows and all of the committee knows, there are a number of initiatives going on with the Department of Health and Social Services. I am a new Minister. I have been a Minister far less than a week at this point. I’ve asked for an opportunity to meet with committee to discuss these exact types of things, to talk about where we stand on a number of projects and seek committee’s assistance as we move forward. I don’t really have a date for the conclusion of this medical travel review just yet, but I certainly am looking forward to discussing that with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A lot of our concerns that have come up are from people who work for the GNWT, but I just want to know that in the Medical Travel Policy, would the Minister work with the Department of Human Resources to address these employees of the GNWT get time off, possibly paid time off when they have to escort their family members, children, down south when we don’t have the services up here in the Northwest Territories? Is he willing to work with the Department of Human Resources so that the policy does reflect our GNWT employees and they can get time with pay on these travels? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has one of the most generous benefit packages available for all employees in the Northwest Territories. We provide significant amounts of sick leave, annual leave and special leave which may be used for a variety of different reasons. These benefits of employment that we do have are negotiated with our unions. We would obviously have to have a discussion with Health and Social Services, who in turn would have to have a discussion with their unions. The bottom line is we will certainly raise that with HR, but they will have to have that discussion with the union if that is something that the union is interested in and also the employer is interested in. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In early October 2013, Stats Canada released information that clearly showed that food prices rose by over 5 percent since the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge. In fact, in the last 10 months since the bridge opened, six out of those seven months saw steady increases in food prices.

It was only September that Stats Can showed food prices with a slight decrease of 2.3 percent. Many of us are scratching our heads why, not one anomaly and a sudden drop of the pattern.

Clearly, this pattern of activity raises concern on the exact impact the bridge has on commodity prices for Yellowknifers’ basic needs. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. We were continuously reminded by the previous Minister and the Department of Transportation that the bridge would have minimal effect on such thing as food prices.

Can the new Minister guarantee the department’s statement is indeed accurate today? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Since the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge, food prices overall in Yellowknife have gone up by 2.1 percent. In the same time period when we compare it with the cost increases in Alberta, it’s 2.8; 2.9 in Saskatchewan; and 2.8 in Manitoba. So I don’t think the increases can be directly associated with the bridge. Some of it could be, but it’s not significantly higher, or in fact it’s not higher than anywhere else. Thank you.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you. As the Minister is aware, I was a previous owner of a retail business here in Yellowknife and I can tell you that the costs of the bridge are significant. A medium-sized business here in Yellowknife could have costs of anywhere between $50,000 to $60,000 extra per year, and I don’t think that’s minimal.

How is the Transportation Minister making sure that trucking companies are passing the appropriate fare tolls to their end user? Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you. The trucking industry is an unregulated industry, just like the airline industry is an unregulated industry. However, what we’re seeing is that with the Deh Cho Bridge, the competition is what’s going to bring the costs down. There hasn’t been a significant increase in other areas, either, in this time period. The cost of fuel has only gone up by 1.6 percent, gasoline by

0.3 percent, footwear by 1 percent and household furnishings by 0.4 percent, so it’s not significantly an increase that is a result of the bridge. Thank you.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you. We’re clearly deflecting the answers to the question here, so let’s talk about the issues we can control. Is there an audit process to validate the workings of the toll collection system and is this Minister willing to report that to the House?

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you. Was the question is there an auto toll? I thought that’s what the question was. Yes? Auto toll?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Minister Beaulieu, I’ll let the Member stand up and ask the question again. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question for the Minister was: Is there an audit process to validate the workings of the toll collection system, and if so, is the Minister willing to report that to the House? Thank you.