We’d be happy to work with the community. Again, we will wait to hear from the community and what some of their timelines are. They know what’s going on in their community. So once they extend the invitation and give us a definite timeline, then we will make our people available to go in and assist with the training of their fire department. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Looking at old Hansard from 2006, that was the last time I asked for a fire truck in Colville Lake. I said these are some of the necessary emergency services that we’ve been asking for in our small communities. There are have and have-not communities in the Northwest Territories. That’s the reality.

I want to ask the Minister the same question I had in the 2006 Hansard in regard to assessing homes to see if they are prepared to deal with any type of emergencies such as fires in the small communities.

Thank you. The New Deal took effect in 2007. That’s when we devolved the responsibilities for the communities to look after their capital purchases. A number of communities have taken us up on that, they’ve made some really good decisions on addressing some of their priorities. So in 2006, when the Member asked the question, we were still responsible for a lot of the capital that went into the communities and it usually had to wait in line to get through the capital process. Since the communities have the responsibility now, they are identifying a lot of their priorities, and if a fire truck is one of their priorities, then the communities do have the authority now to purchase their own pieces of equipment, their own infrastructure. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I raised the seriousness of our definite lack of safety culture and a clear failure of our Occupational Health and Safety Policy. Recently the Territorial Court, under presiding Judge Malakoe, drew public attention to the GNWT’s offending behavior and levied significant fines under the Safety Act. Considering these facts alone raised concern of our own responsibilities as deputy

heads and government as a whole for the people we injure and to the overall safety of our public service, my questions today are for the Minister of Human Resources.

On November 28, 2013, almost one year ago, the Minister announced a significant milestone for the GNWT to fulfill its mandate and commitment to a safe, healthy workplace for all of our employees. Can the Minister update us as to what’s transpired since that announcement? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Members can appreciate, this is a very complex issue with many employees scattered across the North doing many things, and many other people working for the GNWT that are not necessarily employees, but contractors, even down to people who are doing the custodial work in our buildings and so on. So, as I indicated, a complex issue.

The Department of Human Resources is working with all of the departments to strike occupational health and safety committees in the regions and in headquarters and are having regular meetings, trying to put as many safety programs on as possible through the GNWT training programs that we deliver across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister is, indeed, right; it is a very complex issue and, interestingly enough, for a workforce of over 5,000 employees, the GNWT does not have a safety department, no apparent safety program, no safety manual, no training and no contractor management system.

Can the Minister inform the House by what tools or divine intervention, how does the GNWT support our Occupational Health and Safety Policy, our so-called safety program and, of course, our missing contractor management system? Thank you.

Thank you. Kind of a multifaceted question. The GNWT does have a website. We have various forms that are filled out by the staff that are taking courses. I indicated there are some committees in place. We have an orientation for new staff, we have safety meetings, guidelines, we deliver inspections on the worksites and then again with the contractors, another matter again. Contractors are required to have a safety program when they’re on-site. There are various types of contractors that build for us, contractors that build roads and buildings and, like I said, custodian contractors. So each of those contractors are required to have safety programs. Thank you.

At the sake of not repeating all the findings of the recent GNWT guilty case by our territorial Judge Malakoe, can the Minister inform

the House, is pleading guilty the new cost of doing things these days, or in other words, is the GNWT’s inaction deemed as an acceptable accounting loss? Thank you.

This particular case was a maneuver that had been performed various times by the contractors under the supervision of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The reason that we had received the lion’s share of the fine was because we’re the owner of the contract and that we also owned the ferry. They made a decision in the courts that only a small portion should be administered to the contractor because of the injury that was received on-site. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you. The Minister and I both know they have more pending GNWT safety lawsuits before the courts, and I know asking him questions on them will just entice a response of no comment, so I won’t ask him. But I will ask him this: Why, Mr. Minister, why, why didn’t you just implement a proper safety program and why is there so much pushback and resistance from upper management? Thank you.

There isn’t pushback. The departments and the main contracting departments, DOT, Public Works, do want safety programs in place, and no one wants to be paying fines. We know what needs to take place. There are various sizes of contracts. As Members in the House can appreciate how many different contracts we have across the GNWT of varying sizes, so we do have contractors implementing safety programs. We have a safety orientation with contractors. We have a safety questionnaire with contractors when they are on-site. So, there is no pushback. There’s an attempt to try to employ as many occupational health and safety programs as possible, not only with the contractors who work for the GNWT but also with the GNWT employees themselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, the community of Tsiigehtchic is preparing for freeze-up as the service of the ferry is cut off in the next couple of days here.

As I mentioned in my statement, it’s been almost two years since the commitment from the previous Minister for a full-time licenced practical nurse in Tsiigehtchic. So, I’d like to ask the Minister, what stage are we at with that commitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re always looking for ways to enhance the services that we provide in our communities. Currently, in Tsiigehtchic we have a public health nurse who comes in one day a week for the 40 weeks that there isn’t a nurse located in the community. For six weeks at freeze-up and six weeks at breakup, there is a nurse actually located in the community to ensure some continuity of services.

Earlier this year, representatives from the department participated in a Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement collaboration round-table, which was held on May 29th and 30th , where

staff learned about different best practices from other remote areas of Canada and other places throughout the world and explored those models. We are looking right now at the different models that were presented from the other jurisdictions to see how, if at all, they can be applied here in the Northwest Territories.

A review of the Integrated Service Delivery Model, medical travel, community health work training and the utilization of telehealth are also being incorporated into this review. The opportunities to support wellness and traditional healing in communities are being sought by the department’s new Aboriginal health and community wellness division.

So, there are a number of things we’re doing right now. We’re doing the research and analysis that will help us bring forward new tools and new opportunities to enhance care in communities, including finding ways to get local people more involved in the provision of services and health care within their communities. So a number of things are happening at this time.

When will the department extend the service of providing a nurse to Tsiigehtchic from up to five months to 12 months of the year?

As I indicated, we’re already providing a nurse in the community one day a week to provide general services, and we’re always trying to find ways to enhance services in cases of emergencies. I’ve had the opportunity to visit a number of the small communities throughout the Northwest Territories, and what I’ve been told is one of the major concerns they had is emergency response. We are rolling out Med-Response as we speak. We are hoping to have it out shortly. Med-Response is going to be a tool that your CHRs and your CHWs can use to help focus response in emergency situations in all communities, not just the small and isolated communities.

It all depends on the timing of the breakup and freeze-up months. It can be up to five months.

Will the Minister direct his department to double the funding provided to have a nurse in Tsiigehtchic from half the year to provide it for the full year?

I’ll continue to have dialogue with the authority as well as the community on how to best meet the community needs. But, as I indicated, we are exploring a number of different alternate delivery models that will benefit the community and we’re also rolling out Med-Response, which is going to have a direct positive impact on delivery of services with communities like Tsiigehtchic. So, there are a number of things that are currently underway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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