This is page numbers 3851 – 3904 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 communities.

Topics

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

There are a number of infections that are not reportable under the Public Health Act because hospitals are required to monitor these under their own set of regulations. However, as we get copies of lab results and other things, we’re able to determine where some of these exist.

With respect to a greater level of reporting on these particular infections, certainly I’d love to have some more discussion with the Member as well as committee to find out or to improve the system that we have in place. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to work with the Minister on that one. I’d appreciate it.

It has been stated by many infectious disease specialists that our cleaners are, in many ways, the front-line gatekeepers against superbugs, but these days we know that with shrinking budgets and hospital demands, this department is all too easy a target for cuts.

Can the Minister indicate what his department is doing to strengthen our cleaning services in all our health care facilities to combat these superbugs? Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

We have a new NWT Infection Prevention and Control Manual that was released in 2012. It contains all the standards of practice required by health care facilities to prevent and control the spread of infectious disease. The manual has been distributed throughout the Northwest Territories. Health and social services authorities have a lead responsibility to implement and audit these standards within their facilities and client service settings, but we have sent that out to all authorities. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I used my Member’s statement today to talk about junior kindergarten and certainly the impact of re-profiling 7 percent of their funding model without working together with them. While I explained and it was certainly illustrated during my Member’s statement, what if we took 7 percent of the Department of ECE’s budget how they would go kicking and screaming.

Now, let’s talk about the broader picture now being forgotten about this whole situation, which are the day homes. Ironically, that’s part of the reason why this whole shift of junior kindergarten has evolved.

So, as such, what changes are now going to take effect to the day homes that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is now going to have to address? Quite frankly, there are rules that you are only allowed to have two under two; you’re only allowed to have six kids maximum. So, in essence, the government is not only taking one or two of the kids away, you’re almost destroying their funding model by potentially taking half of the kids away, which may make these day homes in Yellowknife unaffordable and certainly unfeasible Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This whole implementation of junior kindergarten has been positive news. As the Member alluded to earlier with his statement, there’s a lot of support on this particular piece of work that has been in the works for some time now, the last few years. We are mindful of the day homes, the operators in the Northwest Territories. We’re doing this for the whole Northwest Territories and the Member touched on two under two, there’s also three under three that we’re fully aware of and my department is working diligently with the operators, the day home operators and other operators within the city of Yellowknife and also in the whole Northwest Territories so we can mitigate and work and provide support to those individual operators. Taking the four-year-olds out of their facility will allow more focus on the zero to three. Those are discussions we’ve been having with the operators as well. So, we will be providing support mechanisms to those operators in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I’m glad the Minister has started to touch on this whole broader problem, which is he says he’s mindful of day homes and certainly he’s going to look at providing support, but let’s talk turkey. What kind of support is he actually referring to, because we all know you can do two under two, as the Minister even highlighted, you can have three under three. So potentially he’s taken 50 percent of their funding model to exist away from these day homes that are trying to provide necessary daycare and certainly family support for these young people.

So, in essence, what is the Minister really doing and how much money is this going to cost this government that he’ll have to come back to the Assembly and ask for? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. Those are the key detailed discussions that we are currently having with the operators to justify and find out the cost factor. As the Member knows, there are various subsidies available to the operators, whether it be the rent, the mortgage, the support

mechanism is currently there to subsidize those operators. There is part of the O and M as well. Based on the discussions that we’re going to be having, we need to move forward on that and then provide feedback on what’s the best approach. Those are the discussions that we’ll continue to have with the open dialogue with them.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

It was just a few days ago in this House this Minister issued an edict saying that it will be done, it shall be done, and it’s going to start this year. Not only that, he said he was going to solve a problem, which is there weren’t services available in the communities. All noble things that we support, so let’s stop focusing on these types of things.

Let’s get back to the money. If you’re going to issue these types of edicts and tell the NWT residents you’re doing this and, darn it, it’s coming, how much money is this happening and why haven’t you planned this and costed this out? Why are we sitting here having discussions when we should already know that if you’re taking 50 percent of these funding models away from these good folks at home taking care of children, what have you left them? You should know what this is going to cost before you pull the legs out from underneath them.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We have to keep in mind that we are providing free junior kindergarten across the whole Northwest Territories, and especially those 10 communities that are without licenced child care programming. The communities will definitely be benefiting from this program that we’re initiating. It’s a three-year phased approach, so the daycare, the home care operators… Again, I must emphasize that we are providing the supporting mechanism in place. It’s been there before, it’s always been there, and we’re going to enhance it further as we move forward on implementing a junior kindergarten. There is a lot of support and we’re moving forward on this.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, yet again the Minister tries to divide this as a big town against small town, against small communities, whatever the case may be. The fact is that there seems to be no plan whatsoever to cover this funding model, and it’s okay, Mr. Minister, you can say you just don’t know. When you do that and you feel better, we can all start working and building from there.

When the Minister says we’re going to enhance, let’s put the dollar on the table and tell me what type of dollar you’re going to have to come back to this Assembly and ask for, because we want to know because nobody out there knows, and all they know is they’re losing half their kids, which is their funding stream because you’re taking them away. How are they going to operate?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

It was in this House that I mentioned the zero to three, what kind of funding that will be allocated based on what their needs are, whether it be the cribs and other certain necessities that are required. Those are the supports that we are going to be providing to the zero to three, the day homes, the operators in the Northwest Territories. I can lay that out to the Members again, the detailed information. I’ll be more than glad to do that.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation. I understand that the construction of the Four Mile Creek Bridge was halted due to some environmental issues with the regulators, and I want to know what is the status now of the Four Mile Creek Bridge close to Tulita.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Transportation staff had met with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada in Norman Wells on February 18th . We presented a water

management plan that was deemed acceptable by the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and with that the work order on the Four Mile Creek Bridge was lifted.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

With this recent work stoppage with the Four Mile Creek Bridge, will the department or will this Minister see if it’s salvageable by this winter? I know there’s not much time left, but this is an outsider contractor coming in to work in our area. I’m not too sure what happened, but somebody goofed on this one here, so certainly it causes some concern for us in the region here.

Is this work salvageable? Can we do as much as we can before the winter road is closed?

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

The department, using two contractors from Tulita, started to do some dewatering on the bridge on the 22nd , this past

Saturday, so the work is proceeding and the intention is to complete the work that was scheduled to complete, so we’re back to work there.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

I appreciate the quickness of the Minister. I want to ask the Minister, is this bridge on schedule, on time, within budget to be completed within the scope of the project that was presented to us for allocating funding to it?

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I don’t have the original schedule with me, but as I indicated, the

department is working with two local companies that have the machinery under our direction. We are providing support for planning and design and any geotechnical engineering is being provided by another engineering company called TerraTek. With that, we’re hoping that the work will be on schedule, but I don’t have the exact dates with me. I don’t know if there’s been a slight adjustment or not here in the House.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I ask the Minister of Transportation, once he gets his full briefing from the department on this Four Mile Creek Bridge, if he would provide it to me and the Members of the House to know that this work will get done, will get on the books of completion, because from what I’m understanding, the work in the Sahtu will continue to increase and the bridge is important for the community and also important for the oil and gas activity that’s happening in the Tulita district.