As I indicated, through BETTER project we’ve developed these motivational videos. We’ve been working with Education, Culture and Employment that has a project called Screen Smart, which is introduced in NWT schools to help children who may be obese to pursue healthy living so they don’t develop type 2 diabetes later in life. I’m not 100 percent sure; I can’t remember the exact program the Member is referring to with respect to diabetes education, but we are, through our public health unit, getting information out there on diabetes to make sure people are as informed as possible. If the Member wants to tell me what specific program he’s referencing, I’d be happy to look into that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think it was more of a special diabetes clinic that did a lot of work. I understand the Minister talking about the videos and Screen Smart. As I mentioned, the CDA, Canadian Diabetes Association, recognizes that for diabetes care, it’s patient-centred and delivered by a multi-disciplinary team.

What specific training do they have in diabetes? Not videos or the Screen Smart assessment. You need that one on one. You need that interaction between somebody who’s trained.

What is the Minister’s plan to create a multi-disciplinary team that’s going to go to the communities to get this information out to the residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The multi-disciplinary team is more focused on the effective screening and management. The promotion and education can be done through schools, can be done through many different providers out there. We are working with many different groups to get the information out there.

With respect to effective screening and management, we do have the Type 2 Diabetes Screening and Diagnostic Clinical Practice Guidelines. These were developed in conjunction with the CANRISK questionnaire. These were all introduced in the fall of 2014. It is expected that they would be applied at every NWT adult recommended age range, so individuals who may be at risk for diabetes who present to health centres throughout the Northwest Territories, whether it’s in a small community or whether it’s in one of our larger clinics in Yellowknife, our staff are trained. They can go through the questionnaires and they can work with other practitioners who can help manage diabetes, whether it’s dieticians or other services that may be available in different locations within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier, there are complications that arise from diabetes. I mentioned earlier proposing a tax on sugary drinks to offset the costs of more hospital visits, more dental appointments, more medication. To put that into perspective, I would like to ask the Minister if he knows what it costs for an individual in the Northwest Territories to deal with people who have diabetes in the Northwest Territories should they have to go through appointments for blindness, heart disease, kidney failure, lower limb amputations.

What are the overall costs to this government for people living with diabetes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That question is kind of impossible to answer standing up here today. Every individual is different and every situation is different. Not all individuals end up having an amputation; not all individuals end up blind. We want to manage diabetes with the patients to avoid having to go down that particular road.

We also know that diabetes is often complicated with other conditions, so how do you determine whether it’s strictly diabetes or another condition that has actually resulted in the particular amputation or blindness? It would be very difficult for us to actually quantify what is actually diabetes related and what might be related to other causes or other conditions.

I do know there are 2,900 individuals in the Northwest Territories with diabetes and that number is growing. It takes physicians’ time; it takes dieticians’ time and community health rep time to deal with all these issues, so the costs can be quite high. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mrs. Groenewegen.

I’m going to join my colleagues on this side of the House today and also weigh in on this issue of the Deh Cho Bridge. I haven’t talked about the Deh Cho Bridge for a long time, and I’m going to direct my questions to the Premier, if I may, today.

We’re aware of the situation with the Deh Cho Bridge. It was fraught with challenges and setbacks and change in contractor and all kinds of things. Everybody was out there on the job doing their best to ensure the delivery of this bridge project as close to on schedule and on budget as possible. It is not a perfect science. Construction is not a perfect science, so when it became apparent that some of the scour rock had to be hauled from a further distance. There is such a thing as agreements between contractors and subcontractors. They aren’t always signed out there on the workplace, but the work gets done and it’s done in good faith. That’s what I want to say.

Now we have a situation here where we have a couple pots of money. We have money for deficiencies, we have money for holdbacks, and we have a northern contractor that was really owed about $1.3 million and that amount has now been written down to $373,000. You can see, the Cabinet can see, the Premier can see from the support on this side of the House that Rowe’s Construction is a territorial company, a long-standing territorial company that has come to the aid of the GNWT on many projects, because projects run into problems. It’s not a perfect science. Rowe’s has been, I think, a very good corporate citizen in the contracting that they have done for this government.

Now we have the situation before us today where we’re talking about $373,000. I’d like to ask the Premier: Is there money in any of the pots of money either from holdbacks or deficiencies that could allow us to pay this northern contractor? Everyone else has been paid. The Minister of Transportation has said we had to pay Ruskin, they built us a bridge. They didn’t build a bridge without the subcontractors there to help them and support them to get the job done.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a bit of a drawn out story, but as everybody knows, Rowe’s was working as a subcontractor to ATCON, who was the contractor to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, and when ATCON went into bankruptcy, Rowe’s submitted five claims to the receiver and also to the Department of Transportation. The receiver who was looking after ATCON’s bankruptcy action did not evaluate Rowe’s Construction claims as there was no evidence of a formal contract between ATCON and Rowe’s. The legal review by DOT and our legal division concluded that the Government of the Northwest Territories was not liable for any of the claims that were submitted. However, Rowe’s Construction is pursuing a political solution, so our government reached an agreement with the principals of Rowe’s Construction to hire a referee to independently review the claims and make a recommendation, so I think all our stories are coinciding.

The first report prepared by the referee noted that the GNWT probably has no legal liability to pay the Rowe’s claim, but if there is surplus funding available after all deficiency work is paid for, there could be a possibility of paying. Also, they noted that there were deficiencies in work that was done by Rowe’s, and if there was any work that had to be done to fix deficiencies, those should be offset against those claims.

There was a second report filed by the referee, who concluded that two out of the five had merit, so that both claims came up to about $722,000. The deficiency fund, backed up by the Government of New Brunswick, was to fix deficiencies, and any, the referee concluded again in the second report, that there should be a set off for any deficient work, and a condition that if there is going to be any payment to Rowe’s that there be unspent funds in the ATCON deficiency fund. They also recognized that there is at least one other company that is in the same situation. There is approximately $700,000 to $800,000 left in the deficiency fund. I am not aware of any other holdbacks for the bridge.

The Premier and the Minister previously have spoken about legal liabilities. Again, this project is not without its challenges and difficulties, but the government and Rowe’s agreed to a referee arbitrator. In the arbitrator’s report it says I believe Rowe’s is entitled to a part of all of the money still owing to them up to the amount of the funds available under the credit agreement. I mean, these are nonbinding decisions of the arbitrator but the government and Rowe’s came together to go choose somebody to look at this whole situation and now here we are today and we’re just talking about the absolute legal liability.

I say this government has a moral liability, in the interest of good business and good business practices, to support a northern contractor who in good faith performed work for which they have not been paid. As I said, that amount has been written down substantially to take into account any of those questionable things that the Premier has made reference to. I think, like I said, you’re hearing pretty clearly from a number of Members on this side of the House that we are interested in seeing Rowe’s paid this $373,000. I’d like to ask the Premier, how can we get that done?

I should point out that a fair and reasonable resolution process is still underway involving the Department of Transportation and Rowe’s Construction. We still don’t have any evidence of any formal contracts. We also know that there are deficiencies in some of the work that was done that we have to reach agreement on, so there is still ongoing work to be done. I expect that it will continue into the 18thAssembly in order to look for a resolution.

Between myself and the Minister of Transportation, I’m sure that we can find a way to meet with the principals. The problem is going to be finding a legal way if there is going to have to be some financial restitution because of the fact that we’re in an election process. That’s why I’m saying it would have to be looked at as part of the 18thAssembly. But we are quite prepared to meet with Rowe’s Construction. We have said that, and as I said, there is still an ongoing process.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to hear that the matter is not concluded and that the Premier has expressed a willingness today to meet with the principals of Rowe’s Construction to see this matter brought to a satisfactory conclusion, understanding the challenges of the election period and so on. But I understand that Ministers will stay in their capacity and in their roles until after new Ministers or a new Cabinet has been elected and appointed, so I would still ask the Premier if this could be done still yet prior to that during the 17thAssembly?

After all, we are a responsible, transparent government, so we would be very pleased to do that.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Time for oral questions has expired. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Item 11, replies to opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “Charting Our Course: NWT Cancer Strategy 2015-2025,” and “Measuring Success and Focusing on Results: NWT Health and Social Services System 2014-2015 Annual Report.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “2014-2015 Grants and Contributions Results Report, October 2015,” and “NWT Community Futures Program 2013-2014 Annual Report.” Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Strong Cultures, Strong Territory: GNWT Culture and Heritage Strategic Framework 2015-2025.” Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins.