This is page numbers 119 - 156 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 program.

Topics

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The first bundle of projects will invest $14 million in improvements to Highway No. 1. Over the next four years, the department will be working to widen and reconstruct some sections of the highway from Kilometres 375 to 395, and Kilometres 207 to 212. That work includes geometric, structural, and drainage improvements; grade widening; culvert replacement; and applying chipseal. Under the second bundle of Building Canada Plan projects, the department is seeking to rehabilitate or replace bridges, including the Hay River and Pine Point Bridges, and the Buffalo River Bridge in the South Slave region.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

That doesn't quite address the border to Enterprise. Are there any shovel-ready projects in the South Slave?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

I am pleased to note that the department is currently working on two other highway infrastructure projects in the South Slave. In 2015-2016, the department completed improvements to Highway No. 2 between Hay River and Enterprise, for approximately $3 million. Over the next several years, the department will reconstruct and chip seal up to 34 kilometre of Highway No. 6 to Fort Resolution, with an estimated value of $17 million. In the meantime, the department continues to apply regular maintenance measures across all highways.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to see that the South Slave is getting some attention. What South Slave projects could potentially be considered as shovel-ready?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The department has identified several projects that could be pursued if the federal government came to us with a request for shovel-ready projects. This includes further improvements to Highway No. 1 south of Enterprise to the border, including widening, strengthening the embankment, and improving drainage. Other shovel-ready projects that could be considered under new stimulus funding from Canada include reconstruction and chipsealing of the remaining 64 kilometres of Highway No. 5 and the Wood Buffalo National Park. That's in addition to the airport runway overlays in Fort Smith and Hay River, and replacing the airport terminal building in Fort Resolution. The total cost of these five projects would be in the neighbourhood of $46.5 million. We are waiting for more information from the federal government regarding the details of the new stimulus funding on infrastructure, including eligibility criteria. Once we have that information, we will be able to determine which of these projects might be eligible for federal funding.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about corrections. I have questions for the Minister of Justice. I'd like to ask the Minister if there are any programs in corrections with a goal of preventing inmates from returning to corrections. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Minister of Justice.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, the Member raised certain issues in his speech, and certainly, the department is aware of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal persons in the corrections system. We are trying to address this by a series of programs. The department continues to improve the link between programs delivered to inmates in custody and community-based programs involving probation services, community justice and other departments and agencies such as Health and Social Services. We are also attempting to look at the underlying root causes and hopefully reduce the numbers referred to by the Member opposite. Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

I'd like to ask the Minister if there's staff in the corrections facility, themselves working for the Department of Justice, that work with the inmates on their mental health, addictions, and educational issues.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Territorial inmates can participate in many programs, both inside the corrections facilities and outside. Territorial inmates can participate in the addictions programs at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, which is facilitated by a traditional addictions counsellor with the support of elders and community resources. There are also other programs that they can participate in. Also, through the courts, there are manners of dealing with these types of problems, either through wellness courts or DVTO court.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

I'd like to ask the Minister if there is any specific Aboriginal cultural programming at the North Slave Correction Centre.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes, I believe there are programs at the North Slave Correctional Centre that do have an Aboriginal component. The department currently offers a six-week national substance abuse program to federal and territorial inmates at the North Slave Correctional Centre, and I believe this has a wellness component involving programs for Aboriginal inmates, and hopefully, through programs such as this we can reduce the number of Aboriginal inmates, which is currently approximately 87 per cent of the population.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister if the department has seen a reduction in inmate population over the past five years. Thank you.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I’m not sure of the exact statistics. I do know, looking at the statistics, dealing with the number of Aboriginal inmates, that has remained constant. I understand that the overall number of inmates has remained constant over the last five or six years, being approximately 200. We would certainly like to see a reduction of this, and that's why programs such as the Wellness Court Program and DVTO will hopefully reduce the number of those actually incarcerated.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

[English translation not provided.] Mr. Speaker, I have a number of Yellowknifers who have contacted me regarding termination of care aids working at Stanton Hospital effective March 31. Can the Minister tell us how so many care aids are currently working at Stanton, when this service started, and what sort of duties they perform? Sorry, that question would be to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently there's 16 nursing or rather, care aids within Stanton Territorial Hospital, and at this point in time we're not planning on eliminating any of those positions, with the exception of two, and we're not actually eliminating those positions. Two nursing care aid positions were actually created through unfunded dollars as a pilot study, and the purpose of the pilot was to evaluate whether the level of trained staff could be used in patient watches instead of using security protocol or personnel. That pilot has come to an end and as a result, those positions will cease to exist. Those unfunded positions will cease to exist on March 31, 2016, but the remaining 14 nursing care positions continue to exist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

It's my understanding that care aids at Stanton have bolstered the healthcare teams to ensure patients are clean, fed, cared for and free of bed sores while lowering the pressure and stress on nurses. They do things like patient laundry, shaves and baths are given, patients are escorted for tests or taken to another floor for showers and so on. I'm just wondering with these two positions that are apparently unfunded, who will perform the services that they perform now after March 31?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

As I indicated, the purpose of the pilot was to evaluate whether nursing care aids, this level of trained staff, can be used for patient watches. Patient watches are used after patients who pose a risk to themselves or others and require more frequent observation -- for example, individuals who might be suicidal, confused patients who are unable to comply with treatment, patients who are at risk of actually leaving the facility, and other patients who may have some behavioural issues. The decision was made not to renew these two contracts for these two unfunded positions and rather put an end to the pilot, because the objectives of the original pilot were not achieved and security personnel continued to be used in that area to provide patient watches.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I apologize. I didn't give the Minister much advance notice of this. This seems to be a quickly evolving situation. I'm just wondering if the Minister can tell us then how these two pilot positions were actually evaluated, and would he be prepared to share that with at least this MLA?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Originally the pilot was only intended to last one year, with the intent, as I said, to see whether or not this level of position could do the patient watches. There was some turnover in the department as a result, or rather in the authority as a result. The pilot was extended so that they could review to see if it was actually providing or meeting the intent. At the end of the day, security was still required in those units to provide those patient watches, and since then, we have actually enhanced the security levels within Stanton so that these positions are actually no longer required. The pilot proved ineffective and we still needed security staff. As a result, these two unfunded positions will cease to exist on March 31, 2016.