Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like there’s a lot of work on that. That’s great to hear. The Minister says it must be done, and so I just want to ask the Minister: now that the 17th Assembly has been dealing with it, can we get a commitment that the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority would be brought into the NWT Health and Social Services Authority before the end of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I badly want to say yes, but I recognize that any financial hit is going to have to be considered in line with all other costs that this government is faced with. We need to do the business case.

I’m looking forward to working with the Member. I’m looking forward to working with all my colleagues on both sides of this House to find a way. Recognizing that, if it has a significant cost, I will not commit to have it done in the life of this government, but I commit to making significant progress by working together to find a way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, after last sitting, I was informed by the Minister that we would not be purchasing a portable ultrasound machine for the Fort Simpson Health Centre. This was a little frustrating because the existing ultrasound is not working properly. Can the Minister explain why the portable ultrasound machine was deemed unnecessary for the Fort Simpson Health Centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first off, I have to apologize. There was clearly some confusion and there have been some changes. The existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated, as the Member has identified, and is actually scheduled to be replaced with a new portable ultrasound machine this summer. We’re hoping that we’ll have one in place by the end of June 2017, barring any unforeseen challenges with purchase and delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for that answer. That’s great to hear, but I was understanding that the portable ultrasound machine was not being purchased and the existing ultrasound wasn’t working. Can the Minister clarify: do we have a portable ultrasound machine and a standard ultrasound machine in the centre?

As I’ve already indicated, the existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated and needs to be replaced. It will be replaced. We’re hoping to have that portable ultrasound on-site by the end of June, barring any challenges with delivery and/or purchasing.

During my constituency term and in my conversations with expectant mothers, it has been brought to my attention that the Health Centre doesn’t actually use the ultrasound machine. They actually have to send them to Yellowknife. Can the Minister make a commitment or work with myself and the regional authority to get the staff trained so that we can actually have these ultrasound machines in place so that we can save some money and save time for the residents?

There does seem to be some continued confusion and I’m happy to sit down with the Member to talk, but I’d like to clarify for the Member that the ultrasound machine at Fort Simpson is not the kind used by sonographers to perform diagnostic tests. Rather, the machine at Simpson, the portable ultrasound machine, is the kind that is used by doctors and nurse practitioners and midwives at the bedside to help them make immediate decisions about patient care; things such as checking someone in an accident has internal bleeding or to check to see if a baby is in breach. Establishing a full diagnostic ultrasound service in a new site is a very complex undertaking with issues across the board.

As background, Mr. Speaker, sonographers have been identified as one of the leading health and social services positions that are hard to recruit. It’s almost impossible to find these individuals who can do the full diagnostic using the full ultrasound machines. We continue to struggle to find sonographers at the two locations where we do have full ultrasound machines. However, with the more established NWT Health and Social Services Authority, we have the opportunity to make sure that we’re using our resources and diagnostic services in areas such as ultrasound to their full capacity, and that means reviewing the care that is being provided to see if there’s any opportunity.

Can I commit that we’ll have a full ultrasound machine in Simpson? I can’t. We would need to do an analysis on demand. If you’re going to hire a sonographer, you want them working basically full-time on providing those deep diagnostic tests, which is not something that is available in Simpson. The demand is not high enough to justify a full sonographer, which is a hard-to-recruit position. I will commit to looking at it at a territorial level and seeing if there are any opportunities for other places where demand might be higher to see what opportunities exist for rolling out a greater range of sonography services across the territory.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. That’s reassuring because, when we talked about the new boards and the new authorities, we’re talking about utilizing positions, transferring them around. Can the Minister make a commitment -- and he’s already made a commitment -- but to the year cost analysis to show us that what would it cost to bring a machine into the community regional centres so we don’t have to ship our people to Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the territorial authority looks at expanding services at any point in the Northwest Territories, we would have to build a business case and justify any decisions which are being made, which will obviously include costs analyses and those types of things. I just do not want to set any false impressions.

At this point, a sonography machine, an ultrasound machine for deep exams, things like hearts and deep analysis, is a very expensive piece of machinery that can only be operated by a sonographer. If we are to put these very expensive machines in communities and then only use them occasionally because of demand, we would be losing money or we would be spending money poorly and not to maximum benefit. That does not mean that what you are suggesting is impossible, but we would have to do the business case, we would have to do the work.

With a single authority, we are positioned to do that with some exceptions. I mean, Hay River, as previously described, is a challenge because they have not moved into the single-authority model, and we have work that we need to do there, as well. So there is lots of work that still needs to be done, but, with the single authority, we have the mechanism to do this work to better and improve the quality of care for residents of the Northwest Territories.

Masi. The time for oral questions has expired. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Mr. Clerk.

Masi. Returns to written questions. Minister of Justice.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to the Written Question asked by Ms. Green on February 23, 2017, regarding complaints of sexual assault classified by RCMP as unfounded.

Mr. Speaker, in order to address the specific questions, I provide the House with the following detailed information related to the overall effort of the RCMP to address these concerns.

RCMP Training on Sexual Assault Investigations

RCMP officers receive in-depth investigative instruction as part of their 24-week cadet training program, or CTP in Regina, Saskatchewan. There are 36 classes of instruction in the CTP dedicated to investigating sexual assault. There are a further four classes specifically related to child sexual abuse. The curriculum takes an integrated approach, but some of the topics relevant to sexual assault investigation include:

● Ethics in sexual assault investigations

● Victim services

● Assault investigation

● Five stage role play involving a sexual assault investigation

● Major crime scenario exercise i.e. sexual assault investigation

● Practical aspects of obtaining bodily substances from suspects for DNA analysis

● Sexual Assault Investigation Kit usage

● Completing Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System reports

● Suspect interviews

● Scenario-based exercises

● Using the media to assist in major investigations

● Processing exhibits to be sent to the forensic laboratory

● Conducting a structured interview

● Preparing for court

● Presenting testimony at trial

The RCMP provides additional training for members to improve their interviewing skills as investigators. This additional training includes topics such as establishing a rapport with the victim and/or witness, steps in obtaining a pure version statement, ethical and legal considerations, and professionalism. Pure version statements, in particular, are considered key in complex investigations such as sexual assault complaints. This technique has the benefit of being considerate to a witness’ experience by allowing them to answer open-ended questions without interruption, but also providing investigators the best information from the witness. Of the approximately 186 RCMP members staffed as of April 2017 in “G” Division, 119 officers have completed the specialized investigative interview training. Priority for this training is given to front-line officers who are responsible for these investigations, and who work directly with victims of crime.

Within “G” Division, 24 members have completed additional training specific to child sexual abuse investigation, with 18 completing this training as recently as January 2017. Many of the skills and investigative steps used in child sexual abuse investigations are applicable to sexual assault investigations involving adult victims. Part of this training is focused on recognizing and responding to drug facilitated sexual assaults. This training was provided by Mr. Craig Smith, a private consultant with years of experience as a sexual assault and homicide investigator. “G” Division provides specialized child sexual assault investigation training each year through Mr. Smith or other similarly qualified instructors.

Analysis of “G” Division Complaints Classified as Unfounded, 2010 to 2016

Mr. Speaker, in order to discuss the analysis and review of complaints coded as unfounded by “G” Division RCMP, it is important to explain the basic data collection requirements. The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey's national data standards require that police services code all reportable incidents in order to measure the incidence of crime in Canadian society, and the characteristics of crime. According to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, incidents are to be coded as unsubstantiated or equivalent, founded or unfounded, and statistical information about incidents coded as founded are sent to Statistics Canada. The definitions of these classifications are:

1. Unsubstantiated or equivalent internal code: After investigation, it cannot be determined whether or not a violation of the Criminal Code or other federal statute took place at that time or location.

2. Unfounded: It has been determined through police investigation that the offence reported did not occur, nor was it attempted and therefore no violations of the Criminal Code or other federal statute took place at that time or location.

3. Founded: After police investigation it has been determined that a Criminal Code or other federal statute violation has occurred even if the charged/suspect chargeable is unknown.

Mr. Speaker, it was deeply concerning that The Globe and Mail investigative report revealed that such a high percentage of sexual assault complaints were deemed to be unfounded by police. The Commanding Officer of “G” Division, Chief Superintendent Jamie Zettler, was equally concerned when I spoke with him. As a result of the report, he immediately initiated an in-depth review of every complaint classified as unfounded in the Northwest Territories between 2010 and 2016.

The Globe and Mail report indicated that 30 per cent of sexual assault complaints in the NWT during that time period were closed as unfounded. The RCMP's detailed review and analysis adjusted the unfounded number of sexual assault complaints to 18.7 per cent. This was because they found that a number of cases classified as unfounded were done so in error due to a coding issue, and not an investigative conclusion. Of the 18.7 per cent unfounded cases, 42 per cent were third-party complaints that were not reported by the victim, but by someone else who had seen or been told something which led them to believe a sexual assault has occurred. The third party then reports it to the RCMP so an investigation can be completed to determine whether or not there has been a sexual assault. It's important to know that a complaint classified as unfounded does not mean that a thorough investigation did not take place, but rather after an investigation, the police were able to determine that the offence reported did not actually occur.

Chief Superintendent Zettler has assured me that they have taken steps to ensure RCMP members are provided with everything they need to investigate allegations of sexual assault thoroughly, while remaining considerate and sensitive to the experience of the person coming forward. This includes appropriate training available for members to support current sexual assault investigation techniques, and the supervision of each of these matters by a senior RCMP member.

Sexual Assault Specialized Unit

Mr. Speaker, some provinces or municipalities have established sexual assault units within their police services to investigate all sexual assault complaints in their jurisdiction, as they have determined that this operational model is the best fit for police to provide this service for communities.

Yukon, for example, established a specialized unit in 2013 to investigate domestic violence, sexual assault, and child welfare matters. This model for police operations makes sense in the Yukon where over 75 per cent of the population resides in Whitehorse, and all but one of the 17 communities are accessible by road. A specialized unit is a better fit for a predominantly urban population like that of Yukon.

In the NWT, the geographic reality of having 33 communities, most of which do not have all season road access, makes a specialized investigation model less appropriate. More than half the population of the NWT is spread among communities outside of Yellowknife, and an investigator's responsiveness to complainants would potentially depend on the weather and available travel options for some of our remote communities. The RCMP advises that these communities are best served by ensuring the general duty RCMP officers stationed at their local detachment have all of the tools available to them to investigate allegations of sexual assault thoroughly, remaining sensitive to the experience of the person coming forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to Commissioner's opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, report of committees on the review of bills. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee of Government Operations has reviewed Bill 17: An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, and wishes to report that Bill 17 as amended and reprinted is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Report of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Minister of Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following 12 documents entitled "GNWT Response to Committee Report 6-18(2) Report on Bill 7: An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 513-18(2): Sale of Mactung Mining Property"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 516-18(2): Small Business Supports"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 546-18(2): Promoting Tourism in Small Communities"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 584-18(2): Socio-Economic Agreements"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Questions 585-18(2) and 591-18(2): Ice Road Maintenance"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 593-18(2): Yellowknife Airport Infrastructure Funding"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Questions 612-18(2) and 635-18(2): Overflow Issues on Mackenzie Delta Highways"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Questions 692-18(2): Public Safety on the Ingraham Trail"; "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 703-18(2): Fort Providence Tourist Camp Project"; and "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 704-18(2): Commitment to the Manufacturing Industry." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 651-18(2): Arsenic Levels in Kam Lake." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation.