This is page numbers 4059 - 4102 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 cannabis.

Topics

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Yes, education in the Northwest Territories should be about best practices. Best practices does talk about transparency and accountability. I have already been working on them about accountability. Transparency, I will commit that, the next session, we will provide an update to standing committee. I will do a Minister's statement in the House to talk about where we are. Websites are not my strong point, but I will push the department to actually make sure that our website is updated before the next session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. In my statement, I talked about my expectation that the sobering centre provide shelter of last resort to people who are intoxicated rather than another place for them to be kicked out of. Can the Minister tell me whether the contract with the NWT Disabilities Council enables them to turn people away from the sobering centre and, if so, under what conditions? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the sobering centre aims to ensure that those experiencing effects of alcohol or drugs have access to a safe place to sleep it off. By safe place, that means safe for both the clients as well as the staff of those facilities. While the staff of the centre are trained in first aid, CPR, non-violent crisis intervention, and trauma informed care, I understand that there are circumstances where good training alone cannot eliminate credible risk of real violence to clients, themselves, as well as staff.

Through the duty as an employer, and consistent with the arrangement we have with the provider through our contract, and in an effort to provide the level of safety that clients themselves are seeking, policies have been adopted to restrict access to the centre. The sobering centre consulted with their clients, and I think that's important to note, and they helped develop structured policies around unacceptable conduct and the related consequences. Restrictions are meant only for situations that are outside of the norm and may threaten the care, welfare, safety, and security of a person, as well as staff, as well as other clients. Restrictions to services are rare occurrences, and are used as a last resort.

Mr. Speaker, if the Member is aware of situations where clients are being banned that go beyond the established criteria, I am happy to learn what those are, and hear what those are, and work with the provider to address them.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I am aware of a number of people who have been banned, both in the short term, meaning a day or two, and over the long term. I do not have an accurate, current number, but my question for the Minister is this: when the Disabilities Council turns away a client from the sobering centre, where are they supposed to go? Are they supposed to go to the hospital, which you worked so hard to get them out of, or where exactly? If this isn't the last resort, what is it?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

We want to have a sobering centre that is safe. We want to make sure that the clients in there are safe and aren't at risk at other clients. We also need to make sure the staff are safe. There are some guidelines that do restrict individuals on a short-term basis. Some individuals could be restricted for half a day, one evening. Some, depending on the nature of the incidents that have occurred, might be restricted for a longer period of time.

I do take the Member's point. If a client is under restricted access due to violence or aggressive behaviour, the NWT Disabilities Council works collaboratively with other shelters and agencies to ensure that they have a safe place to go. The Department of Health and Social Services and the NWT Health and Social Services Authority have hosted a touch point meeting every six weeks with different organizations to look at ways to collaborate, ensure a seamless access to services, and look at quality improvements. Partners in this are the authority, the RCMP, the city, Centre for Northern Families, the NWT Disabilities Council, which are one of our contractors, emergency room representatives, as well as department representatives. We get together on a regular basis to figure out how we can address those few individuals who may have been restricted on a temporary or a longer-term basis.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Let me ask the Minister if he has any current information about how many intoxicated people are being turned away from the sobering centre, or how often that happens?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

As I indicated, any restrictions are sort of a last resort, and they try to work with the clients to resolve issues that may exist. We do know that 317 people have accessed the sobering centre, and that about 33 per cent of those clients use the centre on a regular basis, on a reoccurring basis. To date, there have been 30 people who have had restrictions applied to them. Restrictions, as I have indicated previously, are usually about three hours to a maximum of a week. They can go longer if situations don't improve.

As a note, Mr. Speaker, there have been 73 referrals to Stanton Hospital ER by ambulance for further assessment and/or treatment, so some of the individuals who do show up at the sobering centre aren't granted access because they have some other issues that need to be dealt with. Most of these referrals are for things like mental health issues, acute psychosis, suicidal ideations. We had a few with cardiac-related issues, so we wouldn't consider those a restriction, but a referral. Some people do end up going to Stanton. The majority of admissions in the centre, just as a note, occur between about 7:00 p.m. to about 9:00 p.m.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was some good information in that answer. Of course, I am not talking about people who are referred to the hospital. That's not the situation I am talking about. I am talking about people the staff are sending away because their behaviour is deemed unacceptable. Finally, my question is whether the Minister feels that the sobering centre operations are meeting his expectations and providing value for money? Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The sobering centre's goal is to provide a safe place for non-violent intoxicated individuals to sleep off the effects of the drugs or alcohol. It is also to provide better care to persons with addiction through clinical assessment and intervention to improve health outcomes. It is also to assist clients with system navigation by linking them with appropriate social service agencies. It is also intended to decrease the inappropriate ambulance trips to emergency department for homeless alcohol-dependent individuals, and to decrease the number of inappropriate emergency room visits from homeless people who are suffering from alcohol.

I am pleased to share that, with the establishment of the sobering centre, there has been reduced strain on other organizations such as the RCMP, who have reported a 12 per cent decrease in calls for service for social disorder, and there has also been a decreased number of visits to the emergency room.

Having said that, obviously, we must continue to learn and evolve as time goes on. If the Member and committee have thoughts or suggestions for improvement, I am obviously open to suggestion. When it comes to individuals who are restricted, there are guidelines. They are posted at the sobering centre and the day shelter. If the Member or any other Member is aware of individuals who they feel are being restricted outside the guidelines, please let me know so that we can look into those with our contract provider and the authority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Industry, ITI. My first question is: I noted with interest that the statement from Minister Schumann yesterday indicated that $180 million in funding is being invested in the energy infrastructure as part of the three-year rolling energy action plan that is expected to be released during this session. What is the GNWT doing to support the Sahtu region to benefit from this windfall? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let's talk about what we have done just lately in the Sahtu region. We have installed a biomass heating installation, as well as complete energy retrofits in the Chief Albert Wright School in Tulita and the Chief T'Selehye School in Fort Good Hope, as well, and we have installed a 400 kilowatt boiler in the new health centre that is going to be opening in Norman Wells shortly. The federal government is also going to be helping us with a program where we are going to do a wind monitoring tower in Norman Wells to re-examine the wind energy in the region and the resource there, near the community. We have funding available from the federal government to support the Tulita Land Corporation for the new 45 kilowatt solar array that is going to be installed in Tulita, and, as part of the new energy action plan, we have new funding included that will help replace the existing power plant and add a megawatt-scale wind generation in Norman Wells.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

That puts a smile on my face. Thanks for the response. My second question: the Mackenzie Valley Highway has been a long-held priority of residents of the Sahtu and is identified in the mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly, yet the project still has not commenced construction. What is the Department of Infrastructure doing to advance this priority?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

As I said in my Minister's statement today updating on all the corridors, the Mackenzie Valley Highway application is in the National Trade Corridors Fund application. We have not heard anything on that submission, but we expect something in the coming weeks on that. Hopefully, we will be able to secure funding on some portions of that highway, and we will be able to move on to the next planning stages of that and the environmental studies for the project as we prepare for whatever key phases are approved through that funding process, be it the Bear River bridge or sections of the highway.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thanks to the Minister for that progress response. That is great news to hear. My next question: how is the GNWT working with Sahtu residents to ensure they are able to be equal partners in the economy?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

As the House is well aware, with our application for the Mackenzie Valley Highway, that is not only going to open up the region for communities and transportation of goods; it's going to be able to open up an area that has a vast wealth of natural resources, be it bitumen petroleum reserves or the mineral potential that is unexplored in the area. So we are working hard to advance that along with the Sahtu secretary, who has been a great partner in us trying to advocate the federal government to put some federal dollars into this.

We are also finishing up the Canyon Creek road, which a number of Members, I believe, had an opportunity to tour when they were up there this year. This is something similar to the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway, where there was great local participation and training opportunities for people in the area and the Northwest Territories. The numbers that I have around that are very similar to what happened in the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk situation. Roughly 84 per cent of it was local and northern employment, and, at peak employment in March, there were roughly 81 people being employed on the project, 28 of whom were from the Sahtu, and 36 were from the North.

So we are doing our part to help improve the economy in the Sahtu region. Hopefully, with a positive announcement coming out of the federal government, we will be able to continue to move on some of these priorities.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. My last question: will the Minister, sometime during this summer, support a Sahtu energy strategy conference?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

After session, I am actually going up to Inuvik, here, right away, for the Arctic Energy Conference, which is in its second inaugural year, which we will participate in. If he wants to have a discussion with the Member as a sidebar of what kind of opportunities we can have around having a conference in Norman Wells, I would gladly sit down and have those discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance on the issue of carbon pricing. I would like to start with something simple. The federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada wrote to all her provincial and territorial counterparts on December 20, 2017. She requested a response by March 30, 2018 on whether each jurisdiction would implement its own carbon pricing scheme or rely on the federal government. Last time I asked the Minister of Finance, in April, we still had not responded, so can the Minister tell us and the general public if he has written a response, and, if so, can he table it in this House without delay? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.