This is page numbers 5365 - 5412 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 women. View the webstream of the day's session.

Topics

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to continue with my line of questioning to the Minister of Health and Social Services, to put a few more things on his list to report on. Next, the OAG report recommended that health authorities work together to promote equity in the delivery of foster care across the territory. The department agreed that a set of standards and procedures would be completed by March 31st. My question is: are they complete? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier, there are four areas where we are concerned that we may not meet the March 31st deadline. I don't have the details in front of me. I know that, most of the areas, we have actually completed already. I have committed to getting the Member and committees an update of where we are. It will include that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you to the Minister. I am just going to keep filling up his list here. The OAG recommended, and the department agreed, that staff required more training with a structured decision-making tool to ensure that it was being used effectively. The department agreed that new training will be implemented by the end of March. Can the Minister tell us: is that training ready to go?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

One of the items that has been completed is we provided refresher training on SDM to 25 staff. This training is part of the training-the-trainer model, which will be implemented across the Child and Family Services system. We have also completed a written protocol for quality assurance checks of the SDM tools.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you to the Minister for that. That is good information. Next, the OAG recommended that the requirements of the Child and Family Services Act be met in responding to child protection concerns, and the department agreed. The department agreed, in fact, to put key standards in place by the end of the month. Is that work on track?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

There are 80 items in the action plan. Those action plan items come from the OAG, from committee, and from work that we have done on our own audits. I can't actually, off the top of my head, remember if that is one of the items that has been finalized, but I have made a commitment to the Member and committee that I will get them an update of where we are on the action items, and I will do so.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, we have heard lots about the Quality Improvement Plan, but it is not yet a public document. When will the Minister table this plan in the House? Mahsi.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I would like to table this document as soon as I can, but I have made a commitment to work with the Indigenous governments. The Member's first line of questioning actually asked those specific questions. We will meet with our Indigenous partners. We will get their feedback and their input. If it results in changes to the Quality Improvement Plan, we will make those changes, and then we will release the document and make it public. Hopefully we will do that before next session, at which point I would be willing to table it next session. If the work that we need to do with the Indigenous governments take a little bit longer, I am going to take the time. 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. In responding to my Committee of the Whole questions, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs agreed that there is a significant line-up of new legislation needed within his department. I think that there is some sort of transition process in place to prioritize that work. Can the Minister give us more details on how a recommended roadmap for new MACA legislation is being developed for transition to the next Assembly and how committees, or even the public, can influence that shopping list? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA has made a commitment to help identify legislative priorities, like any other department, and bring them to the next Assembly on a community perspective. Part of the rationale for this effort is to bring forward legislative amendments that have the largest and most positive impact for our community governments. The key for MACA is to understand what the issues are with our legislation, of course, and get that information.

Most recently, we just had a meeting with the NWT Association of Communities. Obviously, we also want to hear from the Local Government and Public Administration Committee. They can play a role in this. Really, any Member of the Legislative Assembly can bring forward what they think needs to be done, especially going through this transition into the next government. I think that a really good example is Bill 31, with the changes that we have made in just developing the 911 Act and the collaborative effort that we had from municipalities, as well as committee, in working on that bill. Those are our stakeholders to give us the input, but a community perspective on the legislation moving forward into the next government is what we are focusing on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. If it is not a secret, I think that consumer protection should be on that shopping list. I appreciate that we are not going to be able to start drafting new laws before the end of this Assembly, but some preparatory work can begin now. I gave the Minister a heads-up here. Is the Minister aware of the Charter of Consumer Rights that the Consumers Council of Canada have developed and how that work might guide the department's work on consumer protection in future legislative change?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Yes, and I appreciate the Member for sharing some of this information with me previously. The department is familiar with the Consumer Bill of Rights, and so am I, with the information that has been posted.

However, it is my understanding that it has not been an integral part of our ongoing provincial-territorial-federal dialogue concerning consumer affairs matters. Its principles, however, certainly offer a very good foundation for most consumer protection regimes throughout Canada. I will commit to the Member, as I have done at federal-provincial-territorial meetings, that I will share this with my jurisdictional colleagues in terms of consumer rights, either by an email or at the very next meeting.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. I appreciate that he is going to raise this at the next federal-provincial-territorial meeting on consumer affairs with his colleagues that he works with. I think that is a good step. In my statement today I spoke about cross-jurisdictional issues that can sometimes frustrate consumers, and those include things like air carriers, flight complaints, and those sort of things. Can the Minister explain how he works with his federal counterparts in terms of consumer rights and protection?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As you heard in the earlier question, I will be making that commitment. However, MACA does engage on an ongoing basis with federal consumer protection agencies through the federal-provincial-territorial Consumer Measures Committee, and this body does serve as a valuable information source and policy development mechanism for issues of common interest, such as developing harmonized legislation for consumer protection and the sharing of education materials for consumers. As I have said in the previous question that the Member asked, I will be making a commitment to ensure that the Consumer Bill of Rights is something that we will be bringing to consideration when we are looking at this, as well.

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. While I'm on a roll, here, and I do appreciate the commitment of the Minister, one of the areas that NWT residents to participate increasingly in is online purchasing. Has our Consumer Protection Branch seen an upswing in complaints in this area, and has the branch developed any advice or guidelines for online shopping to ensure that NWT consumers have the tools to avoid scams? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I can't give the Member the exact number of complaints that we have seen, but that's something that we can take a look at and see if there has been an increase over the years. Also, the department has not developed education materials directly related to online shopping, but it is something that does need to be addressed, as a lot of things are happening online these days. However, within the last six months the department has released consumer information bulletins on gift cards and payday loans, and some of those relate to airline travel complaints, gasoline prices, and we will continue to look at where else we can make that information available to the consumers throughout the Northwest Territories. I will commit to that. I can also commit that we will look at how many complaints we have seen over the last couple of years. 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

That's four.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

You were on a roll, so I figured I'd let you go on.

---Laughter

Oral questions, Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. I see that an RFP for architectural and engineering services has just gone out for the long-term care facility in Hay River; however, there is still a building standing in the lot where that building is supposed to go. We need to move the employees working in that building out to another building, and so I'd like an update on how that's going. Can the Minister update the House on whether or not an RFP has been issued or awarded for office space to move the current employees from H.H. Williams out into another space? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.