This is page numbers 5877 - 5944 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 report.

Topics

Eulogy for Phillip Gargan
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Our condolences and prayers for that family as well in the community. Members' statement. Member for Frame Lake.

Eulogy for Rene Fumoleau
Members' Statements

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. It is my privilege to commemorate Father Rene Fumoleau who passed away peacefully on his 93rd birthday here in Yellowknife on August 6th. Rene was born in Chantonnay, France. He came to Canada in 1953 as an Oblate priest to Radeyli Ko. He also served in Deline and Fort Liard before moving to Yellowknife in 1970. Rene retired to Lutselk'e in 1994, and then returned to Yellowknife in 2015.

Rene's groundbreaking archival research about Treaties 8 and 11 published in 1975 in his book, As Long as This Land Shall Last, changed the course of history for the Northwest Territories. He also made films about the struggle for self-determination for the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Territories: I was Born Here, in 1987; and Dene Nation, in 1979.

He was an accomplished photographer, poet, and storyteller, a true renaissance man. His legacy documents a critical period of social, culture, and political transition. Rene spent years identifying the people and places in the over 15,000 photos he took.

Rene also undertook extensive work to educate southerners and build solidarity for Indigenous rights through his annual Denendeh Seminars in the 1980s.

On a personal note, my first job in the Northwest Territories was with the Dene Nation, where I met Rene in 1986. He was that little French guy who was always taking photos at Dene Assemblies and leadership meetings. Our bond grew when we had an opportunity to visit him in France with his family in 1991. We remember those long dinners filled with laughter and deep conversations about life, love, and purpose. Rene became part of our family in Yellowknife, and we named our son after him.

Rene was totally fearless, independent but compassionate. Let's face it. He had issues with authority and hierarchy. Years before anyone had defined colonization, Rene was promoting the concept and truly lived it. He found joy in the simplest things in life. Good friends, family, food, and the natural world. Rene shunned recognition and accolades. He would usually bring gifts for everyone at his birthday dinners. He should all inspire us to the path of social justice and service.

Rene is survived by his brother, Marcel; nieces, nephews, and their children in France; as well as many, many friends. Rene appreciated the care and love shown at Avens and the Jimmy Erasmus Seniors Home in Behchoko. I wish to especially recognize and thank Aggie Brockman and Terry Woolf, who cared for Rene in his final years.

There will be a celebration of Rene's life on Friday, August 30th, at 2:00 p.m. at the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Willideh site of Yellowknife River. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Eulogy for Rene Fumoleau
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Our condolences, prayers to the family, and also to the communities. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to oral question asked by the Member for Kam Lake on June 4, 2019, regarding the NWT Carbon Tax Implementation Plan.

On June 5, 2019, I provided a statement to the House stating that the Implementation of the NWT carbon tax would be postponed from the original date of July 1, 2019, to September 1, 2019, as the Standing Committee on Government Operations required more time to review the legislation. Based on the legislative calendar, we expect the legislation will be ready for consideration during this August session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is not very often you get to recognize a mother of your grade four classmate, and I am privileged to do that today. Visiting the Northwest Territories for the first time, I believe, in a long time, we have Ms. Jeanne Roska, whose son Clayton I went to school with in Inuvik. I believe her daughter is here, as well, Bernadette Vandenborn; and Edna Lorenzen is here, as well. They are all visiting the Northwest Territories, so we would like to welcome you. We hope you enjoy your visit, and we look forward to seeing you up in Inuvik sometime soon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would just like to recognize those individuals who are in the gallery, as well, if we haven't already recognized you. Thanks for being here with us. It is also a pleasure to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be for the Minister responsible for Housing. We have all heard in the news about bedbugs in the community, specifically a nine-plex in the Clusters here. There have been different reports and accounts of what is happening there. Can the Minister tell us exactly what the current situation is? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to acknowledge the Member for bringing this to our concern. We have seen a lot of it in the news, as well as in the media and all over social media. We are addressing the issue. I know that, through our local housing organization, we did identify some units that did have the bedbugs. We did address them the way that we do treat it. Then, at the same time, we went above and beyond to look at all of our public housing units, and we did identify six other units that we needed to do the treatment to. We have done that.

Our current situation is that we are going to be looking at doing some training in Fort Simpson. We are going to be bringing a lot of our maintainers into the community to do that training so that, for any bedbug issues that we have throughout the Northwest Territories, we will make sure that our maintainers have the equipment and are trained to address the issue. I do appreciate that the Member and the leadership have brought that to our concern. We will be working on treating those units to the best of our ability and getting people trained for the future. Thank you.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Could the Minister please explain what the standard process used by the NWT Housing Corporation is to treat the incidents of these bedbug infestations?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

The NWT Housing Corporation follows its standard protocols to deal with insect infestations when and after they have occurred. This involves an inspection to determine the type of insect and provide the appropriate treatment measures to remove the insects from the unit as soon as possible. That is what we have tried to do with Simpson, and then doing further follow-up, addressing some of our other public housing units.

As I have mentioned, we have purchased heat treatment systems for each of our district offices. Technical staff are trained, and they have the proper equipment in place to deal with the bedbug issue. It is a four-hour treatment that results in minimal disruption to our tenants' lives and daily business, and our staff also do follow-up inspections in affected units to ensure that the heat treatment was 100 percent effective. We will continue to do that as we move forward.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

As we are moving forward, I just wanted to make sure that people understand that, when we do have residents move out, what I have learned through this whole process is that we have to make sure that their stuff is actually washed and cleaned because, if not, they could bring it back in. I am learning, as the department and the Health Department are educating me on this. The Minister briefly elaborated on this question, but I am going to ask it again: are there any other initiatives that this government has taken to reduce the incidents of bedbug infestations moving forward?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As I mentioned, we did purchase the equipment for our district offices. In Simpson, we are going to be holding a joint workshop with the Department of Health and Social Services in the next month for technical staff from every community so that they are up-to-date and trained and so that we can address the issue of bedbugs in whatever region they are in. It is an issue, and as the Member mentioned, when you do move, or if you are out of your unit, you have to be careful in terms of when you pack up. There might be cases where you might have the bedbugs in a bag. We had the expert who made those comments in the media lately.

We are working with the Chief Public Health Officer, and we will provide a public health perspective, including detection and prevention. We are on top of this and addressing the issue in the Member's riding, as well as throughout the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister and his department for being so proactive. I know that they are doing a lot of work, and I have to give credit to the local housing authority for becoming the experts, unwillingly, but they are becoming the experts on this, so I would like to thank them for that. The last question that I do have for the Minister, and we are hearing different things on this, is: do bedbugs pose a health risk to people, besides just the irritation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Our department, NWT Housing Corporation, continues to work closely with the environmental health unit from Health and Social Services in eliminating the bedbug incidences in public housing units in all of our communities.

I just want to let the Member and Members know that bedbugs are not considered to be a public health hazard, and we are working with the Department of Health and Social Services to make sure that we educate our tenants to address this issue and make sure that any detecting of bedbugs is reported immediately to the local housing organizations. As I mentioned, with any families or any of our tenants who are in public housing units, if they do encounter bedbugs in their units, they can contact their LHOs, or they can call the number 1-844-NWT-HOME and give that information. That is information for all residents of the Northwest Territories.

As I have mentioned, I appreciate that the Member did bring this up, and we are addressing the issue in his riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister tell me how many days outside of break-up and freeze-up that a nurse has visited the community of Tsiigehtchic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, outside of break-up or freeze-up, we are scheduled to have a nurse into the community of Tsiigehtchic one day a week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

I was actually looking for 16 to 20, but that's close. Can the Minister tell me how many of those days were full days, and how many were partial days, due to commuting back from Inuvik?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The employee is scheduled for a full day, but in the community itself, a portion of that time is spent driving to and from the community, as the Member has already indicated. I can get the exact numbers from the department on how many hours per day the RN was able to spend in the community during those periods of time. The nurse does work a full day; only a portion of those hours are actually spent in the community, as the Member previously indicated in his statement.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Will the Minister commit to having the nurse spend a full day in the community during each visit?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The Member and I actually had a conversation on this when he brought it to my attention that the RNs aren't spending a full day. I have already committed to the Member, and I will commit to the Member in this House, that I have directed the department to work with the authority to make sure that our RNs are spending the full hours in the community, either seven-and-a-half or eight. We have to work out some details on that. It may require a little bit of overtime. It may require the RN staying overnight so that they can provide certain hours on one day and certain hours on another day, but I am committed to the Member, to the community, to the region, to make sure that that community is getting the hours promised.