This is page numbers 2243 - 2298 of the Hansard for the 19th 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 going.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services has relationships with a number of national organizations, such as Canadian Blood Services and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. However, we don't have a relationship with the Canadian Liver Foundation. I have asked the department to determine if there are areas where the health system can work more proactively with that organization. Thank you.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

I'm glad to hear the Minister say that she would have her department reach out to the Canadian Liver Foundation, given our propensity maybe for a little bit of liking the drink in the North. That would probably be a good thing. Annually, there is an 80 percent shortfall in funding to research liver issues when compared to the number of grant applications that are received. Could you imagine if any one of these applications actually contained the cure for liver disease or an early diagnosis tool? Does the GNWT participate in any sort of research in this area, and subsequently, do we provide any funding to do this type of research?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

The Department of Health and Social Services does not conduct research in this area. If somebody who is a researcher comes to us and asks to partner with us, then we certainly would look at that proposal. We would consider offering things like in-kind services, letters of support, contributions of data, staff time, and so on. We are not the initiator of the research, but we are willing participants where we can be.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

I'm glad to hear. I do know that the GNWT is a very research-open type of government as evidenced by our Aurora Research Institute. A lot of the health issues that involve the liver can be prevented by a healthy-living lifestyle and a reduction in alcohol consumption. What does the department of health do to provide early education and raise awareness around liver health specifically, given the high incidence of alcoholism in the North?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I am delighted to say, because I raised this when I was a Regular MLA, that the department is now exploring the potential for implementing screening, brief intervention, and referral for alcohol use at the clinical level. What happens here is that the patient, in the course of an ordinary appointment with a healthcare provider, would be screened according to Canada's low-risk drinking guidelines, and the healthcare provider could offer a range of supports, from counselling to a referral to an alcohol treatment centre. We are interested in exploring whether we can use that. Of course, even without this screening tool in place, people who are concerned that they are over-consuming alcohol can seek help from the community counselling program, they can access eMentalHealth supports, and of course, they can access supports through their healthcare provider if they feel like they need a detox or treatment.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's great, around alcoholism or alcohol education. I guess, too, I would like to see the department looking at a more holistic conversation around liver health, which does include things like healthy eating, exercise, and such. As I mentioned in my statement, many people have liver disease who have nothing to do with alcohol. I guess my next question would be: can we commit to launching a healthy liver campaign in the North specific to the liver, not just focused on alcoholism, but on a healthier lifestyle and prevention? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I can't make that commitment at this point. I can say that, of course, we are interested in helping people to have the best liver health that they can have, and our current efforts are really all focused around the alcohol strategy. I know the Member is talking about liver disease that is not alcohol-related, but we are dealing now with the issues that are alcohol-related because we see them as such big drivers of poor health in our territory. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance in regard to the vendor complaint policy. The first thing I would like to know, though, has to do with the procurement review. I am wondering if the Minister of Finance can confirm if the Procurement Review Panel plans to release a draft of its report to the business community prior to finalizing that? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been trying to be quite clear, both with the panel and publicly, that I think it's important that the panel have the opportunity and ability to do their work independently from my office, from government, and remain objective and remain creative and do what they need to do. I have not directed them to do that, and I have not heard back from them at present on whether they intend to do that. I'm sure, if the message doesn't get back to them through the course of this forum, then I can certainly make the inquiry on behalf of the MLA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

I appreciate that, and I think it's important that the 19th Assembly get this right. I think spending the time to work with northern businesses to make sure we are getting it right is really important. One of the things that the Department of Finance has, one of the tools at its disposal, is the vendor complaint policy. It produces annual reports every year, and I'm guessing that the answer to my next question might be similar to the first. I am wondering if the Procurement Review Panel will be using those annual reports as part of their review or, if the Minister is unsure, if she will make them available to them.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

I can say that, over the course of approximately six years, there were only 19 complaints, and in fact, this fiscal year thus far, there has only been one. I certainly will look to compile that information and provide it for the use and review of the panel. As for what they may do with it, obviously, that is certainly up to them. Again, we'll see where it goes, but certainly, we can compile that and provide it for their use.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

I appreciate that. I can confirm, though it's great news to hear that there is one complaint this year, I receive a complaint probably every week about procurement from Kam Lake businesses. Whether they are escalated or not is another story. Sometimes, it's great news that things can be sorted out between conversations with MLAs and Ministers, and sometimes, they require a little bit more digging. I am wondering if the Minister would be willing to make the annual reports that go to the Comptroller General public so that, potentially, people can find patterns within those, if there is more than one that comes out every year and, also, hopefully in the future, they can drive change.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

First of all, I had April 1st as the fiscal year in my head and said one complaint. It's three, not one; my apologies. Nonetheless, fortunately, not a significantly large increase. At present, there is not a report per se. Again, not having a very large number of complaints, I don't know that a report has been necessary to date. That said, they certainly do gather up all of the complaints. Procurement Shared Services does process those complaints. The Comptroller General does receive notice of the finalized complaints. They certainly are reviewed throughout the government, and the purpose of that review, the purpose of the complaint policy, is indeed to not only provide an avenue of complaint, but to in fact change processes.

I will certainly commit to go back and see what could be perhaps collated into a report that could be shared. I am conscious that the information contained in the complaints may well be something that is subject to some privacy, and I certainly do not want to put any damper on people using the complaint process. As I say, I will commit to speaking with the Comptroller General's Office and seeing what information we can put together so that there can be some transparency on the kinds of complaints we're receiving.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. No. I appreciate the Minister saying that. I definitely do not want there to be privacy concerns, and I don't want to deter anybody from reporting complaints because they do in fact offer opportunities for the government to maintain its procurement policies as living documents and to continue to make change. Even if it is identifying an industry type versus a specific person or company within an industry, I think that is a much better way of going about that. I am also wondering and I just want to confirm that the Minister is willing to also take back to her department the idea of adding recommendations that were made and what happened with those recommendations within those reports so that we can see what action was taken on the part of the GNWT and what change was made for local businesses. Thank you.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Again, Mr. Speaker, the policy right now allows individuals who have gone through the procurement process or who have considered applying on a procurement process to look there and to see whether they would be eligible to make their complaint. It would go through the client department that they are working with and then involve Procurement Shared Services and, if necessary, yes, of course, to the Comptroller General's Office. It's not a formal report per se that gets completed. At this point, in fact, my understanding is that the three that were dealt with were dealt with in a manner that did not require any kind of proposed change.

Now, again, all of which is to say, Mr. Speaker, I am very alive to the fact that the business community wanted to see change in procurement. We advanced. That was not only part of the mandate. We accelerated that, and the work is underway. I am very alive to the fact that there are concerns with the process, but right now, the vendor complaint process is not really a tool wherein people will necessarily find the recommendations they are looking for. Those recommendations are likely to come out of the procurement review process. To the extent that the vendor complaint process is not what people want it to be, then that, too, ought to be something that is mentioned to us in the course of the review. If we can improve the complaint process to make it more accessible so that there can be that kind of a living document, I am certainly happy to hear it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. 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 Lands, who appears to have the lead on strategic oil and gas bankruptcy. The Cameron Hills sour gas field is a mess, and the remaining funds to manage and remediate this site are drying up quickly. Can the Minister tell us when he expects the GNWT will take ownership of the site? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Lands.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As everybody is aware, right now, we have a receiver in place who is looking after all aspects of it. Right now, they are making sure that regulatory compliance is followed and considering options to transfer the site to another operator through a sale process. However, it might be possible we might get small parts or the whole transferred back to us if we cannot find a company to take it over. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. I think that is about as close as he has ever admitted to us taking over the site, so I am making some progress here. In my statement, I outlined that there is a total system failure in terms of preventing this site from becoming a liability for this government. I would like to know from the Minister what lessons we have learned from this mess and what is he going to do to fix this from happening again and again.