Northwest Territories
Legislative Assembly
5th Session Day 18 17th Assembly
HANSARD
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Pages 3905 – 3976
The Honourable Jackie Jacobson, Speaker
Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Members of the Legislative Assembly
Speaker
Hon. Jackie Jacobson
(Nunakput)
______
Hon. Glen Abernethy
(Great Slave)
Minister of Health and Social Services
Minister responsible for
Persons with Disabilities
Minister responsible for Seniors
Hon. Tom Beaulieu
(Tu Nedhe)
Minister of Human Resources
Minister of Transportation
Minister of Public Works and Services
Ms. Wendy Bisaro
(Frame Lake)
Mr. Frederick Blake
(Mackenzie Delta)
Mr. Robert Bouchard
(Hay River North)
Mr. Bob Bromley
(Weledeh)
Mr. Daryl Dolynny
(Range Lake)
Mrs. Jane Groenewegen
(Hay River South)
Mr. Robert Hawkins
(Yellowknife Centre)
Hon. Jackson Lafferty
(Monfwi)
Deputy Premier
Minister of Education, Culture and
Employment
Minister responsible for the Workers’
Safety and Compensation
Commission
Hon. Bob McLeod
(Yellowknife South)
Premier
Minister of Executive
Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and
Intergovernmental Relations
Minister responsible for Women
Hon. Robert C. McLeod
(Inuvik Twin Lakes)
Minister of Municipal and
Community Affairs
Minister responsible for the
NWT Housing Corporation
Minister responsible for Youth
Mr. Kevin Menicoche
(Nahendeh)
Hon. J. Michael Miltenberger
(Thebacha)
Government House Leader
Minister of Finance
Minister of Environment and Natural
Resources
Minister responsible for the
NWT Power Corporation
Mr. Alfred Moses
(Inuvik Boot Lake)
Mr. Michael Nadli
(Deh Cho)
Hon. David Ramsay
(Kam Lake)
Minister of Justice
Minister of Industry, Tourism
and Investment
Minister responsible for the
Public Utilities Board
Mr. Norman Yakeleya
(Sahtu)
______
Officers
Clerk of the Legislative Assembly
Ms. Colette Langlois
Deputy Clerk Principal Clerk, Principal Clerk, Law Clerks
Committees and Corporate and
Public Affairs Interparliamentary Affairs
Mr. Doug Schauerte Mr. Michael Ball Ms. Gail Bennett Ms. Sheila MacPherson
Ms. Malinda Kellett
Mr. Glen Rutland
______
Box 1320
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Tel: (867) 669-2200 Fax: (867) 920-4735 Toll-Free: 1-800-661-0784
http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca
Published under the authority of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRAYER 3905
MINISTERS' STATEMENTS 3905
37-17(5) – Improvements in the Delivery of Child and Family Services (Abernethy) 3905
38-17(5) – New Memorandum of Agreement with RCMP for Asset Management (Beaulieu) 3906
39-17(5) – South Mackenzie Correctional Centre Enhanced Program Services (Ramsay) 3907
40-17(5) – Employee Recognition in Official Languages (Beaulieu) 3907
MEMBERS' STATEMENTS 3908
Asbestos Concerns at Moose Kerr School (Blake) 3908
Policing and Nursing Services in Small Communities (Groenewegen) 3908
Family Supports for Traditional “On-the-Land” Pursuits (Yakeleya) 3909
Placement of Automated External Defibrillators (Bisaro) 3909
2014 Paul Stipdonk Memorial Soccer Tournament (Menicoche) 3910
Summer Student Employment in Small Communities (Nadli) 3910
Giant Mine Stabilization Plan (Bromley) 3911
Dredging of the Hay River (Bouchard) 3911
Safe Disclosure of Information by GNWT Employees (Moses) 3912
Northern Mining Socio-economic Agreements (Hawkins) 3912
Investment in Southern Mental Health and Addictions Treatment (Dolynny) 3913
Tribute to RCMP Bravery Award Recipient Celine (Nataway) Marlowe (Beaulieu) 3913
RECOGNITION OF VISITORS IN THE GALLERY 3914, 3917
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3914
ORAL QUESTIONS 3914, 3917
WRITTEN QUESTIONS 3926
RETURNS TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS 3926
REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES 3926
TABLING OF DOCUMENTS 3938
NOTICES OF MOTION 3938
Motion 12-17(5) – Extended Adjournment of the House to March 3, 2014 (Yakeleya) 3938
NOTICES OF MOTION FOR FIRST READING OF BILLS 3939
Bill 13 – Devolution Measures Act 3939
Bill 14 – Waters Act 3939
SECOND READING OF BILLS 3939
Bill 11 – Petroleum Resources Act 3939
CONSIDERATION IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OF BILLS AND OTHER MATTERS 3939
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 3974
ORDERS OF THE DAY 3974
February 25, 2014 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD Page 3969
YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Members Present
Hon. Glen Abernethy, Hon. Tom Beaulieu, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Blake, Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Dolynny, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Hawkins, Hon. Jackie Jacobson, Hon. Jackson Lafferty, Hon. Bob McLeod, Hon. Robert McLeod, Mr. Menicoche, Hon. Michael Miltenberger, Mr. Moses, Mr. Nadli, Hon. David Ramsay, Mr. Yakeleya
February 25, 2014 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD Page 3969
The House met at 1:29 p.m.
Prayer
---Prayer
SPEAKER (Hon. Jackie Jacobson): Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Ministers’ Statements
MINISTER'S STATEMENT 37-17(5):IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DELIVERY OFCHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES
HON. GLEN ABERNETHY: Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on the topic of child and family services. The 16th Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Social Programs undertook a comprehensive review of the Child and Family Services Act, highlighting the importance of this area and the need for fundamental change in how we do business.
While there will always be room for improvement in child and family services, I am pleased to be able to report to this Assembly some significant progress arising from the standing committee recommendations. But first I want to pay tribute to the social workers who provide child and family services. Theirs is undoubtedly one of the most demanding jobs in the public service. As the dean of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work said recently, “There are lots of reasons why children need protection, such as physical and sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, addictions issues, poverty and homelessness. The social worker has to make sense out of all these pieces, and that’s incredibly complicated, sensitive and difficult to do.”
The sad fact is that there are children out there who are in need of protection. We all have a shared responsibility to ensure that this happens, government, communities and families. But it is the dedicated women and men who deliver on that responsibility who make extraordinarily difficult decisions on a daily basis, and they desperately need and deserve the support of the communities in which they live and work.
Mr. Speaker, our efforts to protect children from harm begin with promotion and prevention. In its report on the review of the Child and Family Services Act, the 16th Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Social Programs flagged some key recommendations, which formed the foundation for all subsequent recommendations. In addition to highlighting the importance of prevention and promotion, these focused on setting up child and family services committees, making sure that alcohol and drug addictions treatment is readily available, and developing a comprehensive Anti-Poverty Strategy.
One of the cornerstones of prevention and promotion is the Healthy Family Program, which by the end of this fiscal year will have expanded to all regions and will be available in 15 of our communities. The Healthy Family Program is designed to support parents and children from birth to age five and promotes nurturing parent-child relationships. The program is a key component of the renewed Early Childhood Development Framework and is a foundational program for child and family services. The 2014-2015 Main Estimates include $700,000 to stabilize and enhance this program.
But that’s not the only way we reach out to children and their families. Social workers can offer children and families in need a variety of preventative supports such as counseling, in-home services, respite care, parenting programs, assistance in addressing financial situations, access to alcohol and drug treatment, and so on. Parents and families can and do access these services on an entirely voluntary basis.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the annual report, tabled last week, demonstrates an increase in the percentage of children who are now receiving these services in their home communities.
A number of the recommendations made by the 16th Assembly Standing Committee on Social Programs dealt with the policies and procedures guiding child protection interventions. I am pleased to report that the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedures Manual is undergoing a major revision. The new manual, which will be completed next year, will reflect contemporary best practices, and will incorporate the recommendations of the previous standing committee. The 2014-2015 Capital Estimates include funding for a new Child and Family Information System, which will greatly enhance our ability to do file audits and track individual cases.
Parents also need help understanding how the system operates, and toward that end the Department of Health and Social Services has produced a series of plain-language pamphlets explaining how to access services, what their rights are, what happens in court and what plans of care are all about.
The recommendations of the previous standing committee have also been taken into account in revisions to the department’s training program for child protection workers. Training programs for the supervisors and managers of child protection workers have been enhanced and continue to be expanded. Training in child protection work has even been extended to the administrative level; for the first time ever, some chief executive officers and senior administrators from regional health and social services authorities received training on the Child and Family Services Act in December of last year. These training initiatives will continue on an ongoing basis.
Mr. Speaker, the chair of the Assembly’s Standing Committee on Social Programs, Mr. Moses, has commented that addictions and poverty are not only issues in and of themselves but they are often the root causes of child protection concerns. For that reason, I believe that this government’s support for the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness will, over time, lead to further improvements, not just for those struggling with addictions but more broadly in the lives of children, parents, families and communities. The same can be said for this government’s initiative to reduce poverty. It too will help prevent children from becoming in need of protection.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, some real progress has been made in child and family services, but we still have a long way to go. Later this session I will be speaking to the matter of next steps after the auditor’s report has been tabled in this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
MINISTER'S STATEMENT 38-17(5):NEW MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENTWITH RCMP FOR ASSET MANAGEMENT
HON. TOM BEAULIEU: Mr. Speaker, our government is in the final stages of entering into a memorandum of agreement with our federal counterparts that will see Northerners servicing RCMP assets in the Northwest Territories.
In the past, the federal government’s southern contractor arranged services for the operations, maintenance and minor renovation of RCMP houses, detachments and other assets. There are 112 RCMP facilities in 24 communities. With the contract due for renewal, we saw the opportunity for a more economical alternative.
Over the last eight months, the departments of Justice and Public Works and Services have worked collaboratively with our federal counterparts to determine the best way to deliver these important services.
The Department of Public Works and Services has an established, decentralized northern workforce with years of experience in the operations and maintenance of government infrastructure. We have strong working relationships with local resources who support the delivery of these services in our 33 communities. Our northern workforce is in the best position to maintain northern RCMP facilities.
The benefits of having these services provided by those most familiar with our communities, and often challenging northern conditions, cannot be underestimated. We expect to see improved responsiveness and maintenance to the RCMP through the expanded use of local and northern resources in our remote communities. Drawing from GNWT resources and contractors located in our communities and regional centres will improve the maintenance program’s efficiency.
There will be improved contracting and employment opportunities for local and northern businesses as our maintenance and minor project needs expand.
We expect to see improved energy management with opportunities to invest in initiatives such as biomass and other renewable energy and conservation options.
Adding 112 RCMP assets to the portfolio of buildings and facilities PWS already operates and maintains is an opportunity to create jobs in our small communities, a priority for our government. Five new positions are being created through the agreement to help meet these new responsibilities, including jobs in Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Norman Wells, Hay River and Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, this shared initiative with the Department of Justice will better support the delivery of RCMP programs and services in our communities while responsibly managing our expenditure growth. We will enhance contracting opportunities for small businesses and create employment in our regions and smaller communities where they are needed the most.
We look forward to seeing this initiative in action starting in April, and will continue to seek opportunities to collaborate with other public agencies to improve the quality and efficiency of government programs in our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
MINISTER'S STATEMENT 39-17(5):SOUTH MACKENZIE CORRECTIONAL CENTREENHANCED PROGRAM SERVICES
HON. DAVID RAMSAY: Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, addiction to drugs or alcohol is the number one issue facing many northern inmates. The Department of Justice is taking steps to enhance addictions programs through the corrections service.
Recently this Assembly supported the South Slave Mackenzie Correctional Centre through the hiring of three new staff to develop and deliver an intensive addictions program for inmates. Inmates wishing to participate are accepted into the program based on several factors, including their readiness for change. The first intake for this new program was on October 24, 2013. I am pleased to report that, to date, 17 people have now completed this program.
Mr. Speaker, not only do we recognize the need for addictions treatment, we also understand the importance that culture and traditions have in the healing process. This new program has a strong cultural component. Inmates participate in on-the-land activities, learn traditional skills, and take part in smudges and feeding the fire ceremonies. They receive one-on-one addictions counseling and work with corrections staff to develop goals, build communication skills, and improve their ability to resolve conflict. A small ceremony is held for those inmates who complete the program to acknowledge this achievement.