NWT HANSARD Blues

NORTHWEST TERRITORIESLEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

2nd SessionDay 1716th Assembly

HANSARD

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Pages 633 to 678

The Honourable Paul Delorey, Speaker

(3)

Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories

Members of the Legislative Assembly

SpeakerHon. Paul Delorey

(Hay River North)

Mr.Glen Abernethy

(Great Slave)

Mr.Tom Beaulieu

(Tu Nedhe)

Ms.Wendy Bisaro

(Frame Lake)

Mr.Bob Bromley

(Weledeh)

Mrs.Jane Groenewegen

(Hay River South)

Mr.Robert Hawkins

(Yellowknife Centre)

Mr.Jackie Jacobson

(Nunakput)

Mr.David Krutko

(Mackenzie Delta)

Hon.Jackson Lafferty

(Monfwi)

Minister of Justice

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment

Hon.Sandy Lee

(Range Lake)

Minister of Health and Social Services

Minister Responsible for the Status of Women

Minister Responsible for Persons with Disabilities

Hon.Bob McLeod

(Yellowknife South)

Minister of Human Resources

Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment

Minister Responsible for the Public Utilities Board

Hon.Michael McLeod

(Deh Cho)

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs

Minister of Public Works and Services

Minister Responsible for Youth

Mr.Robert McLeod

(Inuvik Twin Lakes)

Mr.Kevin Menicoche

(Nahendeh)

Hon.Michael Miltenberger

(Thebacha)

Deputy Premier

Government House Leader

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources

Minister Responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation

Minister Responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission

Mr.David Ramsay

(Kam Lake)

Hon.Floyd Roland

(Inuvik Boot Lake)

Premier

Minister of Finance

Minister Responsible for the Financial Management of Board Secretariat

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations

Hon.Norman Yakeleya

(Sahtu)

Minister of Transportation

Minister Responsible for the NWT Power Corporation

Minister Responsible for Seniors

Officers

Clerk of the Legislative Assembly

Mr.Tim Mercer

Deputy Clerk

Mr.Doug Schauerte

Principal Clerk of Committees

Ms.Patricia Russell

PrincipalOperations Clerk

Ms.Gail Bennett

Law Clerks

Mr.Glen BoydMs.Kelly Payne

Box 1320Yellowknife, Northwest TerritoriesTel: (867) 669-2200 Fax: (867) 920-4735 Toll-Free: 1-800-661-0784http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca

Published under the authority of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Table of Contents

Prayer633Speakers Ruling633Ministers Statements63335-16(2): Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee (Miltenberger)63336-16(2): Northwest Territories Teachers Association Tentative Agreement (B. McLeod)63437-16(2): Ministers Advisory Panel on the Economy (B. McLeod)63438-16(2): Premier Absent from the House (Miltenberger)635Members Statements635MOU Between Town of Inuvik and Department of Transportation (McLeod)635Human Resources Policies Regarding Affected Employees (Groenewegen)635Aboriginal Health Care Costs (Hawkins)636Stanton Territorial Hospital Deficit (Ramsay)637Homelessness in Smaller Communities (Jacobson)637Communications Prior to Closure of Highway No. 1 (Menicoche)637Employment Rate in Tu Nedhe (Beaulieu)638Ministers Advisory Panel on the Economy (Abernethy)638Operational Policies for Local Housing Authorities (Bisaro)639Ministers Advisory Panel on the Economy (Bromley)639Technical Challenges with Dene Language Fonts (Krutko)639Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery640Oral Questions641204-16(2): MOU Between Town of Inuvik and Department of Transportation (McLeod)641205-16(2): Stanton Territorial Hospital Accumulated Deficit (Ramsay)642206-16(2): Human Resources Policies Regarding Potentially Affected Employees (Groenewegen)643207-16(2): Aboriginal Health Care Costs (Hawkins)644208-16(2): Communication Prior to Closure of Highway No. 1 (Menicoche)645209-16(2): Homelessness in Smaller Communities (Jacobson)646210-16(2): Ministers Advisory Panel on the Economy (Bromley)647211-16(2): Employment Opportunities in Small Communities (Beaulieu)647212-16(2): Technical Challenges for Dene Language Fonts (Krutko)648213-16(2): Policies Governing the Allocation of Public Housing (Bisaro)649Reports of Standing and Special Committees650Committee Report 6-16(2): Standing Committee on Social Programs Report on the Review of the 20082009 Draft Main Estimates650Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters660Main Estimates 20082009 Department of Human Resources660Report of Committee of the Whole678

MAY 28, 2008NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD Page 679

MAY 28, 2008 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD Page 633

Yellowknife, Northwest TerritoriesWednesday, May 28, 2008

Members Present

Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Beaulieu, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Bromley, Hon. Paul Delorey, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Hawkins, Mr.Jacobson, Mr. Krutko, Hon. Jackson Lafferty, Hon. Sandy Lee, Hon. Bob McLeod, Hon. Michael McLeod, Mr.McLeod, Mr. Menicoche, Hon. Michael Miltenberger, Mr. Ramsay, Hon. Norman Yakeleya.

Page 25NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD February 7, 2008

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

Prayer

Prayer.

Speaker(Hon.PaulDelorey): Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber.

Speakers Ruling

Mr.Speaker: Before we begin, colleagues, I would refer to Written Question 14-16(2) asked yesterday by the Member for Tu Nedhe. Rule 39(1) states that written questions are intended to provide Members the opportunity to seek detailed, complex and lengthy information from a Minister on a matter that would not be reasonably assumed to be within the present knowledge of the Minister.

It is my view that the written question submitted by the Member for Tu Nedhe does not meet that definition of a written question, because the information should be properly within the Ministers present knowledge.

Therefore, I rule Written Question 14-16(2) out of order and direct that it be removed from the Orders of the Day. Members are reminded that written questions should not be used as an extension to oral questions.

Thank you, colleagues.

Item 2, Ministers statements. The honourable Mr. Miltenberger.

Ministers StatementsMinisters Statement 35-16(2)Refocusing GovernmentStrategic Initiative Committee

Hon.MichaelMiltenberger: Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity today as the lead Minister to provide an update on the activities of the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee. The Refocusing Government initiative is one of five strategic initiatives that form the backbone of our governments strategic plan. These five strategic initiatives have their foundation in the vision, goals and priorities we developed as a Caucus.

The actions planned under this initiative are to conduct program review, change the GNWTs approach to infrastructure, improve human resource management in the Northwest Territories, improve service delivery and manage the cost of government.

This initiative and its actions will advance us toward our goal of becoming a more efficient and effective government by addressing priorities identified by Caucus under this goal. The strengthening-service-delivery action will also contribute to the 16th Legislative Assemblys goal of sustainable, vibrant and safe communities.

Significant work on this initiative begins this year. We are improving service delivery by beginning the work to implement structural change to boards and agencies in the Northwest Territories. In order to advance our priority of ensuring a more service-oriented approach by the GNWT, we need to have boards and related administrative structures that facilitate working together and allow for flexibility to respond to regional priorities. We also cant have our limited resources tied up in duplicate administrative efforts when these resources would be more effectively used for programming.

We are developing plans to create multi-purpose boards, integrating health and social services, education and housing programs at the regional level and at the community level where appropriate. This work will build off the successes of the service model in the Tlicho region and will impact all areas and communities of the Northwest Territories.

We will bring forward our detailed implementation plans for structural reform by the fall and begin the process of transition. The effort to implement the types of changes we are developing will be considerable. We need to ensure that the GNWT equips the new board with integrated policy, regulatory and legislative approaches and that its financial and administrative systems align from the community to the Cabinet. We expect the new board structure will be operational by April 1, 2010.

There are a number of other activities of the Refocusing Government committee that I would like to briefly touch on. A program review office will be established whose overall objective is to ensure that programs are meeting their objectives and that government resources are being used efficiently, consistent with the Assemblys priority. In addition to developing a framework for a disciplined system of program evaluation, a number of priorities for target review has also been identified for this year.

We have also initiated work on changing our governments approach to infrastructure, including identifying options for improving efficiency in the deliv