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Speaker:=
195; I will now call the House to order. We w=
ill
proceed at this time with prayers.
Prayers
DAILY ROUTINE
Speaker:=
195; We will proceed at this time with the Or=
der
Paper.
TRI= BUTES
In recognition of International Workers Day=
Mr. Cardiff: Today I rise on behalf of the Legislative Assembly to=
pay
an advanced tribute to May Day, also known as International Workers Day, wh=
ich
is celebrated and always has been the first of May, since 1886. It is my
intention today to use this opportunity to raise the awareness and to educa=
te
members of this House and the public of significant episodes in Canadian la=
bour
history.
Labour history=
is much
neglected, but so valuable that we keep alive the memories of working
people’s struggles. Last year I talked about the Winnipeg General Str=
ike
of 1919, a seminal event in Canadian history. This year, on June 3 to be ex=
act,
marks the 75th anniversary of another powerful episode that has =
had
far-reaching implications in Canadian history; that is, the On to Ottawa Tr=
ek.
I offer Members of the Legislative Assembly a brief history of the On to Ot=
tawa
Trek of 1935. Much of this information comes from the On to Ottawa Trek
Historical Society and I encourage all members, if they want to learn more
about labour history, to check out their website or publications like Labour/Le Travail that do the esse=
ntial
job of keeping these stories alive.
On
to the history lesson, Mr. Speaker. The backdrop of this history lesson is the hungry 1930s — the
Great Depression. In response to the growing army of the unemployed, the B.=
C.
government created relief camps in 1931. These work camps were for the most
part located in the bush far away from cities and towns. Why were they far =
away
from towns and out in the wilderness? It was clear that powers of the day
wanted to prevent these men from organizing and making trouble for the
authorities. At the start, these young men were paid two dollars a day for
doing such jobs as building roads, airports, military bases and parks. The
federal government got involved in jointly managing the camps, and working
conditions and pay started to deteriorate further. Wages were reduced to $7=
.50
a month.
In 1933, the D=
epartment
of National Defence took over the camps, reduced the pay to 20 cents a day,
plus meals, a bed and some work clothes. The men worked long hours. The con=
ditions
at the camp were deplorable. Life was work, eat, sleep and repeat. The food=
was
bad; there were no recreation facilities. Tents and bunkhouses often did not
have stoves, and blankets were rare. It is hard to say what was worse ̵=
2;
the material conditions or the isolation these men suffered.
This is what M=
att
Shaw, a camp inmate and later a union leader, said about the camps, “=
The biggest quarrel was working for 20 cents an hour, eight ho=
urs a
day with nothing ahead of us but a blank wall, day in and day out.” The men were essentially prisoner=
s or
slaves in these labour camps.
But there is a=
lways a
struggle and that is what labour history shows us. There is power when work=
ing
people come together, get organized and fight back. The workers staged prot=
ests
at the camps. They issued demands for better food, for fresh meat, new pota=
toes
and one package of tobacco every three days. Eventually the workers formed =
the
Relief Camp Workers Union under the leadership of Arthur Evans, a skilled
carpenter, miner and a communist labour organizer.
The RCWU deman=
d for
work and wages spread quickly through the camps. Through 1934, the RCWU grew
into a strong, disciplined, democratic organization focusing the hopes and =
the
energy of unemployed men and women.
In April 1935,=
the
strikers abandoned the camps and congregated in the City of
The RCMP, on o=
rders
from the government of R.B. Bennett and his Justice min=
ister,
Hugh Guthrie, treated the trek as an insurrection. They attacked the crowd =
of
3,000 workers and their supporters. Two people were killed and dozens were =
injured.
The strike was smashed by the state and its leaders were thrown in jail.
Despite the strike being suppressed, all was not lost.
The strikers h=
ad won
the hearts and the minds of Canadian people. Their epic journey, standing up
against repression and deplorable conditions, was inspirational. Their stru=
ggle
was a major turning point in our history.
The federal el=
ection,
a few months after the suppression of the On To Ottawa Trek, saw Canadians =
turf
out the government of the day that was considered so out of touch with the
people and too late in acting to address the pain, the suffering and the la=
ck
of opportunity that had presented itself in the Great Depression.
A new governme=
nt was
elected, the Mackenzie King government, and it was compelled to abolish tho=
se
camps and institute some reforms, including things like minimum wage and
unemployment insurance.
So there it is=
: a
brief history of the On To Ottawa Trek and about the key workers’
struggles during the Great Depression. As May Day approaches, all members of
this House need to salute the memory of those workers through whose struggle
our society has advanced, cognizant of the fact that that struggle continue=
s.
Speaker: Thank you. Are there any further tribute=
s?
Introduction
of visitors.
INT=
RODUCTION
OF VISITORS
Hon. Mr. Rouble: Mr. Speaker, I would ask all members of our Assembly to join me in welcoming Mr. Stephen Quin, president and chief operating officer and director of Capstone Mining and chair of the Yukon Minerals Advisory Board. Welcome.
Applause
Speaker: Are there are returns or documents for t=
abling?
TABLING RETURNS
Hon. Mr. Rouble: =
<=
/span>I
have for tabling the 2008-09 annual report of the Yukon Minerals Advisory
Board.
Hon. Mr. Kenyon: =
I have for tabling the annual report 200=
8-09
of the Yukon Lottery Commission.
Mr. Cardiff: Speaker: Any further documents for tabling? Reports
of committees. Petitions. Are there any =
bills to
be introduced? Notices
of motion. NOTICES OF MOTION Mr.
Nordick: I rise today to give notice of the =
following
motion: THAT this House=
urges the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada to visit Mr.
Inverarity: I rise to give noti=
ce of
the following motion: THAT this House thanks all concerned
Yukoners who had the courage=
to
come forward and express their very valid concerns regarding the I also give no=
tice of
the following motion: THAT this Hous=
e thanks
the Government of Yukon for: (1) seeing
the error of its ways on Bill No. 82, Civil
Forfeiture Act; (2) admitting
it was wrong and the bill is flawed; and (3) finally
agreeing to put the bill out for public consultation, after numerous questi=
ons
were brought forward from the opposition based on comments received from ma=
ny
concerned Yukoners. Mr. Cardiff: I give notice of the following motion:
THAT this Hous=
e urges
the Government of Canada to create and institute a policy which would ensure
that the public has the right to use, and have access to, federal public bu=
ildings,
such as the Elijah Smith Building in downtown Whitehorse.
Speaker: Any further notices of motion?
Is there a sta=
tement
by a minister?
Speaker’s ruling
Speaker: Prior to Question Period, the Chair will= rule on a point of order raised earlier this week by the Member for Kluane. Duri= ng Question Period on Monday, April 26, the Minister of Justice responded to a question from the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin regarding Bill No. 82, Civil Forfeiture Act. During the c= ourse of her response, the minister said, “I think we’re using this again as a political tool.”
The Member for=
Kluane
then rose on a point of order, saying, “For the minister to suggest
we’re using this issue as a political tool is clearly contrary to our
Standing Orders. I would ask you to suggest the minister should withdraw th=
at
remark.”
After reviewin=
g the
Blues, the Chair does not believe the Minister of Justice violated the Stan=
ding
Orders. This might have been the case had the minister phrased her remarks =
as
an accusation against the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin or any other member. In
her use of the collective term “we,” the Minister of Justice may
have been referring to the proceedings of the House as a whole. In any case,
the minister’s words were not phrased as an accusation against an
individual member.
There is, ther=
efore,
no point of order.
We will now pr=
oceed to
Question Period.
QUESTION PERIOD
Question re: Civil
Forfeiture Act
<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Inverarity: ̳=
4; Mr. Speaker, we have pressured this gove=
rnment
to rethink and revise its approach to diminishing the rights of Yukoners for
the last two weeks. Yesterday they finally got the message. During Question
Period, the Minister of Justice continued to defend the government’s
decision to pass Bill No. 82 without public consultation. “It should =
be
passed this spring,” she said. By late afternoon, the Premier had don=
e a
180-degree turn and said the government would delay passage of the bill
indefinitely. It’s a complete flip-flop, and we’re glad the
government has backed down. I would like to thank the many Yukoners who spo=
ke
out against this legislation; your voices were finally heard.
Will the Minis=
ter of
Justice provide an explanation for this flip-flop? What changed between
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Once again, the House stands confused wi=
th the
Liberals’ position on the matter. Let me refer the member back to what
precipitated bringing forward the C=
ivil
Forfeiture Act. I hope the member remembers that, a short time ago, this
House debated a motion to proceed with bringing back to the Legislative
Assembly said act. In fact, the Member from Porter Creek South was so keen =
to
have this act brought forward that the member, during the debate on the mot=
ion,
suggested that, “enough talk, it’s time to put the question.=
221;
In other words, vote on the motion.
That said, Mr.
Speaker, the Liberals unanimously supported that motion. Today the governme=
nt
has followed the direction of the Legislative Assembly and has brought forw=
ard
the act. The act’s intent obviously is to deal with criminals and the
proceeds of criminal activity. Yesterday the Liberals once again voted
unanimously to support more work. Unfortunately, it appears that when the h=
ard
work actually presents itself, the Liberals run for the hills.
Mr. Inverarity: =
Any time, I’m prepared to sit on any
committee to take this out to consultation, Mr. Speaker. The government was
going to push Bill No. 82 through this House, but suddenly changed its mind,
thanks to the hard work of many Yukoners.
The Civil Forfeiture Act itself is not=
the
whole problem. Criminals should not profit from crime. The government’=
;s
handling of this issue is the problem. This government’s approach to
decision-making is the problem and the government’s plan to push ahead
without having done any public consultation is also the problem. We are
thankful to the many Yukoners who helped send this bill out for public
consultation. That is what should have been done in the first place and wha=
t we
expected to happen after our debate back in December.
Can the minist= er — and we’re looking for the Minister of Justice — tell th= is House when those consultations will begin and when we will see the new and improved Civil Forfeiture Act?<= o:p>
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Mr. Speaker, it is very refreshing to ha=
ve
just heard the Member for Porter Creek South commit to sitting at any time,=
any
place, on a committee to further the work on the bill. Let me point somethi=
ng
out. While the Liberals in this House ran for the hills when the hard work =
began
— the Member for Lake Laberge, the Indepe=
ndent
member of this Assembly, the members of the Third Party and the government
members were all diligently doing the hard work on the bill. In fact, it has
gone so far as amendments being suggested to the bill. Actually, outside of=
the
Liberals in this House, all other members are doing the hard work and now i=
t is
very comforting to hear that the Liberals intend to do the same.
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Mr. Speaker, we have been doing the hard=
work.
We’ve been asking this government to pull this bill for the last two
weeks. In fact, I have for filing here 10 pages, totalling 27 questions.
That’s the hard work that it has taken to get this government to
flip-flop and finally change their attitude.
Many Yukoners =
have
been asking as well. We saw that yesterday. This government backed down and
agreed to listen to the Yukoners, and that’s a good thing and it̵=
7;s
something that all Yukoners should be proud that they have managed to accom=
plish.
It’s too bad we had to do this. When will the public consultations be=
gin
on this revised bill?
Hon. Mr. Fentie: = Mr. Speaker, first I must point out that shouting does not represent or demonstrate doing the hard work. Unfortunate= ly, the member has already forgotten what the member voted for yesterday. The b= ill is not pulled. The member voted for extended debate and further public cons= ultation. That’s doing the hard work, Mr. Speaker. So as long as the Member for Porter Creek South wants to shout it out, maybe he should add to that dissertation the fact that he and his colleagues — the Liberal Party = in this House — are committed to continue to do the hard work in dealing with crime and the proceeds of criminal activity, in the best interests of = the Yukon public, to ensure that we are managing that situation appropriately.<= o:p>
Question re: Health insurance
survey
Mr.
Elias: Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the minister
responsible for Health and Social Services. I have been getting more phone
calls from Yukoners about the minister’s health survey, and they
aren’t happy. Let me articulate some of the concerns I’ve been
hearing. The purpose and objective of the letter and survey are not clear to
Yukoners. The language in the survey is difficult to understand. People are
shocked by the threat that their government would actually take away their
health care coverage, and Yukoners do not appreciate the bold and underlying
statement that says that if you do not sign and return this notice, your he=
alth
care coverage could be cancelled.
Under both the=
Statistics Act and the Health Care Insurance Plan Act, no=
where
is it mentioned that the minister has the authority to cancel health care
coverage for non-response to a survey. Can the minister please explain to
Yukoners where he gets the authority to threaten to pull the health care
coverage of Yukoners for not responding to a survey?
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>I
think we answered the member’s question yesterday with regard to this
question. It’s important that we ensure that all Yukoners are actually
Yukoners who are utilizing our health care system. For the last 10 years
we’ve been sending this survey out. This survey has been going out fo=
r 10
years on this process with regard to ensuring that people are residents of =
the
Mr. Elias: Well, Mr. Speaker, I have been hearing from Yukoners,=
and
they consider this survey a threat — so a threat,=
is a threat, is a threat. I want to put the minister on notice right here a=
nd
right now. I am holding the survey in my hand. I’m not going to sign =
it.
I’m not going to fill it out, and I’m not going to send it back=
. So
I guess the minister has a decision to make about whether or not he’s
going to pull my health care coverage.
Mr. Speaker, t=
he
simple point of the matter is that nowhere in either of the acts does it gi=
ve the
minister the authority to revoke a Yukoner’s health care coverage for=
not
responding to this survey in question. Can the minister please confirm that
this Yukon Party government has no authority and that the statement will be=
removed
from future mail-outs?
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>It
is nice the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin is contributing to the
As I have said,
we’ve been doing it for many years now. This service has been going o=
ut
to ensure that Yukoners who are utilizing our
The only diffe=
rence is
that this year we have extended it from the normal 2,000 to about twice that
number for this year.
Mr. Elias: I’ll let the minister know that I’m a Yuk=
oner
and I received this letter and I take offence to it. I don’t take kin=
dly
to threats and that’s what I put on the floor of the House, Mr. Speak=
er.
You know what should happen? You know what should happen here? The minister
should immediately stop this mail-out because it’s offending a lot of
Yukoners and they’re phoning our office telling us. What should actua=
lly
happen is that the minister should get on his feet and apologize to Yukoners
for making them feel so badly when they receive this from his department.
That’s what should happen here. He should take the whole concept back=
to
the drawing board, recognizing and considering what he has heard from Yukon=
ers
and try to be a little more polite.
Will the Minis=
ter of
Health and Social Services respond to the public concerns and immediately s=
top
the mail-out of these surveys and find a better way to accomplish whatever
he’s trying to accomplish?
Hon. Mr. Hart: You know, the Member for Vuntut Gwi=
tchin
just got up in the House here and he’s accusing us of threat. What was
that just a little while ago, Mr. Speaker? Was that not a threat? You bet it
was.
Mr. Speaker, a=
s I
mentioned before, we’re providing insurance benefits — health
insurance benefits — to Yukoners; we’ve been doing it for 10 to=
15
years this way. It has been out in the process and we are doing it to ensure
that Yukoners who get
Question re:
Silverfox death, public inquiry
Mr.
Hardy: The NDP would like to thank the Justice minister for her press release yesterday in regard to a
public inquiry into the death of Raymond Silverfox. Now we are looking for =
some
clarifications for the
So my question=
: do we
have this right and what will be the time frame and process for determining=
if
a public inquiry is still warranted after the investigation and review are =
finished?
Hon. Ms. Horne: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Indeed, I’m very pleased with=
the
cooperation of the RCMP in sending information to the Crown prosecutor, who=
is
independent of government and the RCMP, and I’m sure will reach a fair
conclusion.
Once we follow=
the due
process of the RCMP review and the investigation by the Crown prosecutor, we
will then decide if we will have a public inquiry into the matter of Raymond
Silverfox.
Mr. Hardy: I guess the question is,
who’s “we”? Who are the ones making the decision on havin=
g a
public inquiry?
We understand =
the need
for internal reviews or investigations; we understand the position the mini=
ster
is taking in this regard, but we have to go back to this one fundamental is=
sue:
The
Hon. Ms. Horne: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> <=
/span>As
I just said, I will reiterate that we will let the process take its due cou=
rse
and, if we feel there is sufficient evidence — we don’t know wh=
at
the investigation will uncover or if there will be charges laid and we̵=
7;ll
see that process through and then decide, depending on the results. It is a
very, very sad case with Raymond Silverfox and we all feel for his untimely
death, for his family, and we sincerely regret what happened and we will fo=
llow
this through.
At this time,
I’d like to thank the members opposite for working with us on the mot=
ion
yesterday — I’m glad that you worked with us.
Mr. Hardy: I agree with the minister opposite, this is extremely
distressing. It is a difficult subject and there is no one to blame in here=
in
that sense. There is no blame being assigned.
Yesterday the =
NDP was
not given the opportunity to speak on the debate on whether a public inquiry
should be called into the death of Raymond Silverfox, however. Our position=
has
been clear. Since Mr. Silverfox’s tragic =
death
in December 2008, a public inquiry is necessary. Today we feel even more
convinced of the necessity of a public inquiry. There is a growing sense of
disenchantment with the RCMP among the Yukon public, born of the shameful
treatment of Mr. Silverfox, plus the four other deaths in custody since in
1999, the actions of officers in Watson Lake, the national coverage of the
deaths of Robert Dzie=
kanski,
Ian Bush and others, and the ongoing issue of taser misuse. All this adds to
the distrust of the RCMP by the public, and that has to be dealt with.
So the =
question
is this: will the minister guarantee to the Yukon people, in as clear langu=
age
as possible, that a public inquiry could be called in the not-too-distant
future, and that the mandate of this public inquiry will reflect the
people’s will and not political expediency?
Hon. Ms. Horne: Mr. Speaker, the reason we’re
having the RCMP inquiry is that it is all-encompassing — not only for
this one incident but for the many incidents that have happened. I again say
that it can be called back at almost any time, but we will wait to hear the
results of the inquiry first, but we want to ensure — and the RCMP are
working very closely with us to put steps in place so that this type of tra=
gedy
does not happen again. We do have faith in our working together to come to =
this
result.
Question re:
Substance abuse
Mr. Hardy: We extend — I think we all extend — our
deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the four First Nation fathers,
mothers, sisters, brothers, friends who have died in police custody in the =
There is a nee=
d to
consult, to change policy, to train the RCMP and others dealing with persons
who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs to be more responsible =
and
responsive. Many administrative actions need to be taken by everyone involv=
ed,
and there’s no doubt about that, but that is dealing only with the
immediate results of years of neglect of the very serious problem of substa=
nce
abuse in the
So my question=
is for
the Minister of Health and Social Services. Will he tell us what has been d=
one
since the latest in-custody death to deal with substance abuse in our
community?
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>We
are continuing to work on our substance abuse program. We are working with =
the
Mr. Hardy: The current use of police cells and the hospital
emergency ward for treating individuals suffering from excessive substance
abuse is wrong. These limited options are totally inappropriate both for
treatment and for everybody’s security. The RCMP should not be faced =
with
a choice of charging someone and throwing them into a d=
runk
tank or taking them to the hospital. One of the most important measures that
could be taken, both for patients and for the professionals involved in this
care, is the medical detoxification unit.
If the Ministe=
r of
Health and Social Services is serious about reducing the shocking number of=
in-custody
deaths, when will he establish a medical detox =
unit?
Hon. Mr. Hart: Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opp=
osite
for the question. With regard to dealing with that, as I stated, we are
working, through our substance abuse program, in our
Mr. Hardy: Now, according to a national RCMP report, 40 percent =
of
in-custody deaths across
My question: w=
ill the
minister consider setting up a three-year pilot project for substance abuse
clients that includes the latest approaches to addiction treatment?
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>I
thank the member opposite for the question. I thank him for listening to the
radio also.
Mr. Speaker, t=
he
Minister of Justice indicated yesterday in her speech that we were going to
address this situation with regard to substance abuse — it has to stop
— and the way in which we are treating it, and we will be investigati=
ng
that situation. We will be looking at alternatives to how we can deal with =
this
situation in conjunction with the RCMP, in conjunction with the review and =
in
conjunction with not only the Department of Justice but also the Department=
of
Health and Social Services.
Question re:
Workers’ advocate report
Mr. Elias: Mr. Speaker, I’=
;ve
got a question for the Minister of Justice. Yesterday was the National Day =
of
Mourning for workers who have been killed or injured on the job. Members fr=
om
all parties spoke about the importance of Yukoners keeping themselves and e=
ach
other safe at work, but the government is failing to uphold the key legal
responsibility and that is tabling the workers’ advocate report. The =
Workers’ Compensation Act is
clear: the Minister of Justice must have that information, “Within 90
days after the end of the calendar year.” That report hasn’t be=
en
filed yet and it is now overdue. When will the Minister of Justice table the
overdue workers’ advocate report?
Hon. Ms. Horne: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> This report will be filed before th=
e end
of this sitting. I am very glad that the member opposite is aware that it i=
s to
be tabled.
Mr. Elias: Mr. Speaker, it was supposed to be tabled months ago.=
The
minister might not think that the report is important enough to have it don=
e on
time, but the law is clear. This isn’t the first time that the govern=
ment
ignored its legal reporting requirements. We’re still waiting on three
years’ worth of overdue environmental reports, as required by the Environment Act. Back in 2007, the
Premier shrugged off the responsibility to the report, offering only to
“look into the matter as far as the very benign legalities around this
particular issue are concerned.”
Does the Minis=
ter of
Justice believe that the worker’s advocate report is also just a beni=
gn
legality that can be put off for years?
Hon. Ms. Horne: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> <=
/span>I
was going to call a point of order, but I don’t want to call any more
interest or have his statements stand out any more than they do. This report
will be filed by the end of this sitting, as it should be.
Mr. Elias: The government makes grand statements about worker
safety, but it can’t even be bothered to report on the advocate’=
;s
work. If that sounds familiar, it’s also because, after promising to =
be
responsible with Yukoners’ money, the government made investments
forbidden by its own Financial
Administration Act. The Auditor General made that determination when she
had to remind the government to “… manage the investment of pub=
lic
money prudently and in accordance with legislation.”
The minister is
obliged to table the workers’ advocate report; she hasn’t done
that; she’s late in doing that, in following the law. Why won’t
this government obey its own laws?
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
Mr. Speaker, you know, the Member for Vu=
ntut
Gwitchin has actually implied that the government does not follow the law a=
nd
that the government breaks the law. Mr. Speaker, that’s a pretty seri=
ous
allegation, so I would hope that the Member for Vuntut Gwitchin rethinks th=
at
strategy, because the cunning approach to it is the incorrect approach.
Let me refer t=
he
member to the Auditor General’s comment. The Auditor General’s
report, by the way — her notes in the public accounts said this ̵=
2; I
can’t quote verbatim, because I do not have the document before me, b=
ut
this is what the Auditor General referenced: The investment in asset-backed
paper had been a practice by the
Question re:
Workers’ advocate
Mr.
Mitchell: M=
r.
Speaker, I also have questions for the Minister of Justice. In 2007, this
government fired the workers’ advocate.
The individual=
in
question was appointed directly to the position of workers’ advocate =
by
the Minister of Justice. The employee filed a grievance against the governm=
ent
after he was fired, alleging he was wrongfully dismissed. It is our underst=
anding
that that grievance was recently upheld by an adjudicator. Can the Minister=
of
Justice confirm the adjudicator has ruled and that the decision is in favou=
r of
the former workers’ advocate?
Hon. Ms. Horne: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> This is an operational issue to do =
with
personnel and I cannot respond to this as I do not have the information.
Mr. Mitchell:
Can the minist=
er
confirm that the grievance was indeed upheld and can she tell Yukoners what
this unjust firing is going to cost
Hon. Ms. Horne: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Again, I reiterate that personnel i=
ssues
are not under the purview of the minister, although the members opposite li=
ke
to think so. I do not have any information and I will not have any informat=
ion
on personnel.
Mr. Mitchell:
The workers=
217;
advocate is appointed by the Justice minister, b=
ut the
budget for the workers’ advocate comes from the Workers’
Compensation Health and Safety Board. One of them is now on the hook for a =
six-figure
payout. If it’s Justice, taxpayers are on the hook and that’s b=
ad
enough. If it’s the Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Boa=
rd,
employers are on the hook. I’m sure
Can the minist=
er
— or I can see the Premier getting ready — tell Yukoners who is
paying — the Justice department or the Workers’ Compensation He=
alth
and Safety Board?
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
You know, Mr. Speaker, this is really
interesting. First off, the member is suggesting that a personnel matter, w=
hich
includes due process, has worked.
Well, every em=
ployee
has a right to go through due process and ensuring that the interference of=
government
— elected officials and ministers — does not take place.
Now let me go =
on
further. This government allows due process, especially in personnel matter=
s.
We do not Google employees who exercise their right to freedom of speech. W=
e do
not suggest or accuse employees in the Department of Finance of breaking the
law when they make the investments that they do. We do not suggest that mem=
bers
and officials from the Department of Health and Social Services are threate=
ning
Yukoners about their health care when they’re doing their job. We all=
ow
our personnel, our employees, to do the job that they’re hired to do.
Obviously, the Liberals have a problem with that, given the interference th=
at
they continue to demonstrate when they go after duly-hired public servants.=
Some Hon. Member: (Inaudible)
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
No wonder the public servants are concer=
ned.
Speaker’s statement
Speaker: Order please. Honourable members, I̵=
7;ve
asked you not to interfere when another member is speaking. Now, I’m
going to start naming members if they don’t control themselves.
Hon. Premier, =
you have
the floor.
Hon. Mr. Fentie: =
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would hope th=
at the
Liberals demonstrate some of that control and recognize that personnel matt=
ers
are left in due process. Obviously, the member’s point, if in fact wh=
at
he has brought to the House is the correct information — the process
works.
Speaker: The time for Question Period has now ela=
psed.
We will proceed to Orders of the Day.
ORD=
ERS OF THE
<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Hon. Ms. Taylor: Q=
94; Mr. Speaker, I move that the Speake=
r do
now leave the Chair and that the House resolve into Committee of the Whole.=
Speaker: It has been moved by the Government House
Leader that the Speaker do now leave the Chair and that the House resolve i=
nto
Committee of the Whole.
Motion agreed to
COM=
MITTEE OF
THE WHOLE
<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Chair (Mr. Nordick): =
Order please. Committee of the Whole wil=
l now
come to order. The matter before the Committee is Bill No. 20, First Appropriation Act, 2010-11, =
Vote
54, Department of Tourism.
Do members wis=
h a
brief recess?
All
Hon. Members: Agreed.
Chair: Committee of the Whole will recess for 15
minutes.
Recess
Chair: Order please. Committee of the Whole wil=
l now
come to order.
Bill No. 20 — First Appropriation Act, 2010-11 — continued
Chair: The matter before the Committee is Bill =
No.
20, First Appropriation Act, 2010-1=
1.
We will now continue with line-by-line debate in Vote 54, Tourism and Cultu=
re.
We were currently on line the Arts for $3,330,000, and Ms. Taylor, you had =
the
floor on that line.
Department of Tourism and Culture —=
continued
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Mr. Chair, I believe we left off at=
that
very line item, which included discussion about funding for a number of
arts-related funds. In fact, it was about two and a half years ago that our
government was very pleased to be able to introduce new funding for sustain=
ing
operational requirements for arts-related organizations.
We recognize t=
he
importance the arts play within our community, and we understand that
enhancement in funding for artists and organizations also helps to ensure t=
heir
success in a wide range of activities. One only has to take a look at the
recent display of arts and culture on the international stage during the re=
cent
2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The arts and c=
ultural
community rose to the occasion — rose to the challenge — and di=
d an
exemplary job on behalf of Yukon in showcasing and presenting all that make=
s us
very proud to call Yukon our home.
This line item=
does
reflect ongoing funding attached to some of these programs. As I mentioned
before, when we look at the Artist in the School program, for example, that=
has
made a significant difference. We were able to add an additional $75,000 a =
couple
of years ago in new funding for this program, which has enabled additional
programming to take place in schools outside of the City of Whitehorse.
It has increas=
ed the
availability of arts instruction; it has provided more hours of instruction=
in
the schools, more opportunities for creative projects and has also enabled =
us
to provide a comprehensive resource guidebook on art education programming =
available
to the respective schools in the
The program al=
so
provides additional employment income to
That is one ex=
ample of
a society that has been able to benefit from some of the ongoing sustainable
funding that we have been able to make available, which has provided the ba=
se
and the solid foundation for their operations.
There are a mu=
ltitude
of other examples of ongoing arts funding available through this fund. When=
we
were able to do that, it also, as I mentioned the other day, freed up
additional funds within the arts fund, which supports projects. It’s =
applicant-driven,
project-driven and has helped, again, to stimulate increased arts activity
within all of our communities.
We have been a=
ble to
also enhance funding to cultural venues such as The Old Fire Hall as I
mentioned the other day. It has turned out to be an amazing example of a ve=
ry
unique and creative partnership between the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce,=
the
Yukon Arts Centre and the
I was speaking=
to a
couple of members from the Yukon Arts Centre last night and we were talking
about the success of that venue. It has served to provide a venue for commu=
nity
gatherings, for exhibits, for showing films, and for hosting book launches,
such as the one last night in recognition of the annual Yukon Writers Festi=
val,
which we were able to tribute in this Legislature not long ago.
So this venue,=
because
of its geographical location within the downtown core of
Over the cours=
e of the
last number of years, this government has invested with the Government of
Canada — in tandem with the City of Whitehorse, the Kwanlin Dun First=
Nation
and others — $19 million in expenditures and improvements along the
Whitehorse waterfront.
We are really =
thrilled
with the work to be completed by Kwanlin Dun First Nation on the developmen=
t of
their cultural centre, which will also include a new public library through=
the
Department of Community Services. The Department of Tourism and Culture is
providing continued assistance in terms of planning and support to Kwanlin =
Dun
on their cultural centre, as we are with
Housed within =
this
line item, as well, there are dollars for, I believe, the Dawson City Arts
Society — $400,000.
That is a soci=
ety for
which we have been able to enhance funding as well over the years, in
recognition of the leadership role that it continues to play in arts
development in the
So again, Mr. =
Chair,
there are other examples — the touring fund is $100,000 to support
touring of our individual groups who create and produce original work and w=
ho
would like to expand their reach to new audiences. Of course, this
couldn’t come at a better time, following on the heels of the Olympic
experience. That in itself has raised awareness of artists throughout the L=
ower
Mainland. It has served to provide a lot of connections with local galleries
and other arts-related organizations in the area for our performers and
artisans to be able to continue to collaborate and to build on those partne=
rships
that have been cultivated by the Olympic experience.
The advanced a=
rtist
award — we are also very pleased to continue with this. This also
provides assistance to visual literary performing artists practising
at a senior level. We have very much indeed a matured level or a number of
artists in the territory and we’re very pleased to be able to help fu=
nd
projects by way of education, whether it’s workshops, mentoring, even
assisting with post-secondary or post-graduate studies, as well as providing
assistance for travel to attend openings of exhibitions, concerts or other
specific related events.
It’s but=
one
more example of this government’s commitment to the growth of the arts
and cultural sector.
As I mentioned=
, I
believe, the other day as well, Culture Quest was part of the decade of spo=
rts
and culture that this government first initiated several years back in orde=
r to
capture the very essence of some major sporting events, such as the Canada
Winter Games in 2007 and, of course, the 2010 Winter Olympics.
As I’ve =
often
said, it’s not only about sport; it is equally as important to be abl=
e to
focus and emphasize the important role that culture plays. Culture Quest was
developed in 2003. It has provided ongoing, lasting benefits to both our
tourism and cultural sectors. We have provided about $157,000 a year to the
Yukon Arts Centre for the administration of the program.
We know, for e=
xample,
that over half of the projects that received support from this program were
actually showcased at the Canada Winter Games in 2007. We know that just ab=
out
all of the participants in the 2010 Winter Olympics had also received some
support as an emerging artist at that time through this program as well.
As I mentioned
earlier, at the 2010 Paralympic Games, it was r=
eally
wonderful and amazing to be able to see artists, such as Manfred Janssen and
Root Sellers able to perform on the international stage through the
international broadcast network. To be able to have that kind of coverage a=
nd
to have that level of experience on the international stage, there really i=
s no
dollar figure that can be attached to that. It’s priceless, and I con=
gratulate
all of the groups and individual artists who participated throughout the
Olympics. They really did a wonderful job as cultural ambassadors. They
represented
Those experien=
ces
continue to resonate as individuals have come back home and have reflected =
and
continue to reflect on their positive experience during the Olympics.
In speaking wi=
th a
couple of youth ambassadors, for example, at the Aboriginal Pavilion in
Mr. Chair, I c=
ould go
on at great length, and I do have lots more information to reflect on, but =
I again
did want to thank the Member for Porter Creek South especially for his line=
of
questioning throughout the Tourism debate. I just wanted to also add my tha=
nks
for continuing to encourage me to continue to do the good job that I have b=
een
doing. That’s actually my response to a quote from the member opposite
for recognizing the excellent job the Department of Tourism and Culture has
been doing in the
So I know that=
things
can get heated, debate can get perhaps heated at times, particularly during
Question Period, but I did want to put that on the public record that I do
acknowledge those statements put on the floor of the Legislature, and I very
much appreciate that acknowledgement. Thank you.
Arts in the amount of $3,330,000 agreed t=
o
On Archives
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I’d like to just ask the minister =
if she
could not only go through all of the items on this particular line, but of
particular interest — I’m kind of curious as to whether there is
also any money in there for a legislative archive library that needs to be
created, and if there are any projections to be coming out to move forward =
with
a legislative archive library.
I don’t =
believe
we have one and certainly need to start looking at archives in general as
they’re important; they’re our history and they need to be
protected. I would be curious to see if there has been any consideration gi=
ven,
as she goes through these line items.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
I’ll just start with the mand=
ate of
Yukon Archives, which is to acquire, preserve and make available documentary
sources related to
The archives r=
eference
room, as the member opposite may be aware, is open to the public and servic=
es
are made available to schools and to other groups. I think I made reference=
not
long ago to a public launch of the recognition of contribution of blacks pe=
ople,
for example, to the construction of the
This was as a =
result
of the unique partnership between Yukon Archives, between the Hidden History
group and other partners as well. I think that, increasingly, Yukon Archives
has been working to ensure that what it does has relevance in the
Funding does r=
ecognize
personnel in large part, and there are a number of personnel. I won’t=
go
into all of the positions, but it does include our own territorial archivis=
t.
We have a nati=
ve
reference assistant, archives conservator; we have a government records
archivist, assistants, librarians; we have audio/visual digitization tech
assistants, archives reference assistants, an archives page, and so forth.
There are a multitude of various positions housed within this particular un=
it.
Other expenditures include communications, as I mentioned before, helping to
raise awareness about the archives, but also about the multitude of stories
that
There are also=
dollars
for contracts for specialized conservation services, for archival acquisiti=
ons,
training, programming, advertising, repairs and so forth. It also includes
contributions to Friends of the Yukon Archives Society and the Yukon Counci=
l of
Archives.
Again, this he=
lps
bring that added raised awareness regarding our archives to the community. =
There was refe=
rence to
the Legislative Assembly, I think it was, and I do know that there is actua=
lly
a project that is underway right now between — it’s actually a =
very
unique collaboration, although I don’t have all the details in front =
of
me — there is, including our own Yukon Archives, I think it’s t=
he
Friends of the Yukon Archives Society or perhaps it’s Yukon Council of
Archives and others.
I could probab=
ly give
them a few ideas, but I’m sure there will be clips of the Member for =
Vuntut
Gwitchin and of course all members from this side of the Legislature as wel=
l.
They are assembling that information. I know they’re also working with
the Yukon Legislative Assembly. So that’s just one example of how they
are again breathing life into the Yukon Legislature and adding awareness of=
the
work of the Legislative Assembly, its members and the many issues that have
been raised over the years by respective members of the institution.
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I find this a very interesting subject a=
nd
I’m looking forward to continuing debate on this particular line item=
. I
was interested to hear the minister talking about this new project coming o=
ut
with regard to the legislative library and while I am looking — IR=
17;m
not quite sure if I’m always looking forward to the video of myself o=
n TV
or being displayed at some cultural event — I wish I had more hair, b=
ut
you know how it goes. It should prove to be an interesting subject.
But I know we =
need to
move on to some of the other line items, because I’m going to be aski=
ng
questions probably about all of them this afternoon. I’m looking forw=
ard
to some stimulating debate and this is always exciting for me.
Specifically, =
while I
understand the legislative library project is an important project, I’=
;m
really curious about whether or not the actual archives of the research =
212;
there are things we table here every day in the House — and some of
these, I understand, are getting a little tattered around the edges. Part of
that would be a research component so that any member or any member of the
public might be able to access the legislative library. I would hope the
minister might be able to shed some light on whether this initial project s=
he
was referring to will lead into a bigger project, where we actually have
something that everybody could use, particularly the Members of the Legisla=
tive
Assembly.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
<=
/span>I
would think that perhaps that discussion would first start with MembersR=
17;
Services Board. That is something — I’m not sure; I’m not=
a
member of the Members’ Services Board, but it does comprise all-party
representation. If it is an issue of importance to respective members, that=
may
be the place to start.
I haven’=
t had
any discussions recently with Yukon Archives or with the Yukon Legislative
Assembly office on this issue but, if it is an issue of importance to membe=
rs
of the Legislature, I would anticipate that this would be raised in Members=
’
Services Board.
Those discussi=
ons
could take place then from there on out, providing direction to Yukon Archi=
ves,
but I just do not have that information at my fingertips. Perhaps those
discussions have already taken place; I’m just not aware at this
particular point in time.
Archives in the amount of $1,208,000 agre=
ed to
Cultural Services in the am=
ount
of $9,256,000 agreed to
On Tourism
On Directorate
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I would like a breakdown of that, please=
.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
This entails personnel dollars. It =
also
entails dollars for communications: telephones, cellph=
ones,
fax, long distance, Internet charges. We also have money for contracts, for
travel, registrations, program materials, supplies, printing, rental expense
and advertising. As well, as I mentioned, there are a couple of personnel
positions.
Directorate in the amount of $298,000 agr=
eed to
On Product Development and Research
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I wouldn’t mind a breakdown on thi=
s.
Particularly, I am interested in the change between the forecast 2009-10 of
$1.990 million and a reduction to $1.504 million.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Actually, if we’re talking ap=
ples
to apples — that is, estimate to estimate — there is actually a=
n increase
of about $42,000. But I will go through the breakdown for the member opposi=
te.
This contains a number of personnel-related costs or investments, I would s=
ay.
For product development and research, we have product development officer,
tourism resource coordinator, marketing fund coordinator, research officer =
and
manager. We have dollars allotted for travel for tourism fact sheets, datab=
ase
maintenance workshops; we have dollars for our Statistics Bureau — bo=
rder
crossings — and I know how much the member opposite very much appreci=
ates
reviewing those.
Agay Men=
e was another one; Ku=
sawa
is another. There are multitudes of park planning processes that are the le=
ad
in the Department of Environment — I should say the lead for land use
planning is the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, but I do know the
very importance of how much Environment contributes, just as Tourism and
Culture also contributes to the land use planning process. We have dollars =
for
enhancing capabilities of tourism stakeholders through workshop deliveries.=
We also have d=
ollars
for updating tourism activity, mapping for land use purposes, as I mentioned
before, dollars for program materials, supplies, registrations, memberships=
and
printing. This also contains dollars that reflect the tourism cooperative
marketing fund. There was an increase of about $200,000 in this program alo=
ne.
It has been a very important program, first introduced in 2004. It has
facilitated a lot of traffic from individual operators to organizations to
further leverage their reach into tourism markets.
There are also=
dollars
for product development activities and resource assessments.
I do know that=
, from
the forecast to the estimate, as the member opposite was referring to before
— again, this is attributed to revotes of=
the
tourism cooperative marketing fund projects and is also inclusive of revotes for the banner program. The member opposite w=
ill
see banners strewn throughout the territory as a result of a funding increa=
se
— I think it was last year.
So it’s
inclusive of many areas, and we’re very pleased to be able to continue
with this very important item of product development and research.
Product Development and Research in the a=
mount
of $1,546,000 agreed to
On Marketing Operations — Overseas<= o:p>
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Again, I’d like a breakdown of this
particular one. Perhaps the minister could expand on the decrease this year=
in
overseas marketing?
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
This line item reflects personnel c=
osts
— also general operations for marketing initiatives, travel, registra=
tion,
familiarity tours, Rendezvous, sales kits, which is coming up in
The dollar ite=
m also
includes Asian-Pacific marketing programming, which includes contracts,
advertising and other miscellaneous expenditures. The member opposite refer=
red
to the reduction in marketing overseas. The member opposite will recall tha=
t,
as part of the stimulus initiatives as brought forward by the Tourism Indus=
try
Association of Yukon last year, there was a request for one-time funding for
overseas marketing. We were able to deliver that over a period of two fiscal
years, which includes the $400,000. We are in the process of reviewing the
results of those additional dollars and we will be working with industry to
assess the strengths of that funding and the success of that funding initia=
tive
— those additional dollars. We actually even will be looking to a fun=
ding
mechanism such as CanNor, which is a new funding
mechanism that has been made available through the government of
Marketing Operations — Overseas in =
the amount
of $1,318,000 agreed to
On Marketing Operations — =
i>
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I’d like a breakdown of that, too,
please.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Marketing operations for
Again, websites
— we spoke at great length about the importance of our Travel Yukon
website, electronic marketing and e-advertising. There are dollars allotted=
for
media, public relations, including media tours, website, marketplace and so=
me
public relations activities.
This is yet an=
other
area that has been deemed of importance to industry — media public re=
lations
— as well as investment in our website. Data management, fulfillment,
costs for distributing all of our print marketing material, including our
vacation planner and our lure brochures. There is a whole host of print
materials that we distribute to our trade partners and to our potential
visitors.
There is also,=
as part
of the transfer payments, money for the Wilderness Tourism Association of
Yukon; Yukon Quest; Yukon Convention Bureau; Tourism North, which is compri=
sed
of Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon. I think that’s it for=
Tourism
North.
There are also=
dollars
for the decade of sport and culture that I referred to before.
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I was wondering if the minister could te=
ll us
— I didn’t hear it mentioned and maybe it was overlooked and ma=
ybe
it doesn’t happen — if there are any domestic marketing
partnerships included in this line item or that she has specifically with A=
ir
North?
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Air North is a
very important partner for Tourism
I have great
admiration for the quality service and excellence that their staff and their
management team provide day in and day out. It is a family business and we =
are
very pleased to have a good working rapport with Air North as a major air p=
artner.
When we talk about growing tourism in the
Over the years=
, I know
that Air North has subscribed to the tourism cooperative marketing fund. For
every dollar that individual businesses or operators or organizations
contribute, that fund will match that activity, which further extends the m=
arketing
reach of that organization’s ability. I’m very pleased to assist
Air North in that regard. When it comes to Destination: Yukon, there are al=
so
opportunities for showcasing businesses such as Air North and the work that
they do in our gateway cities, as I mentioned, through the Destination: Yuk=
on
campaign. We do go out to market; we do advertise in a number of advertising
medium. We do go out to industry and we are working on providing more lead =
time
for industries to contribute. That is pay to pla=
y, as
well, in terms of showcasing one’s packages or opportunities that awa=
it
here in terms of travel packages throughout the
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Let me rephrase the question: does the
Government of Yukon/Department of Tourism have a domestic marketing partner=
ship
with Air North?
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Maybe I wasn’t being clear en=
ough
but also through, as I mentioned, trade and consumer shows. There are
opportunities through TCMF. I know Air North has subscribed to that through
Destination:
I know that th=
is
program has been very important to Air North and I know that Air North views
these additional investments as good investments. There are opportunities f=
or
Air North to, again, work with the Department of Tourism and Culture, among
other individual operators — tour operators throughout the Yukon R=
12;
to provide the travel packages available to prospective, potential visitors
from those areas of Edmonton and Calgary, Vancouver, the Lower Mainland. So
again, we work very closely with Air North and we view them as a very impor=
tant
travel trade partner to the growth of tourism in the
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I don’t think I’m hearing the
answer I’m looking for. It’s a simple yes or no. Does the
Department of Tourism have a domestic marketing partnership with Air North?=
Yes
or no. I know they do lots of good things. I love Air North just like
everybody. However, I’m just asking if you have a formal partnership =
with
Air North for domestic marketing.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
<=
/span>I
guess I’m not following the member opposite. In terms of domestic
cooperative marketing initiatives, yes, we do partner with Air North through
the tourism cooperative marketing fund, which we have been able to enhance =
by
$200,000, which provides additional opportunities. In fact, as we speak rig=
ht
now, there is a session going on at the TIA
We tweak that =
fund on
an annual basis in collaboration with industry — where we need to wor=
k on
and where we need to strengthen, perhaps other a=
reas
have not been fully subscribed to. I know that Air North has subscribed to =
TCMF
in the past. They view that as a good investment and so do we. That is why,=
in
fact, we implemented it back in 2004. We’re very happy to invest an
additional $200,000 for $700,000 for additional cooperative marketing
initiatives and partnerships with initiative entities such as Air North.
In terms of
Destination:
One of the thi=
ngs
about bringing stability to Destination: Yukon marketing to the amount of a=
bout
$750,000 — that’s ongoing annual funding — we will now ha=
ve
extra lead time going into campaigns and that’s something that will b=
e a
high item of discussion for industry through our Senior Marketing Committee=
and
the industry at a greater length as well, as to how we can best work with
operators and organizations and municipalities and others to give them enou=
gh
lead time to ensure that their businesses are adequately represented, that =
they
have enough lead time to plan so that we can have a concerted effort to rai=
se
awareness — consumer awareness — in our key domestic markets su=
ch
as Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I have to say I was looking for just a s=
imple
answer. I guess the answer is probably no. I have to say that I’m
probably revising my opinion of the good work of the minister at this point=
in
time.
Having said th=
at, I
think I’ll just clear this line and move on; we have a lot of other w=
ork
to do.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
<=
/span>I
just wanted to clarify for the member opposite again, it’s unfortunate
the member opposite is not choosing to listen to the responses but again, t=
o be
very clear, all our programs and how we deliver, implement and evaluate are=
for
that purpose, and that is to generate leads, to follow up on those leads an=
d,
as we mentioned the other night, it’s also to put bums in seats. That=
is
what we are working to do.
We have made
additional opportunities to industry by way of the tourism cooperative
marketing fund. We have made opportunities known through consumer shows, for
example.
I was just pas=
sed some
information that Air North does have packages promoted within our ads and on
our Travel Yukon website by way of Destination:
Marketing Operations — <=
st1:place>North
America in the amount of $4,120,000 agreed to
On Visitor Services
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Can I have a breakdown on that, Mr. Chai=
r?
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
<=
/span>As
the member opposite may be aware, visitor services coordinates delivery and
distribution of all of our tourism marketing material in
It works with
communities and regions to provide expert advice to tourism companies and
visitors throughout
In fact, I thi=
nk it is
this week that we have the visitor centre staff convene in a community R=
12;
this year it happens to be in the City of Whitehorse — for four or fi=
ve
days each year, I believe, for training opportunities. It is always wonderf=
ul
to see all of our staff each and every year. They do an exemplary job. Many=
of
them have been with the department for many years; some have just come on-b=
oard
recently.
There are moni=
es for
repairs, ongoing audio-visual equipment, for
supplies, program materials in support of their operations and promotional
items.
There are also=
dollars
for the First Nations Tourism Association, for funding for the Tourism Indu=
stry
Association of the
This service p=
rovides
a great amount of activity and reflects that, as I have just stated.
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Could the minister answer if there’=
;s any
money in here for the visitor information centres around the
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Again, there seems to be disconnect here. I think I just articulated that this =
line
item reflects dollars, and I believe we’re on operation and maintenan=
ce,
not the capital costs, but operation and maintenance, which includes person=
nel.
We have a number of visitor information centre staff.
It includes do=
llars
for travel costs, as I just referenced, for the purposes of training. Also,=
I
believe that there are dollars allotted for staff exchanges, as has occurred
over the last number of years. There are ongoing dollars for repairs to the
centre — supplies, which could be replacement of carpet, could be a
change in the colour of paint, and it could be =
to
change the eavestrough. I’m not sure; I
don’t have the specific breakdown on that. It also contains program
materials for operations of our visitor centres.
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Just for the minister, I’m aware t=
hat
we’re on operation and maintenance. I understand that there is a lot =
that
goes into operation and maintenance, including paint and including eavestroughs and all kinds of things. My question was
pretty simple: are operation and maintenance costs in this for visitor info=
rmation
centres? The answer appears to be, yes. Thank you very much.
The next quest=
ion is
— no, actually, that’s fine at this point.
Visitor Services in the amount of $1,751,=
000
agreed to
Tourism
in the amount of $9,033,000 agreed to
On Revenues
Revenues cleared
Total Operation and Mainten=
ance
Expenditures in the amount of $20,048,000 agreed to
On Capital Expenditures
On Corporate Services
On Office Furniture, Equipment, Systems a=
nd
Space
Office Furniture, Equipment, Systems and =
Space
in the amount of $210,000 agreed to
Corporate
Services in the amount of $210,000 agreed to
On Cultu=
ral
Services
On Historic Sites — Historic Sites
Maintenance
Historic Sites — Historic Sites
Maintenance in the amount of $95,000 agreed to
On Historic Sites — Historic Sites =
Planning
Mr. Inverarity: <=
span
style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> I request unanimous consent that all rem=
aining
lines for capital expenditures in Vote 54, Department of Tourism and Cultur=
e,
be deemed cleared or carried, as required.
Unanimous consent re deeming all remaining lines for capital expenditures in Vote 54, Department of Tourism and Culture, cleared= or carried
Chair: Mr. Inverarity has requested the unanimo=
us
consent of Committee of the Whole to deem all remaining lines for capital
expenditures in Vote 54, Department of Tourism and Culture, cleared or carr=
ied,
as required. Are you agreed?
All
Hon. Members: Agreed.
Chair: Unanimous consent has been granted.
Total Capital Expenditures =
in the
amount of $2,782,000 agreed to
Department of Tourism and C=
ulture
agreed to
Chair: Committee of the Whole will now proceed =
to the
Department of Health and Social Services. Do members wish a brief recess?
All
Hon. Members: Agreed.
Chair: Committee of the Whole will recess for 15
minutes.
Recess
Chair: Order please. Committee of the Whole wil=
l now
come to order.
The matter bef=
ore the
Committee is Bill No. 20, First App=
ropriation
Act, 2010-11, Vote 15, Department of Health and Social Services.
Department of Health and Social Services =
Hon. Mr. Hart: The Finance minister has touched on=
some
of the highlights in the Budget Address that will be implemented over the
coming year by the Department of Health and Social Services. I would like to
expand on those highlights and draw attention to some details.
As mentioned i=
n the
Budget Address, the department will be planning and developing a wellness
strategy in response to the Yukon H=
ealth
Care Review. In order to have a healthier society and a sustainable hea=
lth
care system, we need to do a better job of educating people and encouraging
healthy lifestyle choices. We must better understand the social determinant=
s of
health and how we can challenge and influence personal decision-making that
leads to a better quality of life.
We’ve al=
ready
begun to explore the many facets of wellness. The recent Aging Well Expo and
the symposium on social inclusion will both contribute to a fuller
understanding of what wellness means to Yukoners. We are very pleased with =
the
commitment in the recent federal budget to extend our territorial health sy=
stem
sustainability initiative for another two years. This funding, which includ=
es
the territorial health access fund, or THAF, will provide $60 million to the
three
While there ar=
e still
details to be worked out, this funding will assist us to move forward on a
number of fronts to address the current challenges of health system
sustainability. There’s a great deal going on in this department, the
biggest department in the
To support eff=
ective
planning, the department’s ongoing strategic planning process ensures
that our efforts are focused on goals that improve all aspects of our healt=
h,
social and continuing care services and to ensure that we take the best adv=
antages
of the opportunities like the extended federal funding for THAF.
This budget su=
pports
the important work of our NGO partners such as Help and Hope for Families
Society, Kaushee’s Place, the Child Devel=
opment
Centre, Skookum Jim Friendship Centre, Challenge, LDAY, FASSY, Yukon
Association of Community Living, Salvation Army, Teegatha’Oh Zheh,
Line of Life and
Services that support children cont= inue to be a major priority for this government. For example, this budget continues= to honour our commitment to childcare services with an additional $1 million e= ach year over five years. An additional $50,000 of capital funding is also allocated to childcare facility operators for upgrades to their facilities = and equipment.
This budget recognizes the work of =
foster
parents who provide a family home for children who cannot live with their
parents. Nearly $200,000 of new funding is included to reflect the 17-perce=
nt
increase in foster care rates put into place in October 2009. For the first
time ever, it includes annual indexing to the consumer price index. The ann=
ual
indexing of foster care rates joins decisions made by this government to index social assistance rat=
es,
senior income supplement and the pioneer utility grant.
Indexing of th=
ese
rates ensures that the value of the benefits is not diminished over time and
continues to keep pace with inflation. This is one of the many progressive
social policy approaches of this government.
A new Child and Family Services Act will=
be
proclaimed tomorrow,
We continue to=
enhance
our continuing care services, both in our facilities and through our commun=
ity
home care programs. This budget sees over a million dollars of additional
funding to support eight new positions as well as funds to address the expe=
cted
increase in pharmaceutical drug costs and repair and maintenance costs.
We will also be
continuing to fund the
In preparing f=
or the
future of the
Consider these=
facts:
the
If Regardless
of whether the In addition to=
what
the stats tell us, we know what It also means =
that
people who are ill have easier access to their family and community support
systems, and we know that this is an important factor in the healing and
overall wellness process. To all that,
let’s add some other factors. The These facts sp=
eak for
themselves. Demand for acute hospital care is increasing and it makes sense=
to
ensure that increased hospital capacity is made available through the terri=
tory
and not to just focus here in As a final poi=
nt, I
would like to highlight at this time that this budget also includes a major
capital contribution of $2.7 million to continue with a number of Infoway-funded system development projects. These inc=
lude
the teleradiology project that will provide dig=
ital
links in This is a budg=
et that
not only responds to the demands of today, but one that also anticipates and
prepares us for the future needs of our health care, continuing care and so=
cial
services. I thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to questions. Mr. Mitchell: Of course, Yuk=
oners do
appreciate — we’ll add our voice to theirs — all the serv=
ices
that are provided across Yukon by all the health care providers, be they
doctors, nurses, technicians, specialists, visiting specialists, now nurse
practitioners and certainly community health nurses and everyone else who
provides us with the excellent care that we get. As the ministe=
r said,
it’s the largest department — almost one-quarter of the budget,
which is both a challenge and an opportunity, I guess. I look forward=
to the
next seven or eight days of good debate. Oh, everybody is awake on that sid=
e. I
thought that the minister would be coming up with a song pretty quickly if I
said that. It probably won’t take quite that long. I would like t=
o start
with sort of the elephant in the room — or one of the elephants in the
room; there might be a few in the pack — and that is the overall cost=
of
providing health care. The minister and I have had some good conversations
about this and indeed we have had, as well, some conversations within the
health oversight committee or the Yukon Health Care Review Oversight Commit=
tee,
I guess it would be called. The Yuk=
on
Health Care Review report identified the potential funding gap between =
the
revenues available for health at the current growth in revenues and the
projected total health expenditures of some $250 million by 2017 or 2018.
Indeed, with just a few exceptions, being 1995 and 1996, the governmentR=
17;s
health care expenditures have been growing at a positive rate under all
governments, some years more than others. We have some y=
ears
where the growth was only 1.7 percent, such as 2003. There are years like 2=
001,
where the chart shows 15.6 percent; 2006, 17.3 percent; and we’ve had
some questions on whether this is sustainable. First of all, =
just for
the record, if I look at the chart that was in that study — page 65 f=
or the
official’s benefit — it was unclear the way it was worded
originally in the study — the Yukon Health Care Review. When it
was worded on page 11 in the summary, it said, and I quote: “If nothi=
ng
is done to control the rate of growth of health care expenditures or increa=
se
revenues to fund it, a growth in health care expenditures will result in a
funding gap that could be as much as $250 million by 2018.” At first I int=
erpreted
that to mean that if nothing has changed or if we didn’t find solutio=
ns,
in 2018 we might have a $500 million health budget with $250 million in
revenues, but as I look at the chart, the accompanying chart from page 65 s=
hows
a gap of perhaps $260 million in projected revenue versus $310 million in
expenditures for that year. So then if you=
go back
down, the chart shows the gap increasing, starting in 2007, and going up. Is
that a cumulative amount over the next decade if nothing were to change, ra=
ther
than a projected amount of shortfall for that year? I just wanted to clarify
that. Hon. Mr. Hart: Mr. Mitchell: Just to ask the
somewhat obvious question — I’ve asked this of the minister bef=
ore,
but we have an opportunity to expand on this now — the projected
reduction for 2010-11 in the main estimates, not a reduction from estimates=
to
estimates, but basically from estimates to estimates, 2009-10 to 2010-11. The numbers are
virtually flat. They were estimated in 2009-10 at 229,546, with the current
year estimate being $23,744,000 — so virtually no increase from estim=
ate
to estimate. But in fact, a substantial $18.2-million decrease, or $18-mill=
ion
decrease, from, to be clear, $18 million — from the forecast amount o=
f $248,751
to what we’re estimating for this year. Yet, as the minister stated in
his opening remarks, our population figures are going up and are at record
levels. Our population demographic is aging, which puts, as the minister has
stated, more demand on the system. We’re undertaking to increase R=
12;
and we think that’s a good thing that we are increasing various areas
that the minister mentioned — to a 17-percent increase for foster care
rates and indexed pioneer grant. There are the plans for the expanded
community-based hospitals in We know that t=
he biggest
change out of that $18 million is in Health Services for an $11,369,000
decrease from the main estimates to the main
estimates. We do understand that there is some funding that has not yet been
received. The minister referred to THAF and we know that it will be called
something different, but it is that type of funding that has to do with hea=
lth
access and involves everything from more surgeries being available here to =
more
specialist services, et cetera. We know he needs to turn the trajectory aro=
und,
because the report says that, otherwise, we have a serious problem. How can=
we
realistically expect to turn it around so precipitously when all the
demographics that the minister refers to are going in the opposite directio=
n? Hon. Mr. Hart: So as far as t=
he money
goes, as I indicated, I’m very happy that the federal government deci=
ded
to extend our programming, not only for us, but for our two sister territor=
ies
and also allows us — once we work out the actual agreement with the
federal government as to how the money is going to be spent —
that’s still in negotiation right now as I indicated. We’re wo=
rking
with our other two territories on this situation, again, to try to obtain as
much flexibility as possible so that we can utilize that funding in the next
two years to look at how we can close the gap in the future and also, as I
indicated in my initial address, put forth a wellness program for citizens.=
Just for the m=
ember
opposite, I think we brought this forth in our oversight committee. One of =
the
issues that was brought up in the review was tha=
t many
Yukoners feel it’s time for Yukoners to look after themselves. They f=
eel
that’s an important element toward reducing health care for the We believe that
working on the wellness strategy, as well as, again, developing our social
inclusion strategy, will provide excellent tools for us to look at in reduc=
ing
our cost to the health care system, as well as the aging symposium, which we
are just in the process of right now — to ensure that our individuals=
who
are aging do it with grace. I have to be careful how I say that, because I
guess I’m in that category now. When I was at =
the
symposium, it was amazing to see the wide variety of individuals there, fro=
m me
all the way to individuals in their early 90s. Those people were taking a v=
ery
good and active role in the aging well strategy and providing good input to
that process. I might also a=
dd, Mr.
Chair, that there was a substantial number of
representatives from the rural areas in Again, educati=
on is an
important aspect for all citizens of the Physical activ=
ity
doesn’t mean just sports. It means all aspects, dealing with walking,
just getting out — activities, canoeing — in the summer now that
the weather is warm. It was pretty nice this morning when I came to work, b=
ut
might be a little tough going home. In essence, I =
think that
the member opposite gets the point that I’m driving at. We’re
looking at trying to encourage people to basically eat healthily and get so=
me
activity out there, so that we can cut down on obesity and also cut down on=
our
visits to the hospital as well as our local doctors. In addition, some of o=
ur
health care costs are not really controlled by us. We just don’t have=
in
many cases the facilities. We don’t have the numbers sometimes in dea=
ling
with it. Dialysis is a perfect example — we don’t have the numb=
ers
or the technology or the ability to provide that service in the Again, we̵=
7;ve
seen many of those costs increasing over time. But again, I’ll reiter=
ate
that those costs are increasing right across One aspect I
didn’t talk about that’s very prevalent in Mr. Mitchell: Of course we a=
ll have
to define just how gracefully we’re aging, but as long as we’re
aging — consider the alternative, Mr. Chair. The minister h=
ad quite
a lot of information in that response and yes, regarding diabetes, among the
materials I have here is A Strategic
Response to Diabetes — Yukon 2009-2012. It says here, since
we’re talking about health care costs: estimated direct costs of trea=
ting
diabetes in That’s a
doubling and that’s a serious problem in dollars. The prevalence of
diabetes reflects a serious problem. We know that there is far more youth
diabetes than there used to be and we know that it’s particularly
prevalent in First Nation populations, so we have to be very vigilant about
that. I would say to the minister that since the sitting started, I have di=
scovered
that I have lost five pounds simply by substituting a McIntosh apple a day =
for
the chocolate treat I used to grab at the breaks. This is not an occupation
that lends to a great deal of opportunities for physical activity while
we’re sitting — hence it’s called “sitting.” =
When the minis=
ter goes
to <=
/span>I
believe that’s cumulative on the process to go out to the future. <=
/span>I
thank the member opposite for the question. This funding will be adjusted in
the supplementary in the fall when we finally get our monies from the feder=
al
government as they relate to THAF, which is actually a substantial amount of
money. I will also state for the record that last year’s hike also re=
presents
a large amount of money that was left over in THAF and that was brought for=
ward
from the previous year. The spike in last year is because of that particular
process.Yukon
Anyway, gettin=
g back
to the numbers, Mr. Chair, I’m still struggling with them a little bi=
t,
because while the minister indicated that some of the extra spending in 200=
9-10
was left over THAF funding from previous years, the fact of the matter is t=
hat
the money was spent presumably on providing health care to Yukoners. Obviou=
sly
it was put to needed uses and so it does beg the question of how much of it=
was
spent on one-time improvements, where you spend it and you don’t have=
to
spend it again, and how much of it is spent on providing additional trips f=
or
medical experts to come in, additional orthopaedic
surgeries such knee surgeries done in Yukon and so forth. I would ask the
minister when he is next on his feet to indicate how much money is anticipa=
ted
for the THAF, or whatever it is going to be called at this point, in the
current fiscal year. I thought that the spending was in the $6 million to 7=
.5
million a year range in the past and so that would only make up a portion of
the decrease that we were looking to spend.
It would beg t=
he
question of what services might not be continuing that existed in the past.=
In
looking at the briefing notes, Mr. Chair, I note under Health Services the
reduction of $11,369,000. It said this includes the internationally educated
health professional project, THAF, tri-territorial operational secretariat,
patient wait-times guarantee pilot project and pan-territorial oral health
initiative — so I would ask, are all these projects currently in fact
terminated, or are they sort of dormant awaiting the funding?
What has happe=
ned to
the FTEs who were working on these projects, the personnel? What’s
happening to those services and the clients who were previously served whil=
e we
await additional funding? Or are we in fact simp=
ly
continuing all of the programs with the knowledge that the funding will arr=
ive
during the year? Again, how much will that funding be, if that’s what
we’re doing?
When I looked =
at the
yellow pages — not referencing a phone book, but the yellow pages in =
the
budget for Health and Social Services — particularly pages 12-27 to
12-35, the statistics are up. As the minister has said, the population is
projected or estimated to be 35,000 compared to 34,500; physician services =
in
Yukon, 240,000 visits or incidents versus 235,000; out-of-territory, 35,000
versus 34,500; Whitehorse General Hospital, a total between emergency room =
patient
days, patient admissions, out-patient visits, et cetera of 78,500 versus 77=
,000
previously; surgical cases, 2,650 instead of 2,600.
I won’t =
read
them all, but pharmacare program subscribers increased, chronic disease pro=
gram
subscribers increased, children’s drug and optical program subscribers
projected to increase; travel for medical treatment within
Again, if the =
minister
could be more precise in explaining how much funding is anticipated from TH=
AF
with replacement programs in revenue in the current fiscal year, 2010-11, a=
nd
how, if that doesn’t add up to the $18 million that we are projecting=
to
spend less than we did spend last year, how are we providing all these
increased services to more people of an aging population with less money th=
is
year? Long term, I know there are strategies, but how are we doing it this
year?
Hon. Mr. Hart: We’re looking at approximatel=
y $15
million over the remaining two years of the THAF programming. We’re
looking at $1.6 million for medical travel; looking at $4.3 million just for
THAF programming and an additional $2 million for the operational secretari=
at,
which is a joint facility between us and our sister
territories — and that is how we currently fund the process. Basically
that is just a carry-over of the procedure that is there and the remaining
dollar differential relates to the previous supplement=
aries
on the money that was carried forward under THAF, which was carried forward=
previously
and not used.
Mr. Mitchell:
The minister h=
as
explained that the funding was left over, but he didn’t answer the pa=
rt
of the question about the services that the funding was provided to, as to
whether those services were one-time services — something that one do=
es
once, which tends to be more on the capital side than the O&M side. But
perhaps a computerization project or something like that — that’=
;s
done once and then it’s there for the next decade versus services or =
the
description of them, such as the wait-times guarantee pilot project. Presum=
ably,
once you’ve done the pilot project, if it has improved wait-times, you
want to carry forward providing the service.
So I’m t=
rying to
determine if there are services that we’re not going to carry forward
with as a result of this funding differential.
Hon. Mr. Hart: With regard to the THAF or THSSI fu=
nding,
the original concept behind the funding that was provided by the federal
government to the northern territories at the time was to basically provide=
the
funding to search for innovative ways that the northern territories could
provide services to their citizens, and they could achieve getting preventi=
on
programs that would enable them to provide services to other citizens.
In almost all =
cases,
Mr. Chair, these services would have a natural end date in their process and
that was there. But there was a delay in getting this program commenced and=
off
the ground. In fact, it took almost a year before we actually received any
monies under this program and, as such, it took us a little while to get mo=
ving
under our programs.
We had things
developed, but it took money and time to get here to the
We did have ma=
ny
programs under THAF that were being provided. We are looking at providing
funding for social inclusion, and the healthy aging strategy. We’re
looking at continuing care accreditation. We’re looking at the
children’s mental health study, and we’re looking at mental hea=
lth
complex cases for housing. We’re looking at the cancer care navigator=
program
and we’re looking at a mentorship program. These are just some of the
programs we’re looking at providing under THAF in the remaining two y=
ears
for the programming that’s going to be received from the federal
government — from the Department of Health and Social Services.
Previously, as=
I
stated, the funding was provided for innovative ways that the territories c=
ould
provide services. We provided a substantial amount of programming in the
prevention and education aspect. Again, these were programs that don’t
require a substantial amount of, say, ongoing expenditures.
But, again, be=
cause we
had some difficulty getting off the ground initially, we had some back-ups.=
As
such, we had a bit of a back-load in the previous year.
One of the pro= grams that was very successful under the THAF programm= ing was our mobile palliative care unit. This mobile palliative care unit prove= d to be very successful.
We are getting
excellent service under this process, and we are continuing to extend this
program for the remaining two years of this THAF agreement but, when we were
doing our assessment of the THAF funding and the programming, we looked at =
some
specific programs that we felt were very necessary to continue and to ensure
that these services were provided to Yukoners and, as such, we know that we
will continue on with the palliative care unit, whether the funding continu=
es
from the federal government or not. We will put that palliative care program
into our base funding in 2012 so that we can continue to provide that servi=
ce,
along with several other programs that have been identified. We’re in
that process right now of determining which programs we will carry on into =
the
future.
There are some
programs that have a natural end and we will follow through with that proce=
ss,
and there are other programs that we have to do some further assessment on:
where we are going to go with them and how we’re going to deal with t=
hem.
All the indivi=
duals
who have been attached to the THAF funding have been put on notice of just
exactly what their terms of reference are. In many cases, term positions we=
re
provided and we are following through with our commitment to them.
We’ll be
following through, as I said, with our review of what we call the essential
programming and, once we have completed that, we will follow through with t=
he
funding and ensure that our funding is provided for those programs for the =
remaining
two years.
Just for the m=
ember
opposite, it’s actually $15.8 million over two years.
Mr. Mitchell:
The minister d=
id
mention several more programs that are being tried and he mentioned the mob=
ile
palliative care unit and said that will be extended, regardless of whether
there’s funding coming from the feds. Can the minister provide us wit=
h a
list and description of what new innovative ways we’ve tried out that=
we
are going to now implement and what services they provide? When we say R=
20;innovative”,
are they just providing better services or are they more cost-effective as
well?
Also, the mini=
ster
made reference to putting personnel who were in term positions for the THAF=
on
notice. I’m not sure what he meant by that. Are there a certain numbe=
r of
term positions that are being anticipated to be allowed to expire and can t=
he
minister tell us what that number is?
Chair: Order please. Committee of the Whole wil=
l recess
for 10 minutes.
Recess
Chair: Order please. The bill before the Commit=
tee is
Bill No. 20, First Appropriation Act, 2010-11, Vote 15.
Mr. Mitchell:
I have a lette=
r in
front of me, Mr. Chair, and maybe the minister can let us know whether any =
of
this funding would apply in this area. It is for a
Is any of this=
funding
coming in the THAF — whatever it’s called this year — goi=
ng
to improve wait-times for specialist services, including ophthalmologic
appointments?
Hon. Mr. Hart: With regard to our funding, as I in=
dicated,
we are still in negotiations with the federal government with regard to that
funding and how it’s going to be utilized, because they have indicated
that there will be some restrictions on its use. We are working with our si=
ster
territories on trying to get, as I indicated previously, as much flexibilit=
y as
we can on that funding as to what it can be used for. We are working toward=
, as
I said, getting as much flexibility as we had before and we’re looking
for something similar to what we had in the previous agreement. Right now,
until such a time as we can sit down with the federal government and work o=
ut
what the details are going to be, the federal government has indicated to us
that they want to see some improvement in some specific areas. Right now,
we’re negotiating with them on those areas.
Until such a t=
ime as
we can get that kind of information down, we won’t be in a position t=
o,
basically, determine the final outcome until later on this year — whe=
n we
can utilize and what programs we’re going to be able to go to, depend=
ing
on the results that we get from the federal government, in particular, the
Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Mitchell:
Earlier, we we=
re
speaking about diabetes. The minister raised it, and I responded with some
questions — or a question — about the importance of dealing with
it. I note, in that report A Strate=
gic
Response to Diabetes: Yukon 2009-2012, there’s a summary document
that includes the different jurisdictions and what their diabetes strategy =
are.
We are in the minority.
There are a few
provinces, but even our sister territories are working on strategies.
“As of F=
ebruary
2009 it was anticipated that N.W.T.’s Strat=
egy
will be tabled to the Minister in the near future.” It says here, =
220;
We know that there is an increase, certainly in juvenile diabetes. We know that First Nation communities ̵= 2; and some 24 percent or 25 percent of our population is First Nation —= are more susceptible to diabetes. Can the minister provide us with an update? D= o we now have a formal diabetes strategy? If not, when is it planned to have one= and if we have one, is it being implemented?
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>We
are looking at dealing with diabetes. We are also trying to look at dealing
with nutrition, activity, prevention, and diabetes, again, will be an essen=
tial
part of dealing with our wellness project. For the member opposite, we do h=
ave
a substantial diabetes prevention program, which is being operated by the Y=
ukon
Hospital Corporation program and is being handled through them. Those servi=
ces are is being provided — services for those with
diabetes.
Mr. Mitchell:
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>As
I indicated, we are looking at dealing with diabetes through our wellness
program, which will include nutrition, which will include activities, which
will include prevention, and diabetes will form part of an essential part of
that process in dealing with wellness. In conjunction, as I said, Mr. Chair,
we’re working with the Yukon Hospital Corporation, which has a diabet=
es
prevention program.
Mr. Mitchell:
I think I ment=
ioned at
the outset the elephant in the room, and said that maybe there was a few
— so I’ll move on to another one of the elephants in the room. =
Now
is as good a time as any — and that’s this whole series of issu=
es
and questions revolving around the decision process to replace the cottage =
hospital
in Watson Lake — let’s agree among us that it needs to be repla=
ced,
that it’s aging and not up to standards, and that the people deserve a
better facility than that — and to also replace the community nursing
facility in Dawson with regional medical centres — which, as the mini=
ster
says, are expanded community-based hospitals. They’re much more than =
just
acute care hospitals. It’s a major decision, and we have been trying =
to
determine how the decision-making process occurred, really throughout this
sitting and from before this sitting, without much success.
There was a tr=
ansfer
of responsibilities April 1 to the Yukon Hospital Corporation. We did ask
questions a couple of weeks ago — April 15th or 16th<=
/sup>
in this Assembly — of the chair and the CEO. We got some answers. Amo=
ng
the answers was a promise to provide some studies to us. I would note for t=
he
record that we have received no correspondence from the chair or the CEO of=
the
Hospital Corporation since that time, so we are as absent of studies now as=
we
were then.
When we asked =
the
minister in the past, the minister has said to ask the chair, so just for t=
he
record we have asked the chair. Again, I want to note for the record that we
agree and support the government’s position that improved services ne=
ed
to exist in those two communities. We’re just trying to find the
evidence-based reasoning behind the decision to go from a cottage hospital =
in
What we know o=
f that
study is that it addressed issues such as the plumbing that was embedded in=
the
slab, for example, on the ground floor. Was the drain plumbing and the supp=
ly
plumbing in the right position and of the right standard and right dimensio=
ns
for the use that it would be converted to if it became incorporated into a =
hospital?
Were the elevator shafts of the right size for a hospital, as opposed to an
extended care facility? Were the door openings the right size?
In other words=
, it was
a functional study to determine if this was a practical change of use for a
building that had been built for another purpose. We don’t believe th=
ere
was anything in that study that was intended to answer the question or desi=
gned
to examine the issue of what kind of hospital ought to be built or whether
there should be a hospital built instead of a multi-level health care facil=
ity.
Secondly, Reso=
urce
Planning Group examined the question, and we’re not sure about this
because we don’t have the study. We’re pretty certain the minis=
ter
must have read the study, but we just haven’t had a copy of it.
Our understand=
ing from
Question Period questions and from other debate in this House is that what =
RPG was
doing was examining what kind of requirements would there be in a hospital
— if a hospital were to be built, what it should include.
What we haven&=
#8217;t
been able to find out: did the government before making the decision to not
just convert the existing shell for the multi-level health care facility to=
a
hospital, but in the decision-making process — because the initial ch=
ange
was sometimes described by the Premier as the fact that
Is there a stu=
dy that
the government did in the decision-making process to say, “This is wh=
at
we should build, this is why we should build it, this is what it would do, =
this
is what the savings would be,” because the Premier said to the Chambe=
r of
Commerce last month that there would be a savings in health care costs as a
result of this — how to quantify those savings, what is the study, who
did it, when did they do it, and can we see it?
Hon. Mr. Hart: Let’s see if we can rotate th=
is
back to 2004 or wherever it was. Back in 2004 — I think it was somewh=
ere
around there. Anyway, 2005 — when they were looking at putting a
multi-facility in Watson Lake at the time, they were looking at land, which=
we
happened to own, which was adjacent to the hospital, and that’s one of
the reasons it was put there.
Mr. Chair, we =
got
looking into the hospital just shortly thereafter, and we found that the
hospital in
As such, there=
was a
decision made to look at the facility that was being built adjacent to the
hospital at that time to see if it could be converted to a hospital from a
multi-level care facility, which it was being originally built for.
Now, Mr. Chair=
, I
think in this House we have had many discussions, many Question Periods, ma=
ny
to-and-fro answers with regard to this. I don’t think I have to go in=
to a
long dissertation of where we were with regard to the so-called shell.
The Yukon Hosp=
ital Corporation
was looking at their issue with regard to the hospital. In looking at the
operation of that particular facility, we asked the Yukon Hospital Corporat=
ion
if they would consider looking at that facility and taking on the managemen=
t of
the
Mr. Chair, a
substantial amount of work went into consultation with the staff and the
citizens of
The Hospital
Corporation hired a consulting firm to do an assessment of the shell to
determine if it could be converted into a hospital and also to provide some
work on what would be required to upgrade the facility in order to meet the=
standards
of a hospital versus a multi-level facility. Obviously there is additional =
work
that had to be done and so the engineers were brought in to do an assessmen=
t of
that shell and look at the facility itself. The member opposite gave several
examples of some of the considerations in which these engineers would have =
to
review in order to make their assessment. The assessment was completed and =
the information
was provided to the Yukon Hospital Corporation.
There was some=
amount
of work identified that would mitigate some of the issues in the shell, so =
that
it could accommodate the hospital. But, in essence, it indicated that they
could utilize the facility for the said hospital.
Now, based upo=
n that
information, Yukon Hospital Corporation also went out and received another
consultant to do an estimate on what the facility could be utilized for in =
the
space that was being allocated for the hospital, and what was the best use,=
and
what could provide the best services in that hospital for the citizens of
Watson Lake and how could they take advantage of that facility and basically
ensure that the services would not only be the same as the cottage hospital
that was built previously in 1979 or 1978, but could be enhanced services f=
or
the citizens of Watson Lake.
So, a substant=
ial
amount of work was done on the design and the make-up to ensure that the
facility could provide the services and match the services and in fact, exc=
eed
the services provided by the existing
So, again, tha=
t work
was completed. The firm provided has an extensive amount of experience in d=
oing
these assessments specifically in medical institutions. They provided that =
information
to the Yukon Hospital Corporation. That information then was submitted to t=
he
Yukon Hospital Corporation Board at their general meeting and a decision was
taken at that time to look at moving forward and doing a further assessment=
in
addition to dealing with the staff with the idea that, if everything goes
according to the plan, the Hospital Corporation would take over the managem=
ent
of the facility on April 1, 2010.
Now, Mr. Chair=
, there
was, as I stated before, a substantial amount of work done, a substantial
amount of consultation done, both with the citizens of Watson Lake and the
staff — the medical staff of Whitehorse hospital and also the consult=
ants,
who have again massive amount of experience in this particular area.
The meetings, =
again,
were held with the staff in the community who basically overwhelmingly
supported this process — overwhelmingly. Now that is not to say that,
when we first announced this, we didn’t have a little bit of a stubble
jump but, Mr. Chair, there was a need to get everyone involved and we got o=
n to
it right away and, from that time on, we held ongoing processes with staff =
and
the community and we got their involvement through the whole process. I can=
say
that I’m not quite sure how many people were there on April 10, but I=
understand
the numbers were quite large in
The aspect of =
delaying
again with enhanced services in
As I’ve
mentioned here on several occasions, individuals will be able to have their
cancer treatments take place in
I also want to=
state
that the CEO of the Yukon Hospital Corporation mentioned here when he was a
witness that the exact dollars and cents with regard to the medevac
expenses could not be determined just yet, because how many medevacs
we have or don’t have is difficult to determine. We could have a very
good year, for example, where we have a few medevacs=
span>,
or we could have a very bad year where we have lots of medevacs.
In the past, a
substantial number of medevacs took place from =
Again, there h=
as been
a substantial amount of work done by the Hospital Corporation with regard to
the
There was also=
work
done on just what type of facility would be built there. The idea is to ens=
ure
that we’re looking at infrastructure that provides complete services =
in
both those communities and will not just be an acute care hospital, but wil=
l be
providing services such as community nursing, providing doctors’ offi=
ces,
and providing all kinds of other services that we provide on a regional bas=
is
through these facilities. The member opposite will remember the first floor,
for example, of the
The main featu=
re there
in Dawson City is that we are hoping to take advantage of the hospital and =
its
facility, so that we can build a replacement for McDonald Lodge and attach =
that
adjacent to the hospital in Dawson City, so that we can utilize both servic=
es
available in Dawson City by mechanical and other shared services that can be
achieved from both facilities in the future and provide excellent services =
for
the citizens of Dawson, and, I might add, for many of the smaller towns and
villages in and around Dawson City. In fact, I have received letters of sup=
port
from Mayo and from First Nations in and around
Mr. Mitchell:
Somewhere in t=
here,
the government asked the Yukon Hospital Corporation to consider that partic=
ular
hospital, which is within their mandate, as has been pointed out. Consultat=
ion
was done with staff and community. The savings in large part will be done in
terms of travel costs. The example given was cancer treatments, and it would
indeed be beneficial to residents to have the chemotherapy in their home co=
mmunity.
We can agree to that.
Then the minis=
ter said
much work was done on just what type of facility should be there. I’m=
not
sure where in that timeline that statement fits. It’s after the
discussion of RPG’s and Kobayashi & Zedda=
217;s
work. I’m not sure who did this much work — whether that’s
the Hospital Corporation, the Department of Health and Social Services, some
working group of the two, or whether there’s an Outside firm — =
to
determine just what type of facility should be there.
I’m not =
certain
whether that work was done before or after the government announced they we=
re
going to build two $25-million facilities. Maybe the minister could clarify
that when he’s next on his feet.
Moving on with=
this
— and we know that the head nurse in Watson Lake had a lot of concerns
about it; the minister says everybody is now on side with what’s being
done so that must be a change from when the report was published by the nur=
se
in charge of Watson Lake hospital and health centre — our vision for
excellent health care delivery in Watson Lake, which was certainly a very
different model, although it did speak to collaborative health care. Maybe
that’s where we’ll finally see collaborative health care that h=
as
been so long promised —
We remain conc=
erned
when we consider the recent letter to the editor from Dr. de la Mare, who
expressed concerns that these two regional hospitals might not be accredited
and would compete for resources with Whitehorse General Hospital, indicating
that the traditional model here and elsewhere is for the major hospital in =
the
major population centre to concentrate their resources because that scene is
most efficient. Are there now studies that have been done to show the oppos=
ite?
And if so, do we stop at
The minister q=
uoted
the recent tragic accident at Wolverine mine. We know that, sadly, one work=
er
was killed, and obviously there was no medical care that could resolve that.
The other injuries were described in the media as being minor and that the
victims were treated and released. Any of us who have had medical issues kn=
ow
that one person’s minor injury is somebody else’s major deal, s=
o I
don’t want to classify anybody’s injury as minor, but when we l=
ook
at the types of injuries that you often have in mining incidents and incide=
nts
with heavy equipment, you’re looking at crush injuries, you’re =
looking
at broken bones and limbs. It’s not anticipated, I would think, that
there’s going to be orthopedic surgeons or perhaps even a general sur=
geon
at these two facilities, since we have a hard enough time maintaining two
surgeons at
So I would hav=
e to
question the minister’s suggestion that everybody can be, or that the=
se
will be the primary locations where people would be medevaced to, should th=
ere
be an industrial accident. They may go — particularly in Dawson where
mining is fairly close at hand — there for first treatment, but then I
would suspect for serious injuries they’re going to be flown to Whitehorse anyway
to see the specialist and perhaps flown beyond Whitehorse down south. I thi=
nk
there is going to be transport involved in any case.
In terms of th=
e other
suggestion the minister has made in the past — that these hospitals w=
ill
be used for overflow purposes — I am not sure we follow the logic in =
that
one. The logic of moving people from Whitehorse to the communities would ap=
pear
to be no better than the logic of moving people from the communities to
Whitehorse — or, no cost savings.
The other issu=
e that
was raised by the chair of the Hospital Corporation, which is — I thi=
nk
he noted that
Can the minist=
er
provide us with some more details on what he meant when he said that the wo=
rk
was done and just what type of facilities should be built there and by whom=
? Is
it internal or is it external — in studies? And also, how does this
decision fit in with the statement that we heard sort of for the first time,
just a few weeks ago, from the chair of the Hospital Corporation that
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>I
guess I’m referring specifically to the Yukon Hospital Corporation wi=
th
regard to the work that was completed for them, to assist them in determini=
ng
what kind of services would be provided, or could be enhanced and done in t=
he
The member opp=
osite
talked about Mr. de la Mare and, I think, something about the head nurse. I
also indicated to the member opposite on several occasions that not all of =
the
employees went to the Hospital Corporation.
Obviously not =
everyone
— 100-percent of those — thought this was a good idea. In essen=
ce,
in our discussions, specifically with the citizens of Watson Lake and with =
the
majority of the staff involved in Watson Lake, especially those who actually
did transfer to the Yukon Hospital Corporation, this was deemed a very good
process and they felt in many cases it was a very good process for them to
consider. It also provided them with the possibility of promotion within the
process. I think that there is an opportunity for all those in
Now the member
opposite talked about what were very limited accidents with regard to minin=
g.
In
They go as far=
as
Now, a substan=
tial
amount of mileage cost is incurred in the territory. We are looking at
approximately $500,000 a year in just mileage costs. Now we’re not go=
ing
to see a total elimination of that particular mileage cost, as the member
opposite indicated.
There are some
services for which they may have to come to
Now, the member
opposite talked about the fact that if you have an accident in
Now, we are lo=
oking
forward to the process with regard to
Mr. Mitchell:
The report abo=
ut
health care delivery in
Then the author of the study, who w=
as the
nurse in charge, went on to say, “We do not believe that a transfer o=
f
It’s not=
ed that
there was nothing in the Yukon Health Care Review study that suggested that a completely different type of health
care delivery at a different model of hospital should be built. It asked the
question, as referenced in this study, about whether the cottage hospital or
its replacement cottage hospital should be transferred under the control of=
the
Yukon Hospital Corporation. Be that as it may, that decision could have gone
either way; the decision has been made.
Nowhere in the=
re was
there discussion of building a completely different type of hospital.
We’ve asked the minister before if he can provide us with the results=
and
the evidence of formal consultation with the Yukon Registered Nurses Associ=
ation,
which has expressed concerns about this, and the Yukon Medical Association.=
The minister m=
ade
reference to “Mr.” de la Mare. I would correct the minister and=
say
“Dr.” de la Mare, who has certainly expressed real concerns abo=
ut
the impact of trying to staff and run these regional health centre hospitals
under the hospital in
So I don’=
;t think
we’ve heard answers yet that explain how this decision-making process
occurred, but I suspect we’re not going to hear them either.
Just to clarif=
y some
things in the budget — there’s a reduction in Health Services
called “program transfer” of a $2,075,000 decrease for the tran=
sfer
of the
The minister s=
aid he
feels that we’ll save money, but he hasn’t really indicated the
impact. He said we don’t know how much money we’ll save and we
can’t predict what type of accidents will occur and of course we
can’t, but we would have liked to have seen more explanation of this
process.
Time is limite=
d, Mr.
Chair. I’m going to move on now to some other areas, although we might
return to this later.
I will ask som=
e questions.
Can the minister tell us — because if you’re building a $25-mil=
lion
hospital and you’re describing the services that will be provided the=
re
and the one that we’ve heard repeatedly is the cancer treatment ̵=
2;
what kind of medical doctors will be resident in
Hon. Mr. Hart: Right now, we’re focusing on =
the
family physicians for both those facilities and we’re in the process =
of
working with the Yukon Hospital Corporation on those needs, and dealing with
meeting the requirements in both those small communities.
Mr. Mitchell:
Hon. Mr. Hart: Obviously, I can’t answer tha=
t question.
The Yukon Hospital Corporation did and I believe — I don’t have=
the
Blues here, but I think the question was asked of the chair of the Hospital
Corporation when he was here with regard to that facility. I think the
percentage rate was at least provided; I’m pretty sure of that. I am =
not
in possession or in control of what the rate of interest will be for the =
span>
Mr. Mitchell:
Hon. Mr. Hart: <=
/span>I
believe that I discussed this question with him once before. We will be
providing the Hospital Corporation with a contribution for some of the proc=
ess.
We’ll also be providing rent for the other space that’s going t=
o be
allocated in the facility. That rent will go toward the retirement of the l=
oan.
Mr. Mitchell:
Hon. Mr. Hart: Well, obviously, as I indicated, we=
are
hoping to utilize that infrastructure for the purposes of Health and Social
Services, and we will have to negotiate some deals with the Hospital
Corporation on the space provided, depending upon what’s available in
each of those facilities.
Mr. Mitchell:
Is that correc=
t?
Hon. Mr. Hart: Currently we are paying rent and we=
plan
to utilize that rent toward paying the loan.
Mr. Mitchell:
Mr. Chair, I=
8217;d
like to turn to the Thomson Centre and see if we can get any better answers
than we got briefly during supplementary debate. The minister said during
supplementary debate that, while the Thomson Centre wasn’t really in =
that
budget — but it’s part of this year’s budget or it should=
be
— can the minister tell us where the $2 million in capital costs for =
this
year before it opens is coming from? Who is paying for that — the
Department of Health or the Hospital Corporation with additional funds to be
transferred from the Department of Health — whether there’s an
O&M projection for the new pod at the Thomson Centre and the future
continued expansion and renovation timeline and costs? I’ll group tho=
se
together so that we can perhaps make some progress.
Hon. Mr. Hart: For the member opposite, I guess
I’m not in a much better position than I was the last time he asked t=
his
question. We currently have the consultants in there doing design work on t=
he
Thomson Centre. They are identifying the work that has to be done in the
Thomson Centre to bring it up to code and also to bring it up to the standa=
rd
for accreditation of continuing care.
That currently=
is
underway. We are hopeful that we will have that information next month and =
that
we will be able to put an RFP out this summer so that repair work can be do=
ne
and we can have that work completed and hopefully move into that facility l=
ate
in the fall.
Mr. Mitchell:
I believe that=
either
the minister or the Justice minister — I
apologize for not recalling which minister — has indicated this is be=
ing
looked at or considered. Is there any more information the minister can
provide? For example, there’s still the unknown of what services will=
be
provided in the building currently built as the women’s transition ce=
ntre
when it’s turned over to the Department of Health and Social Services=
. Is
this one possibility for that building? Or has the consideration and planni=
ng
gotten to any kind of a level where the minister can provide us with some
answers about whether the government will take this on and, if so, how they=
’re
planning on doing it?
Hon. Mr. Hart: With regard to this program, I indi=
cated
earlier today that we would be working with the Justice department and other
related departments and the RCMP with regard to this issue. I’m looki=
ng
at trying to deal with this situation. In keeping with our platform commitm=
ent
of strengthening governance of partnerships, we were going to— this
project is basically looking at an update of the status of individuals who =
are
inebriated.
We are looking=
at
trying to do an assessment of the service gaps that are identified for these
individuals. We are looking at implementing solutions to address health and
legal concerns, identifying options to assist a specific client group. We a=
re
looking at reducing individuals requiring the emergency health care system,
reducing deaths due to substance abuse, decreasing the rate of re-contact w=
ith
the criminal justice system and lowering the incidence of public intoxicati=
on.
Obviously this
requires, again, a lot of work within the departments to deal with this
situation and this is something that has to be looked at very closely. It is
also going to be very important to ensure that we build the right facility =
or
look at the right aspect of how we’re going to approach these individ=
uals
and not just pick them up and throw them into the drunk tank — but ev=
en
if we pick them up, we have to have a place to take them.
In some cases,=
the
hospital is the place to take them — not always, but it is a place wh=
ere
they have to go, especially if they need medical attention. The other thing
that we’re looking at, or has to be addressed, as I indicated —=
we
have to look at reducing the individuals’ need to go to emergency. We=
are
looking at having a place where we can put people, but in facilities that a=
re
safe and look after their needs and really take into consideration the
person’s substance abuse. I think our objective in the long term is to
decriminalize this issue somewhat — you know, take it out of the aspe=
ct
that it is right now — and deal with it basically as a health and soc=
ial
issue. Again, this is a large program that has to be worked on from a socie=
tal
point of view.
We have to get=
the
community onside; we have to get the individuals onside; we have to get our
First Nation groups onside and all those stakeholders who are involved in t=
his
process. We have to seek out their information to come up with a solution t=
hat
in the long run, again, will take the stigma of this situation out of our
community and hopefully prevent the problem that we recently have been
discussing in the House.
I think that w=
hat
we’re looking at by taking a different approach with regard to indivi=
duals
who are inebriated in public, on a repeated basis, is that we have to look =
at
methods of putting them into facilities, so individuals who are experienced=
can
discuss the individuals’ problem with them.
I mean, obviou=
sly, we
have to take care of the individual until they’re at least in the sta=
te
where our social worker or our health worker can assist them and hopefully =
get
them into a treatment program that will assist the individuals with their
addiction problem. The big thing for us is to ensure that the individuals a=
re
treated humanely and, if they do need medical assistance, that medical assi=
stance
is provided to each and every client to ensure that their health is looked
after and, in the long term, their particular ad=
diction
is being treated.
Yes, we are lo=
oking at
that particular aspect, and we hope to get that underway. Again, that’=
;s
something that will be done in conjunction with the other departments in
relation to providing services — Justice department, Health and Social
Services — possibly directly with Alcohol and Drug Services in dealing
with these individuals and incorporating our Sarah Steele Building somehow =
into
this process, and that will provide a very important element for individuals
who need our assistance to make it through the day.
The large part=
of the
process in dealing with individuals who are inebriated, again, is to ensure
that they have a safe place to stay. We will be looking at this, and this w=
ill
guide us in our process and give us some time to think about solutions. I t=
hink
the members opposite from the Third Party brought up other solutions today =
and
yesterday with regard to this also.
We will look a=
t these
facilities Outside and consider what the pluses =
and
minuses are. Across
In all cases, =
medical
staff has to be there, has to be provided. It’s a kicker.
Seeing the tim=
e, Mr.
Chair, I move that we report progress.
Chair: It has been moved by Mr. Hart that Commi=
ttee
of the Whole report progress.
Motion agreed to
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
Mr. Chair, I move that the Speaker =
do now
resume the Chair.
Chair: It has been moved by Ms. Taylor that the=
Speaker
do now resume the Chair.
Motion agreed to
Speaker resumes the Chair
Speaker: I will now call the House to order.
May the House =
have a
report from the Chair of Committee of the Whole?
Chair’s report
Mr. Nordick: <=
/span>Mr.
Speaker, Committee of the Whole has considered Bill No. 20, First Appropriation Act, 2010-11, =
and
directed me to report progress.
Speaker: You have heard the report from the Chair=
of
Committee of the Whole. Are you agreed?
Some Hon. Members: =
b> Agreed.
Speaker: I declare the report carried.
Hon. Ms. Taylor: =
<=
/span>I
move that the House do now adjourn.
Speaker: It has been moved by the Government House
Leader that the House do now adjourn.
Motion agreed to
Speaker: This House now stands adjourned until =
span>
The House adjourned at
The following documents were filed
10-1-146
10-1-147
10-1-148
Yukon Lottery
Commission 2008-2009 Annual Report (Kenyon)
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