Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the Government of the Northwest Territories begin research to examine options and potential benefits for introduction of a mental health court diversion program as an adjunct to the new court system;

And further, that this government make note of this initiative as a recommendation included in the transition advice being offered to the 17th Legislative Assembly. Mahsi.

I appreciate the response. It sounds pretty confusing still to me, so I’m going to study up a little bit on this. I appreciate those comments.

For some reason the WSCC has stopped publishing the accident frequency rates that tell us how different types of workplaces compare in terms of accidents, lost time, et cetera. Can the Minister of Human Resources tell me how the GNWT workplace accident and safety statistics compare to other major employers? Are we the best? The worst? What are the facts here?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my statement earlier today, I’d like to ask questions of the Minister of Human Resources. I’d like to start by noting that the GNWT is one of the territory’s biggest employers. The human, financial, and even governance costs of poor health and safety practices can be very significant.

The Minister’s response to my written inquiry said that GNWT is taking steps to create the health and safety committee structures required by law by the end of this fiscal year. Can the Minister tell me why these committees are not already in place three years after the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m alarmed to hear about the apparently huge issue of health and safety performance in the GNWT workplace. Information received from the Minister of Human Resources describes GNWT performance under the Safe Advantage program created by the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission in 2007. It says that employers with proven safety and return-to-work practices receive a refund and employers with poor safety and return-to-work practices pay a penalty.

Since the program was created in 2007, the GNWT has never received a good performance refund. In fact, over the past...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be happy to provide you many examples, many of which you will be very familiar, of exactly this situation in which the Member was allowed to have that question to the Minister during his general comments. With that, I will continue, Mr. Chair.

I wanted to note that the department did come forward with a communications plan, which we had asked for and were very happy to see. I think there’s a lot of good material in that. The Minister does note in that that he will be working with the Students Against Distracted Driving, and he also has commented that he will be...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to continue my general comments that were wrongly cut off by the Chair earlier today. That’s correct. I would like to note...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate this opportunity to comment on this legislation. I want to start by saying that I’m pleased to see this legislation come forward. This legislation does begin to address the many, many constituent concerns that have been raised from my Weledeh constituents who have had near misses as they’re walking along the road, some in vehicles. This is a real concern and I believe this is a sincere effort on the side of the department to address this.

Unfortunately, however -- and I cite largely the material provided by the department here -- this doesn’t go far enough...

Of course, I didn’t ask for those categories. It’s obvious, as we’ve heard, that we’re paying the biggest fine, so we’re clearly in the worst category. I asked for rates, statistics, and I’m hoping the Minister will provide those to us. Examples of good safety practices are available at most mines and industrial workplaces. Safety is usually right in your face. Even when I attended a meeting at the Explorer Hotel, we started with safety protocols simply identifying where the fire exits are and other important facts. So I know these workplaces have vibrant health and safety committees up and...

That’s good to hear and I hope the Minister will keep us apprised on that. Thank you.

I’m very pleased to hear those comments from the Minister. The scientific information is obviously too powerful to ignore here. If foresters growing trees had similar information, for example, they wouldn’t wait until seedlings are five years old to get the best yields. They’d pour on the fertilizer the moment the seed is planted and we must do the same with our most precious resources.

Given the Aboriginal Student Initiative work will be incomplete without full inclusion of early childhood development considerations, and yet the ECE review is ongoing, how will the Minister ensure that results...