Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 06/05) - A Yellowknife MLA says the GNWT broke government protocol in making the decision to move a territorial treatment centre to Hay River from Yellowknife.

Instead of paying for $3 million in repairs to the centre's Yellowknife building, the government will spend the money renovating Hay River's Dene K'onia remand centre.

The move will see Hay River - which lost more than 15 full-time equivalent positions when the remand centre closed in April - gain 23 jobs in what has been called political payback by Yellowknife MLAs.

Eight children currently at the treatment centre are affected by various behavioural disorders.

The topic dominated question period in more than one day of last week's session.

"We came back into this house just last week, and we find out it's a done deal," said Great Slave MLA Bill Braden of the centre's relocation. Braden had earlier been quoted as supporting the move.

In a government directive concerning adjustment to capital projects, changes of $100,000 or 20 per cent of the budget, require the minister to advise the appropriate committee and the MLA affected by that decision.

"The minister has some explaining to do," said Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay last week in the assembly.

Finance Minister Floyd Roland called a point of order on the topic Thursday, calling Ramsay's allegations of rule-bending inappropriate. A speaker's ruling on Roland's point will not be made until the house meets again in October.

"The committees have been made aware in the past," Roland said outside the assembly, adding informal meetings were also held.

But the directive "doesn't say how you will do the consultation," he said, noting the directive should change such that written notification becomes necessary.

Yellowknife Catholic School Board chair Shannon Gullberg says her organization, which provides staff to the centre, was also not adequately consulted.

"We feel there has been a total disregard for the human element in this situation," wrote Gullberg in a letter to Braden. "This impacts children, staff, families and professional working relationships, and disregards the complexity of providing services for children who are at risk."