Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 21/05) - An internal government e-mail released Wednesday suggests a Yellowknife home for troubled children will be moved to Hay River for "political" reasons.

The revelation comes after months of political posturing over the planned move of the 52nd Street Territorial Treatment Centre, announced by government earlier this year.

In the e-mail - made public after an access to information request - Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services Dave Murray discussed an interview he gave on the controversial move.

"I tried to give a good bureaucratic answer," Murray wrote in the May 6 message to a department spokesperson.

"But frankly the decision was political (not bureaucratic) and there is only so far I can speak to this."

Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay called the e-mail a "smoking gun" during a fiery session of the legislative assembly.

The note proves the territorial government is more interested in political gamesmanship than the welfare of children, Ramsay said.

"How can we trust cabinet decisions?" he asked.

Health and Social Services Minister Michael Miltenberger had his own interpretation of the e-mail.

What Murray meant, Miltenberger said, was that he could not comment on the political decisions made in cabinet. Miltenberger maintained his deputy did not mean to suggest the move was made as part of some back room deal.

"(Murray) knows very clearly the role of a deputy minister," Miltenberger said. "He is not is a position to talk about what happens in cabinet."

The eight-bed centre has been in Yellowknife for 15 years and is home to children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. It has 17 full-time and six part-time staff.

The decision to move the centre sparked a furore among Yellowknife MLAs.

Wednesday, those members lined up to take shots at the Health and Social Services department and the government.

"The whole cabinet betrayed (our) trust," said Great Slave MLA Bill Braden. "Enough politics in the welfare of our children."

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins called the move "political two-stepping" and accused the government of having "cloudy ethics."

The four regular MLAs from Yellowknife called on Miltenberger to keep the program in the capital.

The health minister said the move will go-ahead, but the department would "continue to look at ways to better serve the youth of the Northwest Territories."

Premier Joe Handley was also peppered during question period by MLAs upset with the Murray e-mail.

"We are all politicians. We all make political decisions," he said.

One factor behind the transfer is the government's desire to decentralize services, Miltenberger said. The program is slated to move into an abandoned jail for young offenders in Hay River when the current contract expires in 2007. The Hay River building is slated to undergo $3.2 million in renovations. It closed last year after a centre for young offenders opened in Yellowknife.

While some MLAs questioned whether Hay River could handle the program, Miltenberger said he was confident there would be no reduction in services or patient care.

Several treatment centre employees sat in the gallery during question period and clapped as Yellowknife MLAs tore into the government.

A 707-name petition opposing the move was tabled in the legislative assembly Wednesday.