Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Water testing "is not rigorously being done in all communities," Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny told the legislative assembly Tuesday.

Dolynny pointed to gaps in the 2010 GNWT Report on Drinking Water, released in September 2011 by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

"According to MACA's water quality website, there has been no chemical testing in Hay River or Nahanni Butte since 2009. No chemical tests were done in Yellowknife, Jean Marie River or Trout Lake in 2011. Water in Wrigley was only tested for bacteria on one date in 2011. Bacterial testing in Lutsel K'e and Trout Lake was incomplete in 2011," said Dolynny during his member's statement. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is "working with the communities" and "for the most part all communities are doing a pretty good job," according to its minister, Robert C. McLeod.

The responsibility for establishing and enforcing water quality guidelines is split among four GNWT departments as well as the federal government, Dolynny said, before asking McLeod which territorial department would report back to the assembly about the missing water quality tests.

"I will follow up with the other departments and see what we can come up with and see who's responsible at the end of the day to report the findings," said McLeod.

Dolynny said he was "very much alarmed to know that we weren't, as a government, enforcing the very set of guidelines and standards for our testing. "

Hawkins adamant about need for addictions treatment centre

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins has been focused on advocating for a territorial addictions treatment centre since the legislative assembly session began on Tuesday. Hawkins said "it would be nice" to have a treatment centre in Yellowknife but anywhere in the NWT would do, as long as it is accessible and well-managed.

Health and Social Services Minister Tom Beaulieu acknowledged the prevalence of addictions in the NWT but defended his department's funding decisions.

"Right now there's a treatment centre in Hay River and it's 49 per cent occupied," Beaulieu said Tuesday. "The people are saying what we need is ... on-the-land addictions and mental health treatment. The department is trying to move in that direction."

On Wednesday, Hawkins challenged Beaulieu on suitability of the Hay River treatment centre to deal with various kinds of addictions, saying, "Nats'ejee K'eh does not provide medical services for those people who have, say, a crack-cocaine addiction or an ecstasy addiction or any other type of pill addiction ... I'm sorry to say, with all great and kind respect, that on-the-land programs do not solve the hard drug problems."

Though Beaulieu would not commit to fund a residential detox and treatment centre, he ended his exchange with Hawkins by expressing his willingness to "talk to the MLAs and discuss the possibility of moving more money into detox."

Create more diamond opportunities for Northern artisans, Bromley urges

Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley sang the praises of Northern artisans Thursday and urged the GNWT to look for ways to marry artisans' existing design skills with the burgeoning Northern diamond industry.

"Our arts are our competitive advantage but we've been lacking in training needed to produce fine jewelry," said Bromley.

He said it is tough for the Northern diamond mining industry to compete on a global scale and that providing technical training for artisans "would develop a strong, value-added market for our territorial and polar bear diamonds."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.