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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The Northwest Territories Power Corporation works constantly to restructure its operations to keep electricity flowing and energy costs as low as possible, said Michael Miltenberger, the minister responsible for NTPC, in the legislative assembly last Wednesday.

"The corporation has been called upon to play a large role in supporting this government's goal of reducing dependence on high-priced, environmentally harmful fossil fuels," said Miltenberger during his report. "NTPC has led many initiatives to develop new, clean alternative energy resources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass."

To back up this claim, he gave the example of a new 60-kilowatt solar energy array in Fort Simpson that can generate enough energy to power 10 homes.

Miltenberger said there are some major energy concerns in the territory since both Norman Wells and Inuvik are facing an energy shortage as their natural gas supply is running out. NTPC also has a key role to play in the development of the territory's new energy planning strategy, which is scheduled to be released in March 2013.

Diabetes awareness

Since November is Diabetes Awareness Month, the chronic disease received attention in the legislative assembly on Nov. 1.

Jane Groenewegen, member for Hay River South, said there are at least 2,000 people diagnosed with diabetes in the territory and that roughly 200 people are diagnosed with the disease every year. She spoke of poor nutrition in the North, where people are eating fewer fruits and vegetables now than they used to.

Physical activity rates in the territory are also low, said Groenewegen, citing a statistic saying that in 2009, 41 per cent of the population exercised enough to maintain or improve health.

Robert Bouchard, MLA for Hay River North, put a personal spin on the issue by saying that he has lost 200 pounds since May 6, 2011 when he paid to have a weight-loss band surgically inserted at the top of his stomach. While he is still a diabetic, since the surgery his blood pressure has dropped and after six months he was able to stop using insulin, he said. However, the surgery that he received is expensive and he called on the Department of Health and Social Services to provide more funding for these types of obesity solutions.

Patients' rights

Medical patients in the Sahtu have many concerns over the quality of care that they receive, Norman Yakeleya, member for the Sahtu said last Wednesday.

Yakeleya said during a recent trip to Fort Good Hope to attend a funeral, a number of residents approached him and raised concerns about the health centre. They said that patients are often turned away without being examined by a medical professional.

"We know that our nurses are working extra hard, but we also know that they're the only health care centre in our community and they should be taking an extra step to check (patients) out and make sure they're OK," he said.

Later, he questioned Health and Social Services Minister Tom Beaulieu about residents' right to be examined when they visit health centres. Beaulieu said it is the right of every patient to have a medical exam when they have health concerns.

Yakeleya then said the government should work to inform all residents of this right, and that special attention should be paid to getting that message to residents who don't speak English as first language.

Finally, Yakeleya also asked the minister about his department's policy on when surgery patients are flown back to their home communities after surgery. He said that concerns had been raised, again in Fort Good Hope, about patients who were returned home only to have to fly back to Yellowknife to receive more medical attention.

Beaulieu responded to these concerns by saying that his department could look into changing protocol so when a patient feels that they need more time in hospital, they can request not to be transported home for a few more days.

Bison harvest cancelled

All harvesting of the Mackenzie Bison Herd has been stopped, effective Nov. 1, nvironment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger announced last Wednesday.

During an anthrax outbreak this past summer, the herd lost at least 440 animals, leaving its population at less than 1,000 animals.

This was the last of a series of steps taken by the department to limit hunting of the herd to give the population a chance to recover. In August, all limited entry draw tags and outfitted tags were rescinded, and on Oct. 5, all harvesting in the area between Frank Channel and Yellowknife, named unit R/WB/O2, was closed.

Communities lack desire to have own water systems: Robert C. McLeod

The only barrier preventing communities from operating their own water treatment and distribution systems is their own "lack of willingness" to do so, said Robert C. McLeod, minister of municipal and community affairs last Tuesday.

"The only possible barrier that I can see to these communities not operating their own water treatment plants is because they just don't have the desire to," said the minister at the end of a string of questions from Michael Nadli, member for the Deh Cho, about why both Enterprise and Kakisa continue to truck their water in from Hay River.

McLeod backed up this statement by saying that Kakisa receives about $160,000 per year for water treatment and distribution, as well as $600,000 per year for community infrastructure.

However, Nadli had said in an earlier statement that Kakisa spends about $170,000 annually trucking water to the community, while Enterprise spent slightly more than $200,000 last year for water and sewage. These costs make it hard for either community to get ahead and save enough money to build their own infrastructure, he said.

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