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MR. CHAIRMAN: Order. We will call the estimates of the Department of Health Promotion and Protection. The time is 9:26 a.m.
Resolution E12 - Resolved, that a sum not exceeding $49,743,000 be granted to the Lieutenant Governor to defray expenses in respect of the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, pursuant to the Estimate.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable Minister of Health Promotion and Protection.
HON. BARRY BARNET: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This morning I have with me Deputy Minister Duff Montgomerie and Tanga Roche, Manager of Finance, from the Department of Health Promotion and Protection; also with me today from African Nova Scotian Affairs, our Chief Executive Officer Mr. Wayn Hamilton and Marianne Hekkert-Lebel, Manager of Financial Services; and Laura Lee Langley of Communications Nova Scotia.
Mr. Chairman, as you are well aware, the Department of Health Promotion and Protection was created just over a year ago in response to recommendations made in the Public Health Review. This review spoke to the fundamental weakness in our public health system and the need to integrate the promotion and protection aspects of public health.
As you know we are responsible for responding to emerging public health threats, preventing chronic disease and injury, and promoting healthy choices to Nova Scotians. These key areas will form the foundation for our work in 2007-08.
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It is an exciting time to be the Minister responsible for Health Promotion and Protection. Never before in the history of our province has such a focus been given to the promotion and protection of health and, as minister, it is my intent to make Nova Scotia the healthiest and safest province in the country.
Before I discuss our plans for the coming year, I would like to first share some of our accomplishments with you, and take a few moments to highlight a few examples where I believe we are truly making inroads and, ultimately, improving the health and safety of Nova Scotians.
Nova Scotia has been recognized nationally for our leadership in smoking cessation and in the de-normalization of smoking with young people and adults through legislation, social marketing, and education. Our Smoke-free Public Places Act, which came into effect on December 1, 2006, ensures all Nova Scotians have legal protection from second-hand tobacco smoke in their workplaces. The Act also requires all outdoor licensed areas and patios of all restaurants, lounges, beverage rooms, and cabarets to be smoke- free. In addition to these legislative measures, since 2004 over 13,000 Nova Scotians have received help, through Addiction Services, to quit smoking.
In 2006, Health Promotion and Protection began work on a provincial alcohol strategy, launched our Yellow Flag Moment campaign for problem and at-risk gamblers, and helped many Nova Scotians who suffer with addictions in the province, with help lines and specialized treatment programs within the district health authorities. We will continue to focus on this critical area in 2007-2008, with the goal of continuing to reach those who need our help the most.
Other key areas of focus for my department is injury prevention. Injury is the leading cause of preventable death for Nova Scotians under the age of 45 - killing more people under 20 than all other causes of death combined.
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We know most injuries are predictable and preventable, and we all need to take steps to reduce injury by managing our personal risks and creating safer environments. Health Promotion and Protection continues to break new ground in the area of injury prevention, and with the goal of helping Nova Scotians stay safe. To that end, the Prevent Alcohol and Risk- Related Trauma in Youth resource - or PARTY, as it's called - continues to grow across Nova Scotia. PARTY is a unique, school-based injury prevention experience designed to help teenagers understand the consequences and risks of injury.
It reached 35 of our high schools last year and we're on track to bring PARTY to 50 high schools this year. While this initiative is being led by Health Promotion and Protection,
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it is evolving into a true community-based resource that uses local nurses, doctors, paramedics, police, and other professionals, to bring PARTY into their own schools.
Still on the subject of injury prevention, with an entirely different audience, Health Promotion and Protection recently hosted Nova Scotia's first ever Seniors Falls Prevention Conference. A decade ago it would have been tough to attract even a few dozen people to an event like this, but more than 300 delegates attended the conference in March to learn about best practices in fall prevention, and to talk about numerous prevention projects now underway here in Nova Scotia. The goal here, of course, is to help prevent disability and death due to trauma, reducing the burden on our health care system and sparing Nova Scotians the immeasurable human cost of preventable injury.
Over the past year there has also been significant progress with our healthy eating strategy. As you will recall, the province's school food and nutrition policy officially came into force last year, with an outstanding response thus far. Work is ongoing with our colleagues in the Department of Education and at the local school level, to ensure the policy continues to be well received and truly improves the health of young Nova Scotians on a daily basis. Being physically active has always been a personal priority for me, but unfortunately over half of Nova Scotians are not active enough to enjoy health benefits. More disturbing is that kids today are less active than ever before - putting them at risk for many diseases now and in the future.
My department is working to change those troubling statistics through a number of innovative programs and services. I would like to touch on one program in particular that is making a big difference in the lives of low-income families across this province. KidSport is a program designed to support low-income families to cover the cost of either registration fees and/or equipment required for their children to participate in organized sport - in 2004 to 2006, applicants to the program have increased by 90 per cent and allocations have increased by 186 per cent.
In real terms, Mr. Chairman, almost 3,000 Nova Scotian families have been helped through KidSport. One parent wrote to us to express her thanks, and she indicated that the support received through this program has helped her, as a single mom with five teenagers, raise good kids in today's society. Sport and recreation play a key role in helping kids be kids and teaching them the importance of being part of a team and always giving their all, and we will continue to support programs such as KidSport and aim to reach even more Nova Scotians in the coming year.
Clearly, I'm very proud of our accomplishments over the past year, and I hope this small sample has given you an indication of the tremendous breadth and depth of the Department of Health Promotion and Protection.
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I would like to now focus on our plans for the coming year. The Department of Health Promotion and Protection is dedicated to creating and enabling a shift in our culture, away from unhealthy and unsafe habits to ones that makes healthy and safe choices easy and accessible to all Nova Scotians. Essentially our department is comprised of two fundamental pillars - promotion and protection - and by bringing these two critical pieces together under one roof, we have the ability to ensure our programs, initiatives, services, and partnerships truly respect the full spectrum of public health needs within our province.
We know immunization is a proven and effective way to prevent many forms of childhood and adult diseases. Government has an obligation to protect Nova Scotians, when possible, from preventable diseases. Nova Scotian women suffer from the highest incidents of invasive cervical cancer in Canada - the human papilloma virus vaccine will decrease the incidents of cervical cancer, and I am pleased to indicate that my department will introduce an HPV vaccine to coincide with the 2007-2008 school year as part of our school-based immunization program.We know that introducing the vaccine in this way will result in the greatest amount of coverage in a uniform and consistent way, and the HPV vaccine will form an integral part of our provincial immunization program and will support our overall goal of making Nova Scotians as healthy as possible.
Immunization is a cornerstone of modern public health and is fundamental to building a healthier Nova Scotia. In the area of public health renewal, we will appoint the province's first public health leader in the Spring of this year. This individual will work to strengthen the public health laboratory capacity within our province, and initiate a communicable disease surveillance system with our federal partners.
The new leader will also work with our colleagues and partners in the district health authorities and the Department of Health to ensure the public health system in the province is as strong and as integrated as possible. Health Promotion and Protection will also begin to strengthen our population health assessment and surveillance capacity to ensure we are able to track new and emerging illness and disease, population health trends and statistics, and monitor and track such things as immunization records.
This work will also include the launch of a new comprehensive IT application, called PANORAMA, that will aid health professionals with communicable diseases case management, outbreak management, vaccine inventory, and alerts management. This pan-Canadian system will improve the health and safety of our population and address significant gaps in public health surveillance. We will work in partnership with Canada Health Infoway and other jurisdictions to launch PANORAMA in 2007-08.
Our work in the coming year will also include the provision of infrastructure support, to the local level of the public health system, through district health authorities. This was a critically important recommendation contained in the Public Health Review and one we take very seriously - our system will only be strong and seamless if we are adequately resourced
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at both the provincial and local levels. In the coming year we will provide $700,000 to the DHAs to support them in carrying out their public health responsibilities.
In the area of environmental health, I'm very pleased my department will take the lead role on the development of an environmental health secretariat that will ensure collaboration across the multiple departments with responsibilities for environmental health.
The next fiscal year will also be an exciting one for sport and recreation in this province. Through our existing Recreation Facility Development Program, we will continue to work with community organizations across the province to provide Nova Scotians with more opportunity to be physically active.
The link between living a healthy lifestyle and good health is undeniable. If we truly want Nova Scotians to practice good health habits, we must provide places for them to exercise and play sports. To that end, we will implement a $50 million, ten-year program to build, replace, and upgrade recreation facilities in Nova Scotia. This program will be equally cost-shared with municipalities, and other governments and communities, to make it potentially a $150- million program. When combined with the existing $3 million we currently invest through the Recreation Facility Development Program, $8 million will flow directly into infrastructure development in the Province of Nova Scotia in 2007-2008, and this investment will make a significant impact at the local and provincial level.
Volunteerism is another critical component of my responsibility. Volunteers are the backbones of our community and are vitally important to the economic and social well-being of this province. Health Promotion and Protection will continue to champion the important role of volunteers in our society through the creation of a volunteer opportunity database and other activities aimed at making it easier to find opportunities to volunteer and to give back at the local level or provincial level.
Improving the health outcomes of our population is vitally important. We cannot continue to sustain our health care system at its current rate of growth, and we know the only way to stem the tide is through health promotion activities. Next year will be critical for the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, as we continue to work towards a healthier population.
With the addition of eighteen new FTEs, we will ensure we are better positioned to deliver on a challenging and progressive mandate, and through annualizations, transfers from the Department of Health, and reallocation from within departments, we will continue to confirm another eighteen FTEs as well.
Mr. Chairman, as you are aware, our department has been provided with a budget increase for the coming fiscal year, and with an increased budget comes increased expectations to provide results for Nova Scotians. We continue to take this responsibility
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seriously, and we are committed to working with experts to ensure that our work is evidence-based and results-driven toward making Nova Scotia the healthiest province in the county.
I would like to now speak about another of my responsibilities - the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs. In October of 2006 the office celebrated its one-year anniversary of operations in Halifax. This anniversary was a major milestone, with much having been accomplished over the past year. One of ANSA's strategic goals is to work collaboratively with African Nova Scotia communities to foster development and capacity building.
In the past year, the office has been involved with more than 50 community groups and organizations. The office has assisted: in the formation of the African Diaspora Association of the Maritimes; the Africville Genealogical Society with the initial stages of its project to establish a church and interpretive centre on the former site of the African Nova Scotian community, now Seaview Park; the Black Loyalist Heritage Society's recovery efforts after an act of arson destroyed their office and files; the Black Cultural Centre with an action plan for its board of directors; in establishing the Greenville Community Hall in Yarmouth.
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The office organized and hosted round tables with the Valley African Nova Scotian Development Association - VANSDA - and the African Nova Scotian Music Association, and continues to work with the Black Employment Partnership Committee and the United Negro Improvement Association Hall in Cape Breton. In the year ahead, ANSA will continue to work to assist African Nova Scotian community groups to develop strategies, activities and programs that expand and enhance the communities' social, cultural and economic strength.
Keeping the community connected is a key priority for ANSA. We have designed and utilized a combination of strategies aimed at increasing the understanding of issues related to African Nova Scotians through community outreach, strategic communication, and a variety of public education tools.
We recently launched our toll-free number, which enables Nova Scotians across the province free and easy access to our office, and ANSA will continue to produce our semi-annual newsletters to keep the community informed about our activities. Along with the Web site and brochures and information booklets, the office has produced a poster that is a creative and useful tool for community organizations to display in their offices and meeting places.
In an effort to continue to promote an integrated approach within government on matters related to African Nova Scotian issues and to enhance awareness and understanding of African Nova Scotian experiences to government, currently staff members are part of twelve government interdepartmental groups. Our goal is to continue to review programs and policies and to pursue partnerships and initiatives within government and the community in an effort to strengthen the delivery of services to African Nova Scotians. Our long-term goal
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includes exploring partnerships with the Departments of Economic Development, Education, Justice, and Tourism, Culture and Heritage, along with various agencies, boards, and commissions.
After months of planning, it is with great pleasure that I can announce the opening of our Cape Breton satellite office in Sydney. In our continued effort to ensure access to services and that the work of our office is available for all African Nova Scotians, we will open additional satellite offices in other regions in the years to come.
In the next few months, we will strengthen government's understanding of local concerns through the development of the first in a number of primary reference groups. Primary reference groups, or PRGs, draw upon the skills and experience of community members throughout the province and serve as one of the contact points to be utilized by African Nova Scotian Affairs to connect with the community and government.
PRGs will also create an opportunity to attract the involvement of new people. This collection of individuals will bring a unique level of insight and experience that complements the knowledge and skills of our staff. The role of the PRGs is advisory and to make recommendations on certain key issues through dialogue, negotiation, and consensus. The first PRG in development is on community engagement.
I speak for our current staff - now with three new members joining us in Sydney - in saying that we look forward to fulfilling the vision of African Nova Scotian Affairs in the year ahead by continuing to build on government and community successes to promote and facilitate positive change on behalf of Nova Scotians of African descent.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear today and I look forward to addressing my colleagues' questions regarding my responsibilities. I'm not sure how other ministers who have multiple portfolios have worked this but I think the easiest way for us would be to start with Health Promotion and Protection and then work our way through that way, if that's okay with everybody.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Is it agreed, to start with Health Promotion and Protection and work through? Thank you.
The time is now 9:50 a.m. and I would call on the honourable member for Queens.
MS. VICKI CONRAD: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask questions of the minister and the department. I want to say to the minister that the Department of Health Promotion and Protection has certainly come a long way and that's clearly evident with the business plan. I want to say kudos to the staff as well for all of the work they have put into the department over the last couple of years. Where it's still in its - and I don't want to say in its infancy because it's growing now a little bit, but it is good to see that the department is
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moving along and growing in the directions that we need to be seeing for health promotion and protection.
Also encouraging is the fact that there has been a budget increase, and that means all of government and all of the other departments recognize the importance of the Department of Health Promotion and Protection for all Nova Scotians and what a big role protection and promotion plays in our society. With that, kudos to you and your department for where you are today.
However, that all being said, of course we always have questions and suggestions, and hopefully those questions and suggestions will be taken seriously and perhaps be implemented in strategy and policy as the department continues to grow.
I just want to make note, too, of all of the acronyms. There are a lot in the business plan - a lot. I guess in today's working environment it's sometimes much easier to have acronyms as we're documenting things, but it is hard to get our head wrapped around some of them quickly. Anyway, I did appreciate reading the business plan.
I want to talk about some of the core areas of the business plan and I want to start with addictions. As you're probably very much aware, recently there have been stories in our local newspapers - one in particular, of a woman with a VLT addiction, and she was actually opting for federal time so that she could get the addictions counselling while in jail because there just aren't enough programs here in the province to offer the services that she needs.
I'm hoping there has been some thought given in the department to working with the Department of Health to provide addictions counselling in our provincial jails. I'm hoping that discussion is happening and, if it isn't, I'm hoping that discussion will take place because it is very important that we do have the services in place, not only in our provincial jail systems, but access to better counselling and programs in communities.
Also, if you'll bear with me, I'll continue on - that's one question I'm hoping you'll address . . .
MR. BARNET: Would you like me to do it now? I can.
MS. CONRAD: Okay. Yes, please, go ahead.
MR. BARNET: For clarity, the Office of Health, or the Department of Health Promotion and Protection - why did I say that? We're now a department - we actually don't provide services in terms of health services. The district health authorities would do that through the Department of Health and/or Community Services. What we do is we provide grants to the district health authorities for addiction services, and this year, in this particular
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plan, there's an additional $1.4 million (Interruption) $140,000, yes. I'll take my answers from Tanga.
MR. DUFF MONTGOMERIE: Yes, you better.
MR. BARNET: I'm leaning this way. But our role really is to prevent people from becoming addicted in the first place. That's why some of the tools we use, our helpline, and our social marketing campaigns like the Yellow Flag Moment - if you've had the chance to see the marketing campaigns we've utilized, this Yellow Flag Moment campaign is not just the TV ads and the radio spots, it also includes posters at bars and other places. It actually works very well and we've been able to draw a lot of people to our helplines, as I indicated in my speech.
Our goal is to prevent people from becoming addicted in the first place, and we really have targeted the money that we have to try to do that work, but at the same time we provided grants to the district health authorities to help them with the work they do. In addition to that, certainly I understand that both the Departments of Community Services and Justice have programs themselves, and they really are the delivery entity that looks after that.
MS. CONRAD: Thank you. Part of my line of thought was that I'm hoping the department will be working with the Department of Health, and I guess when I'm thinking of working with the Department of Health I'm thinking that goes beyond just providing funding to the Department of Health to assist with their programs and services they deliver. I see it as more of a working relationship to be looking at where, perhaps, Health Promotion and Protection may fit within that service delivery and program delivery in the overall picture.
MR. BARNET: Absolutely. I think, paramount in our success in this province will be the fact that we will be able to develop relationships and work very closely with the Departments of Health, and Community Services and Justice and other departments. That's one of the reasons we moved to the model of environmental health secretariat because we recognize the fact that we need a horizontal government, a government that can reach out to other departments for expertise and identify needs and concerns.
And I just want to correct my correction - we actually provide the District Health Authorities with $1.4 million additional resources this year. So I'll lean back this way now. (Laughter) It was just so much money we couldn't even believe it.
MS. CONRAD: So would that explain the decrease in the budget line for addictions - is that what that change means in the funding line item?
MR. BARNET: Which line item is that again?
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MS. CONRAD: Sorry, I don't have that marked here. There was a decrease in the budget line item for addictions. I apologize, I don't . . .
MR. BARNET: It's simply a reallocation of funds to the district health authorities, and essentially . . .
MS. CONRAD: And that's the $1.4 million that you were referring to?
MR. BARNET: No. If you go to Page 14.4, Supplementary Detail, you'll see $7,971,000 - is that right? I'm doing that without glasses and looking right across the table. It's just a matter of a reorganization of our responsibility centres, so the bottom line is the total net expenditures in those areas. Our total net expense is $49.7 million; last year we spent $44.3 million. There's money in, money out but in this case, for this particular item, it's $1.4 million additional funding.
MS. CONRAD: That went to the district health authorities for delivery of services and programs for addictions?
MR. BARNET: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Okay, thank you.
I also see in the business plan that there is a provincial alcohol strategy and plans for a survey on alcohol- related attitudes and behaviours. What I'm not seeing though in the business plan is the commitment to work with the Department of Health to improve those treatment programs and for people with addictions, including more structured treatment programs and a wider variety of community- based programs.
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MR. BARNET: You know, from my perspective, I think it is simply a given that our departments work together. I don't believe it was necessary to put that in our business plan primarily because that is simply the way we have and always will work - it's integrating government departments. When the vision to move with the Department of Health Promotion and Protection was developed, it wasn't a vision that we would create a fiefdom here and they would have responsibilities over there. It was a vision of collaboration that we would work together, but we would be able to focus on the issues of prevention and protection. We have worked very closely with the Department of Health and will continue to do that. It's just part of the culture of our department and it's one of the benefits of having a new department that we have been able to develop that culture right from the beginning.
MS. CONRAD: Thank you. Have there been, in the past, studies and surveys done on alcohol use and abuse in the province that you can recall over the last ten years or so?
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MR. BARNET: We have the Alcohol Indicators Report, for example, a report for December of 2007, and I understand there have been reports and we do track progress.
MS. CONRAD: So how do you see this additional strategy and survey? How do you see that complementing what has already been studied?
MR. BARNET: I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that.
MS. CONRAD: Previous studies on alcohol addictions, abuse, and usage, how do you see this particular strategy for a survey on alcohol attitudes and behaviours fitting in with previous studies?
MR. BARNET: I guess I would answer it this way: It's important for us to know where we are so that we can know where to go. The value of that information will assist us in benchmarking as we move forward. That's a collection of information, it's the things that we use when we develop policy and programs. We will be able to understand where we can focus additional resources, if necessary, as we move and progress as a department. I think because we're so new and we have this information that has been developed, and we've been able to focus on prevention and promotion, I can't see anything but tremendous benefits for Nova Scotians as we develop new policies and procedures, and make recommendations to other departments in terms of how we deal with our day-to-day business.
MS. CONRAD: Is there a timeline in the business plan - I don't recall seeing one for that survey to be concluded - or will it be an ongoing survey?
MR. BARNET: We anticipate the strategy will be completed and released in April this year.
MS. CONRAD: So then it has started already?
MR. BARNET: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Okay. When did it start?
MR. BARNET: June, 2005.
MS. CONRAD: Would I be able to get a copy of the survey when it is completed?
MR. BARNET: Yes, when it is completed.
MS. CONRAD: Okay, thank you.
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I want to move now to chronic disease and injury prevention. In the business plan the department is planning on changing its existing committee structure to a chronic disease and injury prevention alliance in order to coordinate efforts in the area - will this include representatives from Health, Community Services, and the Senior Citizens' Secretariat?
MR. BARNET: It is what we intend to do. I will say this - we have some extremely dedicated people who work in that section of our department. They have worked very closely with community groups and organizations. They've done a great deal of outreach into the communities and stakeholders with other government departments and agencies. The configuration of our offices is in a way that my office is at the beginning of our suite of offices. Our staff person that works very closely, Julian Young, never misses an opportunity to stop by my office and remind me of the work he is doing. I want to thank him, and Nancy Hoddinott, and others who have worked very, very hard to make Nova Scotia a safer place. They continue to bring us ideas and they reach out to other jurisdictions across the country to see what's happening there so that Nova Scotia can take benefit of all the good things that are happening right across this country and in other jurisdictions.
I have to tell you that it's amazing the amount of work that we're actually doing out there - it's more than just helmet safety and more than suicide prevention strategies and these things, there is a tremendous amount of work and our staff is heavily involved in the actual community- based work that's going on including working with organizations like Child Safety Links and others to make Nova Scotia the safest province in the country. The one thing that I have been amazed by since I've been the minister is the awareness of the statistic that people who die under twenty - more people die as a result of preventable injury under the age of twenty than all other causes of death combined. To me, that's an amazing statistic and we have to do something about it, and that's one of the very good reasons why we developed this department.
MS. CONRAD: I'm also really encouraged in the business plan that there's a lot of focus on healthy eating, especially food security because that is a growing issue where we need to be more conscious about our security of food supply and security of food for all people, especially those who are living in food poverty. It is good to see that the department has looked at the relationship between poverty and poor nutrition, it's really encouraging, and so I'm assuming then that the department will also work with Community Services in order to address those issues in that department's programs and services as well.
I'm hoping too that your department will continue to explore working with the Department of Agriculture to not only ensure the safety of our food products in our agricultural communities, and also our Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, but I'm hoping that the department will explore looking at incorporating the Buy Local campaign with fruit and vegetables - is that a consideration?
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MR. BARNET: It's nothing that I've thought about a great deal, but I do know that one of the things - I can only say it again - that is the culture of our department is to collaborate with other government departments, and on our food costing and food security initiative we have done just that. We've worked with the Departments of Agriculture and Community Services - and I'm pleased when I hear the Minister of Community Services talking about a poverty reduction strategy because I know the benefits of that for families in Nova Scotia, particularly low-income families.
We will continue to work with all government departments to ensure that the knowledge base that we have gained and acquired over time as a department is shared with them, so that the benefit of that knowledge enables them to make wise decisions as they recommend things to government from time to time - I think it can't be anything but good for Nova Scotians, particularly Nova Scotians who need our help.
MS. CONRAD: Well with the fruit and vegetable initiative for families, certainly the Buy Local campaign would tie in nicely with those two initiatives there. Local-grown produce, and where your department already works with the Department of Agriculture to ensure the safety of our food products coming from our local supply, I think it's something to expand on.
I think that the plan to prevent fall-related injuries among seniors is a really good plan; it really is. The plan is certainly the result of many years of work with Community Links as well. Perhaps some might say long overdue, but it has come together nicely. As a former worker with seniors, I can certainly say that it's something that will be beneficial if we can prevent even just one senior from a disastrous fall, or if we can perhaps make their lives a bit safer in their homes or whatever living environment they're in, I think this is a good thing. What kind of resources will be put towards the more practical health-related fall prevention measures such as occupational therapy and physical therapy in long-term care settings, including home care? That is a big component.
You know, it's one thing to be saying we're doing a really good job in preventing injuries, preventing falls, but when that does happen, if it does happen, because for whatever reasons all of the strategies just could not prevent a particular type of injury or fall, we do need to make sure that we have the other health care needs readily available for those seniors - so is your department working with the Department of Health and working with continuing care on the front lines to see what type of services and programs will be put in place for that?
MR. BARNET: We are, and we also work with the Senior Citizens' Secretariat with respect to that initiative as well.
I'm continually amazed when I learn of the progress we made as a province with the Department of Health Promotion and Protection - we're the first province in the country to have a Falls Prevention Strategy. I think that strategy will guide us in the future. The
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conference that was just held two or three days ago - a report will be produced as a result of that, and that report will help guide us. We are certainly making progress and we will continue to work with other government stakeholders and others to move forward.
This is a very serious issue. It is one of the areas that we believe, and I believe as a minister, that we can make real progress in and that's exactly why we held the conference just two days ago, and that's exactly why we work with the Department of Health, and that's exactly why we work with the Senior Citizens' Secretariat - soon to be a department of government. We're leading the country; we're national leaders with respect to initiatives in this particular area of our responsibility and we intend to continue on to be leaders. As others catch us, we will progress even further. We do know that, in particular, falls of seniors are often catastrophic.
MS. CONRAD: I want to move on to communicable disease and prevention. A lot of the DHAs have expressed real concerns in their business plans that they are under- resourced in order to properly handle a pandemic if we're faced with one - or an epidemic outbreak, and I'm wondering how the department will work with the Department of Health to support the front-line care providers in the case of a disease outbreak.
MR. BARNET: I'm sorry, you're going to have to ask that again.
MS. CONRAD: As I was saying, the district health authorities have expressed a real concern that they're under-resourced in order to properly handle a pandemic or an epidemic outbreak, so my question is how is your department working with the Department of Health to support front-line care providers in the case of a disease outbreak?
MR. BARNET: Certainly it's a huge part of our responsibility centres. I'll say this, we have invested and will continue to invest with the Department of Health through the district health authorities' funding. There is an amount of money allocated in this budget - $700,000 - it's an infrastructure renewal fund that enables them to have the resources they need to do their work. We are progressing, at least in my belief, very well along this responsibility centre, and I am absolutely convinced that we will be as ready as any other jurisdiction can be ready.
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MS. CONRAD: So is your department part of the responsibility, is that to oversee the planning that takes place at the DHA level?
MR. BARNET: I wouldn't describe it as "oversee" - there is a collaborative approach that we have. We are hiring a director of emergency preparedness and we will work with the Department of Health and the district health authorities to provide them advice and support as we progress in the event that a pandemic outbreak occurs. One of the reasons why we are a department is this very reason.
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MS. CONRAD: I'm glad to see the work towards the provincial public health laboratory program coming from the serious concerns raised in the Public Health Review regarding the shortage of medical laboratory staff and resources at the DH level to handle a pandemic or epidemic. Will part of this mandate include a provincial lab to divert public health requirements from DHAs and build up an expertise in communicable diseases, or will the program be supporting existing labs?
MR. BARNET: First of all, we're investing in this particular budget $180,000. It's building on what currently exists and bringing in, through the district health authorities, the expertise that currently exists. We're doing what is necessary to ensure Nova Scotians are protected and that we have the kinds of systems in place that would provide us with the advice that we need as time moves forward in the event of an outbreak of pandemic flu, or . . .
MS. CONRAD: So it's still building on the foundations . . .
MR. BARNET: Exactly. Right.
MS. CONRAD: . . . that are there and moving forward to see the best structure built at the end of the day. Okay, thank you.
I want to move on to emergency preparedness. What is the role of the emergency preparedness business area with the emergency management office - will there be representatives of Health Promotion and Protection designated to each region to handle the health aspect in case of a disaster or other emergencies?
MR. BARNET: The Director of Emergency Preparedness that I spoke about in a previous question will be the person who will coordinate with the Department of Health and the district health authorities. In this particular budget year we have included an additional $196,600 that would fund a Director of Emergency Preparedness, cost-shared with the Department of Health, and an emergency preparedness planner position and a modified emergency operations centre - so the answer to your question is yes.
MS. CONRAD: Did you say prepare an emergency preparedness centre?
MR. BARNET: It is a centre shared with the Department of Health.
MS. CONRAD: So it's an actual facility?
MR. BARNET: It's a place . . .
MS. CONRAD: Working out of where?
MR. BARNET: The Department of Health, next door.
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MS. CONRAD: That centre will be where all of the other DHAs will feed into, should there be an emergency, so that centre will kind of be that control unit?
MR. BARNET: That centre - I guess the short answer is yes - it will be the command centre in the event of an outbreak of a communicable disease or pandemic flu, or something like that. It's a centre that has emergency backup, it's a place where we will be able to receive calls and inquiries from the district health authorities and communicate back to them, and work out of so that we have a central "depot" - for lack of a better word - for emergency preparedness.
MS. CONRAD: In that centre as well, will we see a lot of the data collected - in your business plan you indicate that there will be extensive data collected and moved from the hard-copy paper into a more high-tech database that will be tracking epidemics and pandemics and immunization and records on public health - will that all be enclosed in that control centre?
MR. BARNET: Yes. Essentially that's the way it will be. The information that they need to help them do their work will be there so that they will be able to have a focused effort on doing the work they do. In my opening speech I spoke about our investment in PANORAMA. The PANORAMA information will be available to them there, the system will be available to them there so they can have, at their fingertips, the information they need to do the work that they will have to do in the event of an emergency.
MS. CONRAD: So out of the response needed coming out of that emergency management office, if something were to happen, will the response be tied into identifying and assisting vulnerable people? For example, would you have a knowledge in that base of who would be our most vulnerable in the case of a pandemic or an epidemic - would you have that logged into the system somewhere? And for example, if we had a major power outage would you know where the most vulnerable people would be located and what their needs would be?
MR. BARNET: That is part of our pandemic planning now. The other thing is that we will also be logged into the Emergency Measures Organization and working collaboratively with them to the greatest extent possible. Yes, that's essentially the information that we will need to be able to do the work that we will be doing.
MS. CONRAD: So right now the department is compiling that list of vulnerable people, or is there a database being created so you know where in the province our most vulnerable people are located, or perhaps what their risks are? For example, tracking people who may be on home oxygen, people who would be at higher risk because they need a lift in the home for transportation, perhaps they're confined to their bed or confined to a wheelchair - do you have that type of information that you're looking at?
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MR. BARNET: You know what? I may have misunderstood your earlier question. I thought you were talking about the collaboration between the Emergency Measures Organization, identifying with them the groups of people. As far as the individuals, no, we will need to rely on families, friends, community groups and organizations to help us as we move forward. What you have to understand is that, depending on the nature of disease or outbreak, there will be different groups, organizations, and individuals that will be vulnerable. What we have to do is be able to respond to all possibilities. I think it would be a very difficult task for the government to go out there and identify each individual Nova Scotian as being at risk in the event of this happening, or at risk in the event of that happening.
We want to be responsive and flexible enough to be able to respond to any inevitable outcome, but in terms of actually identifying individuals who might be at risk of an outbreak of a certain flu virus or some other potential virus it would be very difficult to identify; in fact my guess is, depending on the circumstance, that everybody could be at risk in some way, shape, or form.
MS. CONRAD: When I envisioned this centre for control in epidemic or pandemic emergency preparedness, and I guess when I'm seeing that there is going to be that move forward for the population health assessment and surveillance, and creating that data system and working with the DHAs and other emergency response groups and organizations, part of that system would include identifying the most vulnerable in our population and making sure that in that database, should a pandemic occur, that the emergency response teams going into people's homes to give them some assistance, that those people know before they get to the door that someone in there is in need of home oxygen, or they are bedridden, or they are confined to a wheelchair and need to be transferred out by a lift device, or perhaps there are children in there who may have respiratory illnesses, that type of information that would be crucial for the most vulnerable of our population should something occur that people have to move out of their homes to go to the nearest community centre where people are moving towards - and if there are people in homes who cannot move to that centre, who in the department or who in the DHAs know where those people are located so that they can be cared for in the event of, we'll say an evacuation.
MR. BARNET: I think you kind of answered your question with your last sentence. Who in the DHAs and who in the Department of Health - essentially the delivery of the health care service is the responsibility of the Department of Health and the district health authorities. Our role is to work with them, and when we talk about those patients that are high risk, we would understand who they are based on the outbreak of a disease and we would be able to work with the Department of Health and the district health authorities to provide antivirals and/or other treatment options and/or other protection options for their staff and their workers, as a collaborator.
The actual work being done on the ground and the work with patients is not the responsibility of our department, it would be those district health authorities and the
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Department of Health that will do that work. That really defines the difference between us and them - they are the ones who work with the patients and work with Nova Scotians and we are the ones that provide the planning, assistance and preventive measures to, hopefully, ward off any outbreak of a disease in the first place.
MS. CONRAD: Well, then, what data is your department collecting as part of the population health assessment and surveillance? Where is that? I'm assuming with that type of data collection and list creation it is being shared with the DHAs.
MR. BARNET: That information is gathered for the variety of things that we do at the department. The best way to describe it is that it's population-based - it isn't the kind of information that has been gathered that would say the person who lives in this house receives this medication and the person who lives in that house needs help with a walker. It's that wider variety of population-based information and it's utilized for a number of things that we do in our department, including helping us as we move forward with our falls prevention strategies and addictions support, those kinds of things.
It isn't specifically the kind of information that I think you envision, where it actually identifies people on an individual basis - it identifies the population groups of people.
[10:30 a.m.]
MS. CONRAD: Yes, and I understand that part of the population health assessment and surveillance. I guess I'm trying to envision if there's a database being created and this is one of the databases that's being created in more of a workable fashion with technology and making sure that everything is more accessible, I guess when we look back at the necessary data that's needed to be collected for emergency preparedness, can the two not be kind of integrated in some manner, so that should something catastrophic happen that we need to move into emergency preparedness, that we can actually have a system where we can identify those most vulnerable in our communities who may need help getting out, and whether that's having those databases in the hands of the DHAs or it starts there and it's filtered into your control centre so the control centre actually has all of the information there and it's not lost in other systems - do you see where I'm going with that, that there is a need to identify our most vulnerable out there who may not be identified in other systems?
MR. BARNET: I do see what you're saying and I just think the question probably would have been better asked of the Minister of Health. It really would be something that the district health authorities would have to do as part of their responsibility.
MS. CONRAD: So, is it not part of the responsibility of the protection side of Health Promotion and Protection?
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MR. BARNET: I guess our responsibility will be in preventing the outbreak from occurring in the first place, providing advice to the district health authorities, assisting them with the distribution of supplies and that kind of thing. The actual on-the-ground, day-to-day work with patients in the communities lies primarily and fully the responsibility of the Department of Health, and the district health authorities are tasked with providing that information. I mean, after all, they're the ones who know the patients, who know the population - they're the ones who work with them on a daily basis and a weekly basis as they present at a variety of their health care centres and through the programs and services they provide. It's simply a separation of roles and responsibilities. As much as we are collaborating and working together, their role really is the role of providing health care and treating people.
MS. CONRAD: Yes, but I wasn't referring to providing treatment or health care for people - I was asking about emergency readiness in our communities, which is part of public protection. That's what I'm seeing as a role for Health Promotion and Protection, the protection end of things, not the care delivery to individuals. You know, we may be referring to some of the most vulnerable as being somewhat healthy but yet needing some assistance to get out of their home into that community centre in the event of an evacuation because of an emergency situation, a pandemic or an epidemic, that people are being asked to go to a community centre for shelter or for treatment and if there's no identification of those vulnerable people, that's not a care solution that we're needing to see in place - what we're needing to see is a good emergency plan that those people are actually able to get to that community centre.
MR. BARNET: I do know what you're saying and I guess I'll answer it this way - again, the culture of our department is to work in collaboration with other departments. We're probably more closely connected to the Department of Health than any of the other departments, and we will continue developing that culture.
With respect to issues like this, it's my belief and understanding that the district health authorities would know who, for example, those Nova Scotians are who live in communities with diabetes, who need dialyses and who might have had an issue with respect to a broken hip or something like that. At the district health authority level they would know that and, for us, we would know who was immunized for the flu, for example. You know, we all have our responsibilities, but the important thing is that there is a tremendous amount of collaboration. We understand that to do the best work we can for Nova Scotians is to work together.
That's why we have established our emergency preparedness centre right here in the building next door, with the Department of Health, in a collaborative way. We have hired a person who is jointly funded by both departments, and at the end of the day I believe, as the Minister of Health Promotion and Protection, we will have in place the best system that we possibly can have in place.
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MS. CONRAD: Thank you, and I want to move on to environmental health - and I am certainly pleased with the approach that the Department of Health Promotion and Protection has taken to ensure that our food, water, and waste systems are safe. Will the department be working with hospitals to minimize the risks and reduce incidences of MRSA, VRE and other superbugs?
MR. BARNET: Again it comes back to the big collaboration where, you know, our medical officers in Health work very closely with the district health authorities. We'll continue to provide them the advice and support they need as challenges emerge, and this is an area, particularly the environmental health area, is something that I'm very proud of as the minister that we've been able to bring together a variety of departments through the secretariat to work toward resolving issues around environmental health. I think when you look at our commitment, it's strong, it's strategic and it's an investment that is necessary to do the work that we need to do. It's $152,000 new dollars plus $259,000 for the secretariat with a total investment of $486,000.
This is another example of integrated government, horizontal government, where we recognize the fact that there are departments that have responsibilities that overlap and that we can share in each other's knowledge base and expertise and work together to provide greater protection. It's more than just the superbugs that you talked about. It's everything from pool safety to sun safety to church suppers, for example. It's the kind of thing that I think most Nova Scotians believe happens automatically in government and we are just making sure that it happens in a structured environment.
MS. CONRAD: I'm glad to hear you say that there is that integration and working horizontally with departments which brings me to another question. Will the environmental health plan component of the department be integrating the food inspection duties from Agriculture? We talked about food security earlier and the importance of that.
MR. BARNET: Yes, the inspectors will continue to do their work through the Department of Environment and Labour but we will work together through the secretariat. The answer is yes but those inspectors will continue to work for the departments that they currently work for.
MS. CONRAD: So they will share their data with the Department of Health Promotion and Protection?
MR. BARNET: Exactly, through the secretariat, yes.
MS. CONRAD: Through the secretariat. Then you will compile that data where?
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MR. BARNET: The secretariat actually rests with the Department of Health Promotion and Protection. So the information, the actual operation of the secretariat will be in our department.
MS. CONRAD: Healthy development, it's really good to see that breast-feeding is valued here in the province. It has been a long time coming. I think we have always valued breast-feeding and encouraged new moms to breast-feed babies. For a time, I guess maybe 30 years or 40 years ago, it wasn't as strongly encouraged as it should have been but now we have woken up on that. Which way will the department address the lack of public health nurses at the community level to help support and encourage those new moms with breast-feeding?
MR. BARNET: Before I answer your question, not long after being sworn in as the minister, maybe a couple of months, one of our staff people, Michelle Amero, asked me to attend a breast-feeding conference, or a one-day workshop. I did. I showed up there. I was the only male in the room and I do know that for a brief moment I felt a little bit uncomfortable, but I shouldn't have. The work that Michelle does in our department is valuable work and we will continue to promote healthy choices to Nova Scotians, including breast-feeding.
One of the things that we do is we provide financial support to folks like the IWK and others to help them support the delivery of programs and educating people. A big part of our work in Health Promotion and Protection is providing people with information. I know that in the past, we have been criticized as a government about the amount of money that we spend communicating to Nova Scotians but I can tell you that a large reason why we spend that money is because there are a lot of people out there who simply don't have the information they need to make the right choice. Our Department of Health Promotion and Protection relies very heavily on our communication staff and communicating to Nova Scotians and getting messages out to them that enable them to make good choices.
We have used a variety of tools, including holding one-day conferences and workshops with health care providers, including our innovative Web site, momsanddads.ca, where people can go on-line and access information. We will continue to do the work that we do. We use a variety of media sources to get information out and I can tell you now I believe people are more informed about healthy choices than they have ever been before, including and specifically about breast-feeding and the benefits of breast-feeding.
MS. CONRAD: Thank you for that. In the interest of time, I would like to just continue on and maybe if I can ask a couple of questions rather than one because I think our time is getting short and then my colleague across the way will be speaking for awhile.
I'm really pleased that the food nutrition initiatives are moving forward, it's long overdue. We have just such a great need in our schools to see young children get off to that good start by eating healthy and so the food nutrition policies that your department is moving
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forward on is great to see. Has the department given any thought to working with universities to help university students living in residence to have access to healthier foods? I'll go on to another quick question, I know it's a little difficult to answer kind of two different questions at once . . .
MR. CHAIRMAN: Could I just interrupt for a second? I remind the member that you have about five minutes left.
MS. CONRAD: Five minutes left, okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a little bit off the track of food and nutrition and kind of jumps over into healthy initiatives in terms of physical exercise and physical needs. Has your department given any thought to working with the business sector to offer incentives and recognition for businesses that install showers for employees who bike, rollerblade or walk to work, for office buildings that put in gyms, or for employers who offer group discounts on gym memberships for employees to encourage physical activity? So those are two questions, one on food and nutrition and one on incentives for physical activity.
[10:45 a.m.]
MR. BARNET: Just let me answer the second one first - with respect to incentives to businesses. I think it makes good business sense for businesses to invest in their employees to keep them healthy, to keep them physically active. They will get better production out of their employees and they will have less sick time. They will have happier employees. We will continue to express to business groups and to organizations that that's the right thing to do. I will tell you that the Halifax Chamber of Commerce as a group has embraced the concept of investing in healthier choices, particularly as it relates to nutrition and physical activity. I know that when they host their dinners, for example, they always choose a healthy choice for their meal and that they continue to message to their employer groups that that is the right thing to do.
To me, it's very simple. It's about investing in your assets and in many businesses the assets are the people and I think most business people get it. There are still some who don't. We'll continue to push that message, and I think it's a great message to push, but as far as a government department, it's not an investment priority for us right now. However, as I pointed out at the very beginning of my speech, the investment that we're making in our recreational facility development area, $150 million including the other funding partners over the next 10 years, will provide tremendous opportunities for businesses and organizations to be able to work with community groups like a local gymnasium, or like a local arena, so they can provide those kinds of activities to their employees.
I am an avid hockey player and I can tell you that at lunch time, whenever possible, I go out with the guys and play shinny hockey. I know a number of them who work for companies who have specifically worked their business schedule and their work schedule
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around opportunities to play pick-up hockey at lunch time, giving them an extra half hour so they can get to and from the rink because they see the benefit of having healthy, happy employees.
I don't think it's a big stretch that the companies with the healthy, happy employees are the ones who make the most money. That's why we're going to rely on groups like the chamber of commerce to help us with that.
With respect to your earlier question about the school food nutrition program, I have to tell you that sometimes you get asked about things in the strangest places. While I was in Whitehorse in the Yukon, during a wrap-up of the ministers' meetings, before the Canada Winter Games, a local reporter came up to me and asked me a question, for his own personal reason, not necessarily for a story. He was concerned about a local group selling chocolate bars, or some kind of candy, to raise funds for a sporting event. As a parent, he objected to that. He said, what do you do in Nova Scotia in your schools? I started to tell him about our school food nutrition program and how it has been embraced by the schools and by parents and by students and how we've progressed. He was amazed and actually wrote an article and it appeared on the front page of their local paper, talking about the progress we made here in Nova Scotia. He immediately went to my colleague in the Yukon and started pressuring him to do the kinds of things we're doing.
The one thing that amazes me about being the Minister of Health Promotion and Protection is we are seen by the rest of this country as real leaders in a lot of areas. Real leaders in the development of a Falls Prevention Strategy, leaders in simply the development of the Department of Health Promotion and Protection and the fact that we've focused our attention on that, making the healthy choice the easy choice.
Just another quick story, I was asked as the minister to appear on CBC Radio, a program that airs Sunday morning called Go! It's a youth-oriented, live show where there's an audience. I was asked to debate a high school debating champion - as politicians you never want to debate a high school debating champion because they can chew you up and spit you out - but my position was going to be in support of Nova Scotia's school food nutrition policy and hers was going to be against it.
As much as you want to win, remember you're up against a youth debating champion and at the end of the debate, live on CBC Radio, the very gracious competitor said that it didn't matter anyway because she agreed with what we were doing and she was glad Nova Scotia was going in that direction and she was going to encourage the Province of Ontario to do what Nova Scotia was doing. It was kind of a fun thing and I have to tell you, I don't get nervous very easily, but I was nervous that day. It does speak to the direction we're going.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The time allocated for the NDP caucus has now expired.
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I would turn it over to the Liberal caucus and welcome the honourable member for Kings West.
MR. LEO GLAVINE: I'm pleased to have the minister and his staff available today for a series of questions. This is not my critic role. The critic, the member for Glace Bay, had an early afternoon commitment that he had to go back to Cape Breton for, so I'll pick up here.
This is a department I have certainly seen the evolution of since I came to the House in 2003. Basically, as our Leader at the time, Danny Graham, would say, it's not much more than a sign on an office door. But, over the last three or four years, this department has picked up strong momentum and, as the minister said, is taking very strong and progressive steps and some of the areas are being looked at by other parts of the country. It's a department that I feel will be a leading department in the coming years because unless we have this kind of government effort through policy, through legislation, then we all know the consequences of an unhealthy population and the impact that it is currently having on our health care dollar. This is an important department with initiatives that hopefully, in the long run, will allow less money to have to go into our Health budget to pick up diseases that can be prevented.
It's like one morning this week, this was a wonderful event, I thought, when the Canadian Cancer Society put on a breakfast and probably about half of the MLAs were out for that. We all realize that, again, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, 50 per cent of cancers can be prevented. So the Office of Health Promotion and Protection has an enormous responsibility along with the societies and associations to continue to promote wellness and well-being.
I'm going to have a fairly wide-ranging series of questions and if there are some, Mr. Minister, that you have done some detail on, I don't mind just kind of having the nub of the answer and I can refer back to comments that you have already made, if you so wish. If you have given a lot of detailed information on a particular question, then I can review your comments based on the questions asked by the member for Queens. I had to go over to the Chamber to ask a few questions so I did miss some of your conversation.
One of the areas that has been in the news during the past year - and has been an area for your department to continue to work on - is dealing with a pandemic flu. We all know the kinds of consequences that can have. I just wonder if you can indicate at what stage of planning the department is currently with respect to a pandemic flu plan? If you want to get from 1 to 10, where are you currently?
MR. BARNET: I guess in a nutshell, there is a well developed Canadian pandemic plan already released. We are working very closely with the Department of Health and the district health authorities on Nova Scotia's plan. We believe we will have a plan in place in advance of any need for that plan, bearing in mind that as time goes on, the plan will evolve. It's an evolutionary document that will respond to a variety of needs.
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MR. GLAVINE: The business plan indicates that your department is also responsible for vaccines, antiviral strategies. Are we fairly ready on that front or do we still have quite a bit of work to do to have us at the stage where, as a province, we can be comfortable?
MR. BARNET: We vaccinate, through our school-based vaccination program and other programs, for a variety of diseases. I will say this, that our flu vaccine, as an example, the program that we have in place, receives one of the widest coverage rates of any province in this country. We have a program that provides a vaccine for those high-risk individuals and when you look at our program, the program that is in place for Nova Scotia, identifying the high-risk population groups, providing that vaccine for those groups, working with employers, employees and other groups, we actually have a wider uptake, for lack of a better word, through that particular program than other jurisdictions that may provide it to the entire population base.
Another important point, too, is that with respect to an influenza pandemic, we have worked with other entities to start a process of stockpiling antivirals that will assist us in the event of an outbreak.
MR. GLAVINE: So with a population of less than 1 million people, what would be a reasonable timeline, do you think, in that we would be ready in the event of such a development?
MR. BARNET: It's a difficult question to answer, primarily because our focus has been to provide for a plan that would see protection of those who would be required to provide services to Nova Scotians in the event of a pandemic outbreak, like health care workers and others. The idea is to ensure that people who are actually providing the service are protected so that they are there to provide the service. I believe that in the event of an outbreak we will be as prepared as any other jurisdiction and have a plan in place that will enable us to respond to the concerns that come out of a pandemic outbreak.
As I indicated in my earlier answer, like any plan, this plan is an evolutionary document that will evolve and will respond to a variety of different things that present or cause concern to us.
MR. GLAVINE: Certainly not to sound alarmist here but when we think back to the SARS event and the reality that our food and water don't quite have that bio-security that we would really like to have in place, we know there are a lot of measures taken by companies that do process and produce our food. Can we say, as a province, that we have pretty strong assurance that the national strategy is going to be able to provide Nova Scotia with the kind of antivirals and so forth that we would actually need?
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[11:00 a.m.]
MR. BARNET: It isn't just a national strategy, it's about stockpiling antivirals, it's about kind of mixing a couple of things together, the food and the water, the food security. We have, as I indicated earlier, responded and will continue to respond to food security initiatives.
I would say this, I feel comfortable that Nova Scotia is well placed and well situated. As the minister responsible for this particular area of government responsibility, I don't lose any sleep. I have great confidence that our staff are working very hard and that we will be ready when we are needed or called upon in an event that we ever are. There has been a great deal of knowledge gained as a result of SARS and other incidents. We have learned from those incidents and we have incorporated that knowledge into our planning process and I feel very confident that Nova Scotia will be as ready as any other jurisdiction and will have in place a plan that will ensure that the public safety is protected to the greatest extent that we possibly can. I don't lose a minute's sleep. I think we are doing the right thing and the staff who advise me on a daily basis have their finger on the pulse and understand this very well. As we move forward and our department continues to develop and evolve, we will even strengthen our ability to respond.
MR. GLAVINE: Thank you, Mr. Minister. In terms of just on a semi-annual or annual basis, what kind of interprovincial or federal government people are there actually in terms of a working plan? I think we need to know that this is being developed on an ongoing basis.
MR. BARNET: There is a tremendous amount of work, interprovincial and with the Government of Canada. I sign off on every out-of-province travel that exists and I have to tell you that there are committees that meet on a regular basis, there are medical officers of health committees, public health officers - I don't think in the history of our country have we seen the kind of collaboration and working together that exists right now.
Nova Scotia is well served by the fact that our senior officials are working together, but I don't think it's just Nova Scotia, I think the entire country is well served. I do know that they meet more often than you and I, or I at least, understood initially.
MR. GLAVINE: Thank you very much for that overview and update. In terms of the annual vaccine that more and more Nova Scotians now take part in, the annual flu shot, perhaps Nova Scotia isn't any different than other provinces, but we do have some late arrivals of our flu vaccine and I'm just wondering, is that more an anomaly, is it based on ordering, is it with the companies or is it a percentage distributed at a certain point in the year? I think it's an area that the average Nova Scotian does get concerned about, the people that absolutely believe in the flu shot and do gain value from it.
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MR. BARNET: We actually don't have late arrivals of flu shots in our province. Our flu vaccines have always come in advance of flu season. The idea is to ensure that the flu vaccines are there before the flu season starts and to my knowledge, since we've had a flu vaccine program, they've always been there in advance of the flu season. This year is no different - in fact, we were out there well in advance of the flu season this year.
The good thing is that Nova Scotia vaccinates for flu more than any other jurisdiction. We have a program that provides free flu vaccines to people at high risk, in cases of seniors. We see - I think it's 60 or 70 per cent, maybe even higher, 77 per cent of seniors actually take advantage of this program, which, as you said in your opening remarks, saves us money.
If they're not presenting with flu symptoms at the QE II, we can spend $6.75 for a flu shot - it might be a little bit more than that now - to me, it's money well spent. There was a muffler company that said, you can pay me now or you can pay me later. Our decision is to pay now and keep people from showing up at the emergency rooms. The one thing I continue to do is to remind Nova Scotians is that all Nova Scotians, regardless of whether they're part of our free program or they have to pay through their employer or at their local family doctor, should get the flu shot. It really makes a huge difference.
MR. GLAVINE: Let's move on then to another topic. As part of an election promise and in the budget was the sports and recreation infrastructure program. That's going to be $5 million for 10 years?
MR. BARNET: It actually wasn't part of an election promise. This was something that was started as a result of discussions with my colleagues. It does not appear in any of our blue book commitments. It was not something we had promised to Nova Scotians. It's a commitment to Nova Scotians to spend what will be - combined with other funding partners - $150 million to help address our infrastructure deficit that we have in the Province of Nova Scotia.
It's about renewal of existing and about building capacity. I have to tell you, it's one of the things that I'm most proud of in this budget - that we have now, for the first time in our province, recognized the fact that we do have a problem and put in place a plan to fix it.
I said yesterday in the House that this program is the single biggest investment in sport and recreation infrastructure in the history of our province. It's necessary because I believe that for us to do the work that we're doing - it's one thing for us to talk about people being healthy and physically active but if they don't have an opportunity, if it doesn't exist in their community, we have some responsibility and, having said that, so do municipalities, so do other levels of government, and so does the community. So that's why we developed a program in partnership with other municipalities and community groups, and potentially the federal government, to leverage as much money as we can so that we're able to address what exists as a deficit of recreation facilities.
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As somebody who has spent a great deal of my life in arenas, in ballparks, and in sports fields, I know that communities and Nova Scotians are committed to it. They needed a government partner and we are now committed. We're now that partner, and I've got to tell you I feel like everybody's best friend in the last week because I've had more people call me with great proposals - and I encourage them to wait for us to develop our application process and to bring forward great applications because there are lots of good ideas out there and there are lots of things that we can do to help Nova Scotians to become healthier and safer.
I have to tell you this - that I pointed to my staff an example in your own constituency of something that I would like them to encourage community groups and organizations to work towards - and you know probably what I'm going to say. The Apple Dome Committee, in my mind, are leaders. They went out and did their work first. They fundraised; they had tremendous contributions - $1 million from Kings Mutual Insurance - and the entire communities, the municipalities and the town, they bought into this first. What I've asked my staff is to encourage community groups and organizations to do their work, to go out there and raise their money, show their commitment to these facilities, and provide for opportunities. And when community groups go out there and show their work and show their commitment in advance, it makes it easier for us to do our work and provide them with the opportunities that we can by providing one-third funding.
So, you know, I'm very proud of the contribution that we made to the Apple Dome Committee but I'm more proud of the fact that that community group and organizations recognized the need in their community and went out and fundraised and worked hard to fill their side of it in advance. I understand, having spoken to some folks, that they'll be turning the sod there sometime this Spring and the process will get underway. It will be no time before that community is able to benefit from the money that we have provided them and that they fundraised themselves. Knowing people in that community and knowing people who live in the Town of Berwick, they are looking very forward to that. They've actually been trailblazers and I've asked our staff to use them as a shining example.
MR. GLAVINE: Well, Mr. Minister, not everybody reads Hansard so I'll pass that along in my next newsletter - it truly is a good news story, there's no question about it. And just as a side note - I happened to be involved with the organizing committee that did the very first fundraiser, which was actually not even in Berwick, it was in Kingston. The committee hosted Saint Mary's and Acadia University in a hockey game. That was the very first fundraiser, and the minister is absolutely right - it has been a model effort in every regard.
In terms of moving this program, and certainly I understand the municipal funding that goes into many recreation programs, and Kings County has a very wide list of them - how is it going to match up federally, will Nova Scotia have to do a partnership here? Are there existing programs that that third will come into play here? I'm just wondering how that can possibly be fairly easy and accessible for communities and organizations to actually work through.
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MR. BARNET: There is no requirement that there be matching federal money, but there are federal programs that do provide support. I know that organizations apply to ACOA - I'm not exactly sure what the program is they apply to, but they do get support through ACOA for major facilities like this.
The other thing is that I understand the Government of Canada - in this particular budget - has set aside for the Province of Nova Scotia $25 million for infrastructure. I'm not sure what the intent is of that money, whether it's for roads or recreation, but that will unfold over time.
So there's no requirement that they receive one-third funding from the Government of Canada. Certainly they can receive funding from municipal partners and/or fundraising it themselves. I know it's a big task for communities, but I can tell you if a community the size of Berwick is able to do the work they've done, and they've had some real leaders, George Moody and Bobby Best - maybe some people complain about the way Bobby Best referees hockey, but I'll tell you, you can't complain about the way he raises money.
MR. GLAVINE: I'm afraid to have that man come near me - I've done more sponsorship in the past five years. Anyway, to move on here - I think one of the really good programs that came out of Health Promotion and Protection is the Active Kids, Healthy Kids program.
I know my community pretty well - I've been there for almost 30 years now - and know family histories right down to sport participation and so on. For the past three years I know that program has attracted children who just did not have an interest in sport, in activity. Where this was low cost, very, very friendly to participate in, and was fortunate to have at least two excellent leaders, in terms of both organizing and teaching within that program, it attracted huge numbers.
I'm wondering where that program is, because I'm one of those people who absolutely believe that when you have gotten onto something, and it may be tough to expand it, but to lose it, to me, it would be a real slip backwards for the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, so I want to know categorically where this is in terms of moving forward.
MR. BARNET: I couldn't agree with you more. The Active Kids, Healthy Kids strategy is about to be renewed. We will continue to make the kinds of investments that are necessary to provide opportunities for young people, particularly the young people who may not be involved in sport organizations.
[11:15 a.m.]
We have made some strategic investments in our budgets, including providing opportunities for parents to receive tax incentives for investment in their children by enrolling
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them in sport and recreational activities. It's the right thing to do. We recognize the benefits of it because we understand from research and information that we need to get our children more active, and we will continue to work towards that.
MR. GLAVINE: Yes, I would be a very, very huge critic if I see this program disappear. When I see the wonderful results that have occurred, and tremendous accounts and documentation that could come from the Kingston Village Commission and the coordinators of the program. So we'll hope that through your department, and through the municipality and the local community, that it does continue to be advanced because it's the kind of program that I see some real good linkages with.
As a teacher and coach for thirty years in the Kingston-Greenwood area - we get children who have lived in Europe for some periods of time and we also have a very, very active involvement with foreign students coming to our school. I was amazed on a number of occasions, over the past five to ten years in particular when I was teaching Grade 12 students, and I would know all those who were athletes in the school. Occasionally I would say to one of our foreign students, look this is the second semester now, why don't you come out and at least try out for one of our teams, and I was always amazed. There were very few occasions - and especially the Scandinavian kids, the Norwegians, the Swedes, the Fins who would come to our school. We actually had a couple who were permitted to play hockey on our school team - which was a wonderful cultural thing for our students - but I was always amazed and they would say, well I'm not really big on team and competitive sports, but I go to the base gym every day of the week after school. It's just part of their culture, part of what they should be doing, like brushing their teeth.
I think this is a program that can be a great motivator for kids, you know, when they gain that sense of being fit, being healthy, and they would want to continue to do something. So I think those are the kind of lead programs that in this province we need to inculcate as much as possible in our population. So I certainly applaud what has been done, and hopefully we can continue to build on that.
Just this past week we had the report, I think it was from an all-Party government committee that released the data on obesity in our children and I'm wondering if the minister had an opportunity to possibly review it - I'm sure perhaps at his department. Basically the highlights were, 26 per cent of children are overweight or obese and the report indicated 55 per cent on- reserve Natives are overweight and the report made thirteen recommendations. I'm just wondering at this point if you could comment on where you think we are in relation to some of those recommendations - and it may be a little bit early in that sense - but are you, as minister, prepared to implement those recommendations for Nova Scotia's youth?
MR. BARNET: I'm very proud of the fact that at Health Promotion and Protection we had some input into the committee - Farida Gabbani, behind me, actually presented to the committee - and I would say in one way, shape or form that as a result of the input that we
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had as a department, with Farida on our behalf, it has helped shape some of these recommendations. There's no greater legacy we can leave than a healthy society, and that is what we are about. That's what we do and that's why we've committed the investment that we've committed in our sport and recreational facility development. When you look down the list of the things that we have enhanced and improved upon in our department, you can see every single thing that we do ties to that.
I certainly believe that the money we spend, the initiatives that we undertake, the things that we do in this department, will help this province move to the new Nova Scotia, a healthier province. In speeches that I give to audiences wherever I go, I say that my goal as the minister is to make Nova Scotia the healthiest and safest province in our country. We are going to continue to invest in programs like Active Kids, Healthy Kids, in the recreational facility development, in tax credits to entice people with their back pockets to invest in their children, and I won't be satisfied until we have a cultural change in this province, that Nova Scotians embrace the fact that a physical, active lifestyle and healthy eating will lead to a better Nova Scotia - and many have. I can tell you that as somebody who attends a gym, they are busy - they really are, but there are still many others who have to do that. We have work to do and we will continue to do that work.
We will use every tool that we have available to us, including our social marketing programs that we have - and I spoke about those earlier - including these tax incentives, including investment and infrastructure, and working with our partners in Education and Community Services in providing opportunities for young people who don't have an opportunity. Our investment in KidSport is one of those areas that I think it's a tool that has shown tremendous benefit. I forget the number now - 3,000-some families have benefited directly as a result of our investment in KidSport.
KidSport is a program that was developed when I was young - I'm going to say it was 28 or 30 years ago. It was the idea of a person who now lives in New Brunswick, Walter Williams, and Walter came up with the concept of not government funding - people raising money. He went out and started raising money and developed this KidSport fund and Sport Nova Scotia, I believe at the time, embraced it. It worked very well as a little fundraising initiative and provided opportunities for a few people. But as a government we embraced it, invested heavily, and I can tell you that 3,000 families now are benefiting.
When I look down the list of young people who have been able to participate in sports - everything from fencing to hockey and everything from the cost of the registration to equipment - these are children who otherwise would be sitting home on a chesterfield, watching TV day in, day out. These are incremental steps in making Nova Scotia the healthiest province in this country. I have, in the past, thanked Walter for his vision to help young people who don't have an opportunity, and occasionally Walter will come back to Nova Scotia to see us. It's because of people like him and other sport leaders and health leaders that I believe that some day we will be able to stand up and say we are now the
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healthiest and safest province in this country. That is not far away either - I'm not going to give you my date.
MR. GLAVINE: Thank you, Mr. Minister. I thought we were going to have a Deputy Duff story there for a moment.
MR. BARNET: Oh, I could give you one of those, too. (Laughter)
MR. GLAVINE: Anyway, we will move on and what I would like to move to is the Trail Maintenance Program. That was established last year and I was just wondering, it was established - was it used, and if not, why not, and is this program going to be continuing? So if we could have just a little overview of that program - where it is going, have organizations availed themselves of it, and perhaps where you envision this going as we try to maintain and keep at least the Trans Canada Trail and such other developments. So if I could have a little bit of a picture of that, please.
MR. BARNET: We have invested a significant amount of money over a period of time in trail development. One of the things that community groups and organization trail groups have said to us is that it is important to build these trails but it is also important to maintain them. They brought to our attention the issue of being able to receive some funding to lever other funding to do trail maintenance. It's a lot easier to go out and fundraise to build a kilometre of trail than it is to go out and fundraise to maintain a kilometre of trail. So we did pledge a commitment to trail maintenance. Last year the money that we committed was completely used, and I know that groups and organizations went out and levered other money and utilitized value in kind, actual physical labour to do the work, which is a tremendous resource for Nova Scotia, the fact that we have people who are actively out there doing this kind of work.
We did, during the last election, commit to enhancing our trail program. In this budget we have an additional $350,000 that we will be spending including $25,000 for trail maintenance; a grants program of $75,000 for provincial and regional grants; $100,000 for community grants; some engineering money; a GIS technical position, somebody who can help our partners at Natural Resources and in the community with the technical component of developing trails, placing them in the right spot, that kind of stuff; and a trail coordinator position. Again, you add that all up, it's an additional investment of $350,000.
I do know that there are a lot of people who participate in organized physical activity but there are a lot of other people who have no desire to be part of a team or an organization, who simply want a place to get out and be physically active. The development of a trail is for those people. We have made some real progress in this province. I've asked my staff to work towards a goal of making Nova Scotia the most connected province in the country by trail.
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It's going to be tough because there are provinces that are way out ahead of us but we have a great opportunities, we're going to take advantage of those, and we are working with community groups and organizations to meet that objective. I know that in one example, there's a trail that was developed in Bedford that connected Bedford to Sackville. For the first time in three decades, people can legally walk to Bedford from Sackville. You couldn't do that before that trail existed. That trail is used by thousands and thousands of people. It has created a traffic problem on the Old Sackville Road where people are actually parking on the side of the road to get out of their car and take advantage of that trail.
It's a huge issue for a lot of communities and it's a great investment. It's something I'm very proud of and I know that around this province are a lot of people who are very dedicated to trail development.
MR. GLAVINE: Just on the mechanics of that, is there an actual application or do you make a presentation? What takes place here? I have been getting some activity, if you wish, in my office around this.
MR. BARNET: We have a facility development grant program. Actually, last year, I think we spent somewhere around $400,000 - this is in addition to what I just talked about on trail development through the RFD Program. What I would encourage you to do, if you have groups and organizations that are looking at a project, to speak with - in your area it would be Mike Trinacty - speak with Mike and start the process of developing an application.
MR. GLAVINE: To move to the health side here, in terms of Health Promotion and Protection, one of the things that we see in parts of the province is a very, very high incidence of certain chronic diseases. I think, in particular, of the member for Queens, down through Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Clare, they have some of the highest rates of stroke in all of Canada, as we know, as the Heart and Stroke stats tell us each year.
[11:30 a.m.]
I'm wondering if your department has ever thought about or started any planning around targeted Health Promotion and Protection areas and programs? Again, this is at the heart of some of the prevention work in conjunction with the Heart and Stroke Foundation or any other group that may want to be part of developing such a program. I think education in many of these areas are absolutely key to reduction. So, I'm just wondering if your department has looked at that? We know that some other jurisdictions have taken on a concerted education program as a tool for preventing and reducing, whether it be the incidence of heart attacks, stroke, just to name a couple. Have you looked at any part of the province with that kind of microscope, I guess, then put something in place to start to counteract that?
MR. BARNET: You've focussed on the essence of our department. One of the things we do as a result of our opportunity to provide and direct funding is, we provide for each of
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the DHAs, a chronic disease prevention officer. That person will have the ability to work with the Department of Health, through the DHAs, to do just what you are talking about. When you talk about providing people with information, it's exactly what we do. The things that you said in the preamble to your question are exactly what we do.
We provide people with the information that will help them make healthy choices and will help them understand the consequences of the decisions they make in their daily lives on their health. We do that in a variety of ways and when I look down through the book of responsibility areas in our department, I can tell you every single thing that we do actually addresses your question. When you talk about our smoking cessation program and our addictions support and our healthy food initiatives, it is the essence of our department.
MR. GLAVINE: One area that is along the lines of doing an education program, perhaps again setting up booths in malls or whatever - during the election, the Canadian Cancer Society came out on artificial tanning and all three Parties were asked to respond to a survey because here in Nova Scotia, we have the second highest rate of skin cancer in the country. So during the election, your Party responded to this question by stating that a departmental committee would be established with representation from Health Promotion and Protection, Health, Doctors Nova Scotia and Cancer Care Nova Scotia. So I am just wondering, has this committee been established?
MR. BARNET: Let me start by saying that not long after becoming the Minister of Health Promotion and Protection, I met with Sun Safe Nova Scotia. They made a presentation to me and it was a very informative meeting. I have to tell you, as a minister, I learned things that I wasn't aware of but, in addition to that, I also took the opportunity to meet with the tanning industry and allowed them an opportunity to provide me with some advice with respect to future direction to this government. The environmental health secretariat that has been established, a component of their work is just what you speak about. We will reflect, over time, on the information that we have received from Sun Safe Nova Scotia and the Canadian Cancer Society and others and develop a made-in-Nova Scotia approach to provide the safest kind of environment we can and a regulatory regime that protects Nova Scotians to the greatest extent we can.
MR. GLAVINE: At this point, though, no recommendations have actually been brought forward. There is general information, some guidelines and so on. You haven't reached the stage of the committee saying to you, Mr. Minister, here are five recommendations. Have we reached that stage?
MR. BARNET: The environmental secretariat - its first day is the day this budget passes. So their work begins then but before they actually start their work, we have gone out and begun the research and stakeholder development and discussions with industry to ensure that when we move forward with rules and regulations that they meet our objectives and are able to provide for a safer Nova Scotia with respect to sun safety.
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MR. GLAVINE: One of the areas, again, under your department is the community use of schools. So I am wondering whether there are any facilities in the province that are enabling programs to occur in school facilities without rental fees as a result of the legislation that was brought forth?
MR. BARNET: That is a question that you probably would be better to ask the Minister of Education. I could tell you that the minister and myself have had discussions around this particular matter and one of the things that we talked about as we developed our renewal of infrastructure investment in recreational facilities was that in addition to investing in recreational facilities, we need to do more to ensure that those facilities that we own now have greater access to the facilities we now own. I can tell you there is a desire by me, as the Minister of Health Promotion and Protection and by the Minister of Education, to do everything in our power to maximize the benefit of those school gyms. We're paying for them, we should be using them.
MR. GLAVINE: I don't have the estimates in front of me here, but I believe there was an amount for insurance coverage. Is this in some way to cover some of the insurance for groups, general liability? I know that's a contingent piece upon the wider use of gym facilities and I'm just wondering if that relates to your department or is that more under education?
MR. BARNET: In our department, the issue of insurance actually falls under my responsibility as Minister of Volunteerism. We have been working very closely with the Department of Transportation and Public Works to come up with a plan that will provide affordable insurance coverage, accessible for volunteers and volunteer organizations. I don't know if that necessarily meets what you're talking about but, for example, if a community group or organization required insurance to participate in a program in a school gym - let's say it's the Berwick Basketball Association. As we finalize the details of this particular initiative, I see those things being captured in that work that we're doing with the Department of Transportation and Public Works. The funding of that is actually with the Department of Transportation and Public Works.
MR. GLAVINE: Before going to a few line items in the budget that I had some questions on, I do concur, Mr. Minister, as I said in my opening remarks, that it is a department that is evolving and doing some terrific work that I think all Nova Scotians are taking a look towards.
There are a couple of areas that I do have some concerns around and I would like to get your views on where these could have some change and I think would create for an overall healthier society that has a high regard for well-being and the whole person. One of those that I get very disturbed about day in, day out, when I watch the ATV news - I guess government does have a part to play here, I suppose, even though what we're looking at is now privately owned, government regulated - the casino.
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When I look at the imaging around the casino ads and the message it gives Nova Scotians - in particular I think of young, vulnerable Nova Scotians; those who will look at some of those ads and say, I can't wait to be 19 and live the thrill. In light of so many serious addiction problems that we do have and very limited addiction programs now in the province - we heard just in recent weeks that the 21-day program in Middleton has been cut back - I would like to see your department be a stronger advocate for getting those ads out of prime time. I'm wondering how you respond to that.
MR. BARNET: Just like those who are proponents for facilities like the casino who utilize marketing as an opportunity for them to develop their business, we utilize marketing at Health Promotion and Protection. We've developed what I believe is an innovative campaign - it's called the yellow flag campaign, you may have seen it. It speaks closer to a variety of issues, including the scratch and win tickets, the casinos.
Essentially, we've developed an awareness campaign where people can see themselves in a situation and identify that, hey, this isn't the right choice. I think our marketing campaign has worked very well. We will continue to use social marketing as a way in which we get messages to Nova Scotians and if you look at our social marketing campaign that we've had, a lot of that has been directed particularly at young adults. We will research the success of those campaigns and reassess how it is that we move forward in the future.
Now I have had people come up to me and express their satisfaction with the work that we're doing, particularly with respect to our social marketing programs. We've spent a lot of money. In 2006-07 the cost of the yellow flag moment campaign was $550,000. It was an investment well spent. It's about motivating at-risk gamblers to reduce or modify their play and I believe that we are successful and will continue to be successful. It's not going to be the only thing we do and we'll adjust it as we need to adjust it, but just like the casino may have a marketing campaign to encourage people to go there, we have an effective marketing campaign to warn them of the risk.
MR. GLAVINE: I'm interested in that because, you know, your government also just gave - and I commend - the research dollars to a Saint Mary's University professor to look at advertising and the impact. So, hopefully, if there is something specific and strong that comes out of that, again your department would review and possibly endorse in some fashion.
MR. BARNET: I can speak to the yellow flag moment campaign. You know, the key target audience for that is the at-risk gamblers and the ones who are between ages 19 and 34, the same ones you were talking about. Our objective is to contribute to the reduction of problem gaming in Nova Scotia and we'll do that through that campaign by enhancing an understanding of what at-risk looks like so that people can see themselves in that at-risk situation.
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We also want to motivate the at-risk gamblers to reduce or modify their play and to support the at-risk gamblers and their families and friends in talking about the at-risk gambling behaviour. Our success is measurable by the amount of traffic that we get at our help lines, on our Web site, and when we run those ads, and often they're run in groups, we see that success spike in the traffic on our Web site and the traffic on our help lines. I read in my opening remarks that we literally help thousands of people every year through the use of our help lines and Web site.
[11:45 a.m.]
MR. GLAVINE: One of the other developments just in the past week to 10 days was the change in ATV regulations and certainly I also concur, as a 20-year owner/rider of an ATV, that there was certainly some room for some changes. The part that I worry about - and I did hear from five of the 35 instructors, in particular Sheila Campbell, the head instructor, of their passion for safety and they feel perhaps now their work and their message may not get out as strongly as the original plan was to develop. They bring up things like in that course, for example. Those who took the course would get a map of the wilderness protected area, another important advocacy piece, and safety. Of course, we had a death this winter on the ice, an ATV went through the ice. Their safety program worked to instill strong adherence to safety on the ice. I just wonder that for that population, and again I really am concerned about that age group above 16 who are not new drivers - 16 to 25 or 30 and even older people - who took the course and said, gee, I learned things that I had not been cognizant of. I just wonder if we have created some loopholes there around the safety piece, what will your department be working towards trying to accomplish that these courses were going a long ways towards achieving?
MR. BARNET: I'll answer it this way. One is that no changes that we've made in the regulations will exempt any new rider from having to take a course. They absolutely do. Every new rider in the Province of Nova Scotia has to take that course. It's a requirement. I believe that's essential.
I do also believe that experience does gain you knowledge and that experience does count for something. I'm not an ATV rider, I have driven them in the past. Probably if I were to take that up as an activity, I would take a course. Now you are an ATV rider, you said 20 years?
MR. GLAVINE: Twenty years.
MR. BARNET: And did you have the course?
MR. GLAVINE: No, but Sheila invited me to come up and take the course. In fact, I was going to have to take the course eventually.
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MR. BARNET: The changes we've allowed for is for you to use as a mature, responsible adult, 20 years experience, your experience to allow you to continue to ride. One of the things we know is that the vast majority of accidents and injuries as a result of - accident is a bad word in my department - injuries and collisions as a result of riding ATVs is with young people.
Our rules still require young people to take these tests as they become new riders. The rules with respect to under 16 still apply. The fact that some riders who have purchased a vehicle by a certain date and are older than a certain age and have a driver's licence, are now able to be grandfathered because of the experience they've gained as a result of having their vehicle driver's licence and having owned and operated for a number of years.
The most important point is that those new riders - those ones who are most at risk - are the ones we really need to focus on and still have an opportunity and a requirement to be trained. It was never the intention of these rules to create an industry around training.
MR. GLAVINE: Thank you. I guess maybe I'll be able to pursue it. In closing, I just want to thank you for the good detail and candid answers and look forward to working with you in this very, very important department.
MR. BARNET: Thank you.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Do we agree on a two minute break?
We will recess for two minutes.
[11:49 a.m. The subcommittee recessed.]
[11:54 a.m. The subcommittee reconvened.]
MR. CHAIRMAN: If the minister is ready, we'll continue.
The honourable member for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank.
MR. PERCY PARIS: Mr. Chairman, I just want, in a bit of a preamble, to again request the indulgence of the Chair and of the minister. We're sort of in a unique position here where the minister has four critics from the NDP. It's a rather unique situation. So in order to facilitate that, I would just request some co-operation because I know there's going to be an exchange of seating at some point in time.
I just want to take a couple of minutes, Mr. Minister, if I may, because I was jotting down some things over the last couple of hours with respect to some of the comments you made. I was very, very pleased, as the member representing Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank
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- there were a couple of catch words that certainly caught my attention: places to exercise and invest more in recreational facilities, and people die under the age of 20. I found this of particular interest to me as the representative for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank because - as you and I have had some private discussions - I'm of the mindset that this particular riding often feels like it's out of the mix.
We're one of the few ridings in the Province of Nova Scotia that doesn't have a rink, our own ice facility, and I say ice facility although it's my understanding, the way that I grew up, that a rink serves as more than just the purpose of a rink. It becomes that community centre point, that focal point, and most communities can utilize that 12 months of the year. Of course, I couldn't help but smile on the inside, as I smile on the outside now, when I hear the figure of $150 million being tossed about and I guess if you see any saliva coming out of the corners of my mouth, it's because I'm standing in line with my hand out. I want to make this perfectly clear, not only do we lack in recreation facilities, but it's such a beautiful riding with all the waterways in it from surface water to under surface water and in a riding as vast as this one, we don't have a legal-sized baseball field in the whole riding. We just don't have the facilities in comparison to those other ridings.
There's not a question there, but I certainly want to go on record as bringing this to the minister's attention in the days, weeks and months ahead, I'm sure he and I will be pursuing this in a more proactive manner. I don't want to pretend to speak for the minister, but from my perspective.
Also, I just want to mention in the spirit of Health Promotion and Protection, I know this is partly environmental and with all due respect, I am also well aware that some of these initiatives that I've talked about involve the municipality of HRM. I just have to bring to the attention of the minister that I have seniors that live in the riding that have to haul, lug their own water, go and purchase it because of inadequate or no water supply because of the rapid development in the riding, the water table has been grossly affected and generations of families who got their water at one time from underground sources, or even from surface water from some of the lakes - although they haven't run dry - but some of the underground sources now do not have water. The cost of HRM extending water services in the next phase to those residents - which they voted against - is, I feel very confident and accurate of saying, a minimum of $20,000 per household. That's a lot of water.
I just wanted to mention that and I reiterate, there wasn't a question there because in the interest of time, I'd like to move right into African Nova Scotian Affairs.
[12:00 noon]
I want to welcome your staff here, Mr. Minister, from African Nova Scotian Affairs. I know you've mentioned this in the House with respect to the new satellite office opening in Cape Breton which I hope I will get an invite to visit sometime in the near future. My
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question around that satellite office - it's probably two questions - was there a tender issued for that office and the second part of that question is, exactly where is that office located and, indeed, is that located in the Black community and if it's not, then is there any specific reason as to why it's not?
MR. BARNET: First of all, there was a tender that was issued by the Department of Transportation and Public Works. I can provide the member with a copy of the tender documents that were provided to prospective landlords. There was one bid and it was awarded to 15 Dorchester Portfolio Limited. The location is 15 Dorchester Street. It's a multi-tenant building in which other government department offices are located.
Our geography concern was to have the office somewhere we would be able to collaborate with other government departments and/or reach out to them so we could utilize their expertise and value as we moved forward with serving the community. The difficulty for us is there are a number of African Nova Scotian communities - Glace Bay, the Sterling area, Whitney Pier and Sydney as well. What we wanted to do was have the office in a spot where it would be accessible to all.
As I understand it, it's located in the downtown Sydney area. It's about 1.5 kilometres from Whitney Pier. Obviously, it's further away from Glace Bay, but at the end of the day, there was no central area that you could point to that was central to all of those communities. So we felt it was in the best interests of the office and the communities to be located closer to the government services so that when people came to our office looking for assistance, we would be able to get it more readily.
MR. PARIS: Thank you. I heard you say that you work very closely with the Department of Health in one of your responses on a previous question. I want to just very quickly have a very short discussion around the BLAC report that was tabled - if my memory serves me correctly, I think that report was first tabled in 1993-94. My question is, do you work closely, the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs, with the Department of Education on the implementation of the BLAC report? To piggyback on that question, since it was 1994 and this is 2007 so a lot of time has travelled and with time, things do change, I'm wondering, is there any part of that report that is now obsolete in 2007 as compared to 1994?
MR. BARNET: I can't respond on behalf of other governments in the past, but I will say this. When we became the government in 1999, we understood there was a great deal of effort that was undertaken to develop the report and we immediately began a process of implementing recommendations and funding those recommendations.
One of the tasks the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs was given was to simply identify reports and recommendations for government that have been developed over a period of time that for one reason or another had never been acted upon or hadn't been fully acted upon. This report is exactly one of those.
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What I have done as a minister is a little different than what our staff have done. Our staff have worked directly with the Department of Education and with the African Canadian Studies division and with CACE to help move forward with an action plan and provide support as they move forward and work with those recommendations in the report.
What I have done as a minister - the role in which many ministers find themselves - I have worked as an advocate on behalf of African Nova Scotians to ensure that funding was available during budget discussions and as we move forward as a government to fund those initiatives. Just this particular budget that is tabled before us, there is an additional $1.6 million that has been set aside to address the remaining outstanding recommendations in the BLAC report. It is a multi-year process that we have undertaken. The additional $1.6 million, as I understand it, is the amount of money that is required to implement the recommendations in the report.
Beyond that, we have worked with the Department of Education on a variety of programs, including support for math and science programs and community-led initiatives and that kind of stuff. But with respect to the BLAC report, in the Minister of Education's budget you will see an additional $1.6 million, which as I understand it, fully funds the implementation of the recommendations in the BLAC report.
MR. PARIS: Am I to interpret from that then all things remaining outstanding as far as the report goes are still relevant today in 2007?
MR. BARNET: As I understand the report and recommendations as developed and priorized by CACE, yes. Now, it's probably a question that you would like to ask the Minister of Education as well because it directly falls in her file. However, my role as the Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs is to bring to the attention of my colleagues the need to fund that. Again, like I say, I'm very pleased that we were able to now in this particular budget, when passed, fully fund the recommendations as laid out by the BLAC report and as priorized by CACE.
MR. PARIS: Something that I often hear and maybe you, Mr. Minister, hear it as well, whether it be through the media or through conversations with the general public, especially those individuals of African descent, I often hear that there's a need - and I'm quoting more or less from the reports from the media and from the public - that a lot of people feel that there's a role for African Nova Scotian Affairs to play more of an advocacy role. I'm just wondering if you could comment on that just very briefly?
MR. BARNET: I think that's what we do. I believe that we are advocates, that our department does do just that. I think if you look at the successes that we list as the things that we've been able to do over the past two years since we've been formed as an office, we have worked very hard with a variety of groups and organizations and I can tell you, as somebody who likes to go around the province and point to successes, and I do like to do that, you know,
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we've worked with the Greenville Youth and others to help develop a community hall. Bill Crawford was the community leader there where we helped with the development through a variety of government departments that all came and chipped in little bits and pieces of money to help develop that hall.
My very first success was the UNIA Hall in Glace Bay where I got a call, I think it was about two weeks after being sworn in as the minister, from a community member who brought to my attention that the UNIA Hall in Glace Bay was up for tax sale, nobody had paid the taxes and the society that had been there had lapsed over a period of time and the municipality was putting the hall up for tax sale. I happened to be going to Sydney so I chose to redirect myself to Glace Bay while there. I met with the mayor and I met with some community members.
I was able to convince the mayor to take a different direction. The tax sale never occurred. I went out and visited the hall. It really did need some work. It had been neglected for a period of time but that particular hall had what I would consider incredible significance to that community because it wasn't just a hall, it was a hall with prominence and the prominence came from the fact that Marcus Garvey had actually spoken at that hall and, you know, for that community to lose that and to have lost the hall that many members of the community had remembered being there in that very charged environment with an impassioned speech and was a great day for that community, it would have been devastating.
So we were able to help them. The tax sale never occurred. We found and resourced them funds so that they could move forward with the redevelopment and, as I understand, the hall is now a vibrant place where people gather and meet. The significance of that hall exists today. If we hadn't interjected, I'm certain that that hall would not be a hall today, it would be something else and that sits on the list of the very first thing that we were able to do and I was able to do as the minister. So that was the beginning, and throughout the past number of years there have been all kinds of successes - and I point to successes in progress, including our work with the Health Association of African Canadians, the Black Basketball Association, Black History Month Association, and the Africville Genealogical Society.
We had a situation where we have a very active, well- informed group of people who have a proposal that has been stalled before the municipal government for an extended period of time, where commitments were made and never followed through on, where obligations, in the community's minds, were never kept. I was able to, along with the support of our staff, Wayn and others, bring together representatives from the municipality, the Government of Canada, and from ourselves and the community, to start a process of dialogue that has moved that file closer now to a resolution than ever before in our history.
I believe that we will see a resolution to that file that will see the development of the Seaview United Baptist Church and the interpretive centre on that site at Seaview Park while I'm the Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs. That has been my goal and remains my goal
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because I know it's the right thing to do and I now know that the municipality is more committed to it than ever before, and we will continue to work with them and to move that file along.
We have invested money in the development of business planning. I think if you talk to people like Mr. Carvery and others, that they will agree with me that things are progressing very well and that they are very optimistic.
MR. PARIS: What about Lincolnville? For a number of years there has been some controversy going on in Lincolnville with respect to the landfill site. There is a group, an organization, and they had a meeting a week ago on Saturday - I was invited to it along with a number of my colleagues at the NDP caucus. So when I talk about advocacy - and I certainly recognize those things, individually and collectively, that your department has done, there are some real issues out there that are very pressing to various parts of the Province of Nova Scotia. So are you as involved with something as controversial as the Lincolnville citizens' group?
[12:15 p.m.]
MR. BARNET: There are a number of things in Lincolnville that we have been actively involved in. I can tell you that I have received correspondence, I think over the past number of years, and/or discussions with people with respect to the provision of safe drinking water for that community - we have advocated on their behalf to the municipality and made them aware of municipal programs. I know there is a group who are concerned about the second-generation landfill that is there. We, again, presented and met with the municipality on their behalf to ensure that their concerns were being reflected in their development of this second-generation landfill. There have been a number of areas where we have actually advocated on their behalf.
At the end of the day, particularly in some instances, there are community members, on issues, that are on one side and there are community members, on an issue, that are on the other side, and I don't believe it is our role, particularly in the case of the landfill concern, to choose who we do and who we don't support. What we do is we bring information to people, we provide opportunities for the municipality to understand the concerns that are being raised, and we ensure that the appropriate due diligence is being done by other levels of government and other departments of government, and that approach has been an approach that as worked very well.
With respect to Lincolnville, it's a very divisive issue, particularly with respect to the landfill. We have people who are clearly on one side and people who are clearly on another side - I've spoken to both - and then we have a municipality that has already moved forward. The best thing that we can do as a department is to make sure that when people bring issues
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to us that they have fair opportunity to be heard, that we provide the greatest amount of advice that we can, and we direct them in the appropriate direction.
There is another issue in the area and that is the issue of the Red Head Cemetery. It was brought to our attention that there are and were concerns with respect to that. We have been active on that file; in fact I have written to my colleague, the Minister of Environment and Labour, specifically about the Red Head Cemetery and its proximity to the proposed liquified natural gas and petrochemical facility. I understand that in the approval documents there are a number of conditions, some of which actually address that particular concern raised by the community. We will continue to ensure that as the community raises concerns to us, as an office, that those concerns get addressed to the greatest extent that we possibly can.
MR. PARIS: Thank you. I have very limited time. As I said in my preamble, this is an area that is divided up amongst four critic areas which, and I guess we have to evaluate the fairness of that in the future. I would say, in closing, please don't misinterpret this with respect to Lincolnville and the landfill - I can remember reading a document, and I'm hesitating in saying this because I think it was one that was done by the Province of Nova Scotia where it was recommended that no landfill site be located on or near, in close proximity, to a Black community. So when I read something like that, even though the community of Lincolnville, there is a division on it, I think I would be pretty clear, personally, on what side of the fence that I would stand on with respect to that particular issue.
Having said that, Mr. Chairman, I reluctantly but graciously, turn the microphone over to my learned colleague.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Dartmouth South.
MS. MARILYN MORE: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I am going to be asking questions of you as the Minister of Volunteerism.
MR. BARNET: I'm going to have to get some people back in here, but you go ahead and I'll start without them. That's fine. This is very difficult, when you have multiple responsibilities.
MR. PARIS: And you still have the Liberal critic to . . .
MR. BARNET: Yes. I don't know if there is another way, or what other ministers do. I might be the only one who has this . . .
MR. CHAIRMAN: . . . you can keep any minister here for the whole time in the Red Room if you prefer.
MR. BARNET: You didn't have to say that.
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MR. CHAIRMAN: You can keep coming back, honourable member. There is no time limit for ministers except the overall time limit. If you would like to keep Health Promotion and Protection here, you are welcome to do so.
MS. MORE: No, I think I am going to move into volunteerism.
MR. BARNET: You can start. I think my staff may have believed they were finished, but that's okay, you can start.
MS. MORE: You are probably aware, Mr. Minister, that our caucus actually had the first appointment of a critic and my title is Critic of the Voluntary Sector, and the reason I am mentioning that is because I want to be clear - I believe you are the Minister of Volunteerism and I'm not sure, but I think the Liberal Critic is the Critic for Volunteers - I just want to point out to you, in my mind, what the difference is. I see my role as representing the social infrastructure of organizations across the province through which most of our volunteers work, and it's from that perspective that I am going to be asking you a few questions today.
I know you well recognize that volunteers, as a human resource, are worth billions of dollars annually to our province. As I have suggested many times, both in the Red Room and in the Chamber, from my long experience in the voluntary sector I believe the sector is at risk, that it's actually in a crisis situation, so I'm interested in finding out how much new additional money from your department is going to support volunteerism and the voluntary sector.
MR. BARNET: [Off mic. Inaudible]
MS. MORE: Okay, can we just leave that on the record? That would be great.
MR. BARNET: . . . is in excess of $100,000, I can't recall the exact amount of money, and it's for us to be able to provide for support to me, as the minister, and to communities and organizations as we move forward with our work plan. We are, you may be aware, developing an action plan for volunteerism, and the money we have set aside in this year's budget will help us work towards enacting that plan.
I'm very proud of the fact that I'm the first Minister of Volunteerism in the Province of Nova Scotia. I will disagree with you slightly in one area - I believe that volunteerism in Nova Scotia is alive and well; in fact I believe it's thriving. I believe what we have to do, as a province, is to continue to enable it to thrive. I know that, as a volunteer myself and as a family who, as part of our culture, it was to volunteer, that there are a great many Nova Scotians who embrace their own community and their friends and family and their organizations through a great deal of support and effort.
I can tell you that we are unique - we volunteer at a higher rate than any other jurisdiction. I think it's a cultural thing, it's just who we are and what we're about. But it's
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the kind of thing that, as a provincial government, we need to embrace, support, and encourage. It's not good enough in my mind to simply declare a month Volunteer Month, or a week, Volunteer Week, and it's not good enough in my mind to host a once-a-year event where we pass out a plaque to 55 people and say thank you very much, because behind those 55 people there is another group of people, thousands of whom are actively out there supporting those 55 and others doing the work that's necessary.
I'll tell you one thing that I've discovered as a result of being Minister of Volunteerism - when I've gone around this province and I've met people, I find a couple of things interesting. One thing that I find very interesting is that often people volunteer for a variety of reasons, but it's the reasons I don't fully understand - I've seen people who have never been hungry a day in their life, never experienced a moment of poverty who volunteer at food banks and soup kitchens, and to me, that's very noble. They're not volunteering because they've experienced it and they know what it's like - they're volunteering because they know it's the right thing to do. It's people who volunteer coaching minor hockey who have no children who play minor hockey, but they do it because they know other children need that guidance and support.
In our province, I'm proud of the fact that we have people that affect other people's lives day in, day out. I know people who are part of the Relay for Life, the Diabetes Association, the Beacon House Interfaith Society that runs a food bank in our community, who are involved in minor hockey, track and field, and Stetsons & Spurs - and I'm talking one person, eight organizations. That's a big commitment and there are lots of those kinds of people.
MS. MORE: Thank you, Mr. Minister. As you realize, I have very limited time to ask a few questions and I don't want to get into a debate about the . . .
MR. BARNET: I thought we had another hour.
MS. MORE: . . . numbers of volunteers available to organizations throughout the province, but I do want to mention that one of the reasons our numbers are inflated is because we include informal volunteers - people who are being good neighbours, or helping extended family, and help out on an occasional basis.
If you look at the number of volunteers volunteering through the formal infrastructure, I think you'll find that the trends that have hit the rest of Canada are starting to hit in Nova Scotia as well. The people I talk to are having trouble getting volunteers to serve on boards of directors, they're having trouble finding people who will do the fundraising - for example, in the health charities, that's always a huge, huge challenge for them every year. I don't want to debate the actual numbers, but all I'm suggesting is that this social infrastructure that our voluntary sector provides needs to be protected and nurtured. I'm very concerned that with
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the loss of the federal CVI, the Canada Volunteerism Initiative money and effort in Nova Scotia, that it's going to put our voluntary sector here at more risk.
There has been lots of momentum the last three years as a result of this federal investment in Nova Scotia. They have provided community grants; there has been lots of coordination, sharing volunteers and services, lots of collaboration; there has been increased communication and networking; and there has actually been a start to develop a strategy to support volunteerism. Now I know when you were announced, last May I believe it was, as the first Minister of Volunteerism in the province, you mentioned that you were going to be working toward a provincial strategy to protect volunteerism - can I ask you what the status of that is?
MR. BARNET: Certainly, but before I answer that I want to point out that I, too, am and was concerned with the Government of Canada's movement away from CVI; in fact I wrote the minister - Bev Oda, I believe is the minister - expressed my disappointment and concern with her and encouraged her to revisit their commitment to volunteers in Canada and volunteers in Nova Scotia. As a result of that, I remain disappointed in the fact that they have dropped their responsibility area there.
The one thing, though, I do know and I do recognize is the fact that every time the Government of Canada moves away from its responsibility, the Government of Nova Scotia simply can't pick it up - it would create a great deal of financial pressure on the Province of Nova Scotia if we did that in every single case. But in this case what we've done is we have recognized that they have left a void and, to the greatest extent we can, we began the process of filling that void by including a line item in our budget that will help us do some of the work that has been started by the . . .
MS. MORE: Nova Scotia network.
MR. BARNET: . . . NSCVI. We are able to now at least ensure that that work in Nova Scotia isn't completely lost. I can tell you other provinces that had volunteer networks - gone. In Nova Scotia at least the work that began, we can continue where they left off and move forward. But your question was with respect to our plan?
[12:30 p.m.]
MS. MORE: Yes, the strategy - where is it today? It's almost a year later and I'm just wondering what progress has been made on the strategy.
MR. BARNET: Well, my hope and expectation is that very soon, in April, we will be able to announce where we are with our strategy.
MS. MORE: So it is underway?
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MR. BARNET: Yes. We are kind of looking for one of those things - you know, when you stand up at a microphone in front of a whole bunch of volunteers and announce it, like Volunteer Week or something like that. So, yes, we are nearly complete; it has been a work in progress, but you can expect very good news in the very near future.
MS. MORE: That's good. Because I'm pleased that you made the distinction, earlier in your remarks, between appreciating what volunteers do with the municipal recognition awards and the provincial award dinner, but I've spent almost my entire life in the voluntary sector - I was one of the people who actually brought CVI here to Nova Scotia - so I fully appreciate the impact of government action and non-action, and while volunteers like to be appreciated, they want to see solid support, they want to see the reassurance and hope that their work is not only just recognized in those few minutes of a dinner or a presentation of a certificate, as you mentioned, but recognized in tangible ways that allow them to continue to do the good work that they are doing in our communities.
I know you well recognize that a lot of essential services are being provided across Nova Scotia by volunteers and the voluntary sector. They provide a level of support that government is either unable, through fiscal restraint, or unwilling to provide and when I look at the incredible work done by women's centres, by crisis centres, the Auxiliary Coast Guard, Search and Rescue, literacy groups, supports for children and educational services, without these volunteers, we wouldn't have the quality of life that we have in Nova Scotia, so we owe them so much, but what we owe them even more is the chance to continue to work in as positive a way as possible and a lot of volunteers are getting discouraged.
I may have told you this story before but I remember so clearly hearing from someone who had joined the Yarmouth Ground Search and Rescue, who actually quit after a couple of years because he said, I joined to be trained to go out and search for lost people. I didn't join an organization to spend 99 per cent of my time fundraising.
So somehow we have to both support the fundraisers within those organizations but relieve them of some of the burden. So that's why I'm interested to know - I mean, you're thinking it's only about $100,000, perhaps a little more, that's going into support for the voluntary sector and you're going to be announcing the strategy next month, that's good news, but I think the expectations are high that this government is going to recognize the value of the voluntary sector and make sure that we're not going to lose any more ground.
Is there anything more you can tell me about what your department is doing, in terms of support with the voluntary sector? I found it very difficult in looking at your budget, to pull out the aspects of it, the budget lines that were actually directed toward that initiative. So if you have any additional information, I'd be very pleased to get it.
MR. BARNET: We do. I would describe it this way, you have to understand that we are brand new at this business, to the extent that we had a person on a part-time basis who was
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supporting volunteer initiatives, particularly as it relates to the Province of Nova Scotia. We've invested approximately $130,000 to help us to move forward from a point where we were to where we are. I believe that over time, people will be able to point to some real tangible examples of where we've been able to support volunteer groups and organizations.
I spoke about some of that earlier on, specifically issues around insurance, for example. We're very active working with the Department of Transportation and Public Works to find an approach to resolving outstanding issues around insurance. I believe we're getting close to that and I know that the Minister of Transportation and Public Works has funding in his budget to help resolve that particular, very large file and very complex file that we've been working on for a number of years before we even had a responsibility area for it.
That's one example, but there are other things, like the development of the volunteer network and opportunities through Web site development, that kind of stuff. These are things that are, I don't want to tell you too much because we're still in the process of finalizing our plan and we will unveil that plan in April, during Volunteer Week, the National Volunteer Week events. I think that people will be pleasantly surprised that we have been able to do what we've done and move this province further along.
Just like you, I too have many stories of people who have volunteered and as I said, it's a culture of our society. It affects every aspect of our life and I can't think of a thing that we do as a government that somehow we don't rely on volunteers. There is a very real benefit to government in supporting volunteers. At the end of the day, if we didn't have community groups and organizations and individuals out there supporting their communities and their friends and families and neighbours, there would be tremendous pressure on the Province of Nova Scotia to be able to pick up that loss of support. So when we encourage and support volunteers, we benefit immensely as a province because as you pointed out, it is a ground search and rescue, who's going to do it if someone gets lost? It's in our health care system, it's in our education system. There's not a student in our education system or who has ever come through our education system in the last number of decades, who hasn't been impacted positively as a result of the work of a volunteer. They raise money for all kinds of things and they support kids through reading programs and you name it, it's how we are and who we are, as a province. It's why people want to live here and without supporting our voluntary network, with an erosion or a loss of that, as a government, I think we'd have a hard time being able to fill that need.
We've talked about the $2 billion economic value of it. It really is $2 billion in money that government doesn't have to spend to provide services to people that are necessary for us to move forward, as a province. The next while, as we grow, are going to be exciting times for us.
MS. MORE: My time is up but I just want to finish by suggesting that if volunteerism were any other economic sector in this province, I think we would see the investment of
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millions of dollars into supporting it, not perhaps hundreds of thousands, if that. So I think this is an area that is going to require much more financial support in the future in order to maintain it.
I want to suggest that I think the voluntary sector in Nova Scotia was able to leverage the financial assistance from the federal government in a way that moved it years ahead of its previous track record. It is important that the links and the collaborative model that they used are protected over the coming years because they are the very leaders who are going to ensure that your strategy is both the best possible and that it is going to be implemented in a way that serves the citizens of this province as well as they deserve to be served, so I do encourage you.
I find it a little frustrating, this is the second time that I've not been able to have my questions answered because of pending government announcements. Somehow we've got to get this in sync so that, as critics, we're able to get some of the information we need to perform our role as well as possible. Just to let you know that this is a passion of mine, I've spent my entire life working in this sector and I appreciate the baby steps that the government is taking towards it.
I do want to give you credit for the work on insurance that you've done with the trails associations. I believe that model of government and NGO collaboration on insurance issues is actually being looked at nationally, so I do want to give you kudos for that and hopefully, that's a model that will be able to be used for the rest of the voluntary sector in Nova Scotia. So thank you very much.
MR. BARNET: I do have to respond. I have to tell you that I would not describe the work that we're doing as baby steps, they are foundational steps. I am very proud of the work that we've been able to do. We are working with the same people who helped with CVI, Recreation Nova Scotia, IRANS and others, to move this province forward.
I was hoping that we would see the federal government return to their role, they didn't. We recognize the fact that we can't pick up everything they did but I can tell you this, that we are doing everything we can. I think it is grossly unfair to describe the work we're doing and the efforts we're putting forward on behalf of volunteers, as baby steps.
I did answer your questions. You may not have liked the answer but I did answer your questions. This is about building a foundation; this is about moving our province forward and supporting volunteers.
I have to tell you, I recognize, as a minister, we can't do everything for everybody but in this file area I'm very proud and pleased that we've been able to do what we've been able to do. What I will tell you in closing is that we are going to move forward in a progressive way to support volunteers. To me, when I - and I, too, have a great deal of experience as a volunteer - not in the volunteer sector - as a volunteer, as somebody who has spent my time
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and effort helping people in my community and around this province, and my family as well. I've been a volunteer since I've been this big. I can tell you, I talked to volunteers across this province and I talked to them in every sector on how they affect and impact this province. They are very pleased with what we are doing. So I am disappointed when I hear you describe it as baby steps.
MS. MORE: Minister, until I get the details, I can only call it baby steps. That's what I'm asking you, is for the information. Give me the information and I would be pleased to give you the credit but right now I just feel like it's empty promises. So I will leave it there. Thank you.
MR. BARNET: Well, you are the only one.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Dartmouth East.
MS. JOAN MASSEY: Mr. Chairman, I will thank the minister in advance for his answers to the questions but I will be leaving my questions to the end. I am just going to sort of summarize what I am going to try to cover and then go very quickly through what I want to talk about. I am going to touch on Health Promotion and Protection and Communications Nova Scotia. I want to touch on the fact that we are losing a rink in Dartmouth East and I would like to also discuss the Tobacco Access Act. As far as Communications Nova Scotia, the "Come to life" and maybe get into the budget a bit.
I am going to start off with the issue of the loss of a rink in Dartmouth East. I know I have asked questions during Question Period on this. The closure is going to take effect in April 2007, so any day now. There is a big issue. There was no community consultation prior to the announcement whatsoever. There is absolutely no plan to replace the rink, as far as we know. There is no apparent ownership of this issue at any government level, that we can see. As far as we know, the province stated that it doesn't run the recreation facilities but it can assist in funding perhaps through a government grant. It's uncertain at this time where HRM stands on the issue and as far as we can tell, there is no ice strategy. There is no strategy in place for ice surfaces in HRM right now.
We do know that Nova Scotia has one of the highest obesity rates in Canada and the impact on our specific community is going to be very great and, of course, right across the province this is an issue with our children and our obesity rates. There is a need for rinks right across the province. There is a need for playgrounds across the province. In the Budget Address, Pages 12 and 13, it says, on the withdrawal from the Games, ". . . it served to highlight the need for more and better recreational facilities in Nova Scotia . . . a 10-year, $50-million program to build, replace, and upgrade recreation facilities in Nova Scotia." It says that the cost will be shared with the municipalities.
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[12:45 p.m.]
So earlier on in the morning we heard you talk about healthy businesses and how rinks and pick-up hockey and these sorts of things are great for communities and active kids and healthy kids and all those programs. So that is one of the big issues with me, as far as my constituents are concerned and also other people across the province in regard to Health Promotion and Protection.
The second issue I need to discuss is an issue that has been brought to my attention through one of my corner store owners, and I did table a petition in the House with over 700 signatures from a lot of the residents in my riding who have concerns for my corner store owners, their families and the people who work in those stores when we implement the tobacco access law and we are talking about our power walls.
They have been waiting, I think, very patiently and they weren't consulted from the very beginning, but they have been waiting for the implementation of the dos and don'ts. They want to know what can they do, what can't they do, but they are concerned about their safety and my constituents are concerned for their safety also. I know we have all been in corner stores and we know that they have an issue right now. Some of my corner stores actually have been broken into and, at gunpoint, been held up. So we have a concern for them. So that's my second little issue that I have.
Then moving on to Communications Nova Scotia and our Come to life program, I see in the budget, not specifically pertaining to Come to life, but that the budget for Communications Nova Scotia has, in fact, from what I can see, doubled from 2005-06 to 2007-08 and that salaries and benefits are up by $2 million for 2007-08. What last year happened, when I know I questioned you on this, was I talked about the advertising budget. I know the figures I had weren't really in line with what you had but somewhere around, you know, we were discussing between $3 million and $4 million on advertising.
I know at that time we talked about the Come to life because that seems to be where a lot of the pot of money was going. You had said that Nova Scotians don't know everything about Nova Scotia and that was one of the reasons we were doing the Come to life, but my questioning at that time was, what are the indicators that Come to life is working or not working and you had said at that time that you were going to bring some people together to evaluate it. So that is sort of like where I'm standing with what I'm trying to find out in the next few minutes that I have here. It doesn't give me a lot of time, I know, and I will apologize, it doesn't give you a lot of time to come up with replies, but it's just the way the animal works here at Province House and that's the way it goes. Last year I had seven minutes, I think, to discuss tourism in Nova Scotia. That was quite fun, right, seven minutes of fun, but anyway what I would like to know then is, and I'm going to be specific now, are we getting a new rink in Dartmouth East and, if so, when?
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MR. BARNET: I've got six minutes to answer three questions and that is, as everyone sitting around this table would know, almost impossible considering the way that I talk. Let me talk about the rink first. The Halifax Regional Municipality is the level of government that has the primary responsibility for the development of recreation facilities in that municipality. It is their job, their mandate, and their responsibility to develop arenas and recreation facilities.
I met with the mayor and with the councillor for the area. I encouraged them to bring forward an RFD application so that they could have this particular issue dealt with through our process, through recreation, so we could support that because I believe it's the right thing to do. To date they have not. It's their responsibility to do that. We cannot go out through our program and make them do their job. They have to do their job, we do our job. I've expressed to them that if they bring forward an application, we will do what we can to support that application because I believe it's the right thing to do.
I do know, though, that with respect to the Halifax Regional Municipality's analysis of the needs for arenas, they actually do have that work. You may not be aware of this, they have a report that was done by a consultant, Burke/Oliver, who actually identified their weaknesses and their strengths and evaluated the facilities they've had. It's also, as I understand it, part of the regional planning exercise. So they do have the work, you know, and having said that, changes like the loss of this particular facility impact that, but I will say, as I've said to many others and to groups and organizations, I'm proud of our program. I believe it will be effective and I believe communities like yours have a role to play and can move forward.
The municipality doesn't have to do it on its own. The community can. There's nothing that stops a community group or organization. In fact, many of the applications we get are from community groups and organizations and I know that some of your colleagues and some of my colleagues, and some of our colleagues in the Liberal caucus, actually work with their communities themselves to help develop community groups and organizations to address the needs in their communities. So it can be done in a variety of ways. So there is an opportunity there. With respect to the Tobacco Access Act . . .
MS. MASSEY: The specific question there, if I didn't make myself clear, I was told that perhaps two weeks from now they would be given the specs on what they could do behind their counters, you know, above them and that sort of thing. So that's what they're asking me for from you, is it going to be two weeks from today?
MR. BARNET: We're very close to that.
MS. MASSEY: Are you?
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MR. BARNET: Yes. We'll know very soon where we are with that. We've pushed ourselves very tight with time frames and it was a very aggressive work strategy with respect to the Tobacco Access Act. Just yesterday, we actually proclaimed the chapter of the Act and I can tell you the difficulty for us is actually being able to develop in words and in regulations what it is that we practically want to do. We have no intention of making anybody's life less safe. This isn't about reducing safety, it's about increasing safety, it's about denormalizing tobacco use and I'm proud of where we've been and where we are going.
The final point is with respect to Communications Nova Scotia. I feel sometimes like a push me-pull me. I have members of your caucus who say, Mr. Minister, how come you're not telling people about this and how come you're not out advertising that and how come you're not out making sure that people apply to this program or that program? Then when we start a process of public awareness, education and advertising so people are aware of the programs, I have other members who say, Mr. Minister, why are you spending money advertising these things and telling people about it. To me, I don't know which way you want it, but I do know this, the way I want it is so that Nova Scotians have access to the information they need, they're aware of the programs that are available and they get the support of their government.
With respect to Brand Nova Scotia, I have to tell you I think that it is absolutely the right thing to do. There are initiatives that we've undertaken over the past little while that are bringing awareness of Nova Scotia to Nova Scotians, but more importantly awareness of Nova Scotia to people who live outside of our borders, so that we can stem the tide of the "going down the road" syndrome, so that we can attract the brightest young people to come to Nova Scotia and business people to invest here, and tourists to come visit here and spend their money.
I think we have a great province, I think this is the best province in the country. I am proud of the fact that we are out there beating our own drum, telling people about who we are and what we're about. I know others are doing that and if we don't, we go behind. About having people recognize Nova Scotia for who we are and what we're about, that's the job of all 52 members of the Legislature, but it's also the job of the government. Thank you.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Preston.
MR. KEITH COLWELL: Mr. Chairman, I have many other things I have to do this afternoon and I have to do something very unusual, I'm going to turn my time this afternoon over to Mr. Paris. I was very interested in the questions he was asking around African Nova Scotian Affairs, but I will be resuming my time on Monday. When that time comes, I think I'll have about 35 minutes, is that correct, Mr. Chairman, today?
MR. CHAIRMAN: Yes.
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MR. COLWELL: I'll be resuming the 25 minutes on Monday when we come back again on this issue.
MR. BARNET: Mr. Chairman, can I ask how much time is left today?
MR. CHAIRMAN: We have approximately 35 minutes.
MR. PERCY PARIS: Mr. Chairman, I would like to acknowledge and thank the honourable member opposite for relinquishing some of his time to us. It is my understanding that the honourable member will resume on Monday with the time that is remaining. Again, my thanks and appreciation.
I think when we left off we were talking about advocacy. I want to make this clear, that I, as a member of the general population and also as an MLA, certainly recognize and acknowledge the work that the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs has done to date. This is certainly no reflection on staff or the hardworking efforts put forward by staff, but there may be a difference here with respect to definition around advocacy and what I may consider as advocacy and what you, Mr. Minister, may consider as advocacy.
I think when I see your department assisting or facilitating - and I'll use the example that you used, the Africville Genealogical Society - I see that as part of the responsibility of the agency. When I talk about advocacy, I know from the number of phone calls that I receive - and I think this is a sign of the times in that I get a lot of phone calls from individuals right across the Province of Nova Scotia who don't necessarily live in the riding of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank, and they call me based on one commonality, pigmentation of their skin, looking for me to advocate on their behalf. And I think when it comes to the Africville Genealogical Society, I'm in reserve. I'm the one, I think, that when all else fails they will look for that political hook or that political roll - if your government dropped the ball or if the federal government dropped the ball, or even the municipality dropped the ball, then if everybody drops the ball, I would think that those agencies would be coming to me more readily to pick up the ball and to run with it as far as I can go.
I mentioned Lincolnville and I think it is the Concerned Citizens of Lincolnville, and I think we are in agreement that there are two sides to every story - and I will say that the Community of Lincolnville has one side that maybe doesn't have as big an issue with the landfill as maybe the more proactive side. There's one side that's willing to say well it's here, let's let it go, let's make the best of it, but there's another side that's looking at, historically, the treatment of African Nova Scotians in the Province of Nova Scotia, and also the submission that was made to the Province of Nova Scotia where no future landfills would be located on or near Black communities.
And I think, also, when I consider the landfill in Lincolnville, there are some other issues that are associated with that which I would have to ask the municipality - how many
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persons of African descent are actually employed at the landfill? What impact does the landfill have on property values, on water resources? What impact does it have on the environment? And I could go on and on with respect to the speeding trucks, the hours of the trucks that are going to and from the landfill at all hours of the day. I could go on and on and on.
[1:00 p.m.]
I'd be very interested in hearing from you, Mr. Minister, if indeed the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs has current case files of people who have felt, because of racism in the Province of Nova Scotia, they've been unjustly done by and they're looking for someone, other than the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, to advocate on their behalf, to bring resolve.
MR. BARNET: I hesitate to speak specifically about the people who have contacted our office, but I'll do it in a way that is understanding of their privacy and respectful of the fact that often what they've brought to my attention, they've also said publicly. So we get calls - and you know I don't think we differ really in terms of how I perceive the role of our office and how you perceive the responsibility to advocate. I think essentially we're saying the same thing, but we might be just saying it a little differently - an individual like Bill Crawford, Greenville, calls our office looking for support for his hall. We advocate on his behalf and we go to a variety of government departments to help find funding to help support the development of that hall - and it was opened up just a couple of months ago - we were able to support it, and Economic Development and a number of other government departments. As the minister responsible, I was there to advocate on behalf of him and his community, along with the member representing that area - that's one example.
I get calls from people like Sharon Oliver who is asking me, as the minister, for my support for the Birchtown Black Loyalist Society. As I pointed out in my opening remarks, we were able to assist them. She asked me, and her board asked for me to support them and their initiative through a variety of things and we've actually been very supportive right from the very beginning, both in providing them with funding to do the work they needed to do to move towards development of a UNESCO World Heritage site for that location. But in addition to that, supporting them as they've gone through some very tough times - through an arson at their facility - by providing them with photocopying of their materials and restoration of their computer files - that kind of thing - and advocating with other government departments like Tourism, Heritage and Culture, the Government of Canada, through Heritage Canada. We have really worked very hard on that file and I do see our role as an advocate.
As well, with respect to the issue of racism, and this particular file, I did speak out about my concern that that incident might have been - I don't know what the outcome of the court case is, but there is somebody that has been taken to court with respect to that - race- related. I don't tolerate it, I don't believe it's acceptable. It is not acceptable. I did make public
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statements, as the minister, in terms of how I would describe morphing from that role of advocacy to the advocacy of working with government departments. We worked very hard and continue to work hard.
There are people like Louis Gannon - we all know Louis, he works very hard for the African-Nova Scotian Music Association and we have worked with them very closely and we advocate and bring together groups and organizations and government departments to help support the music industry - and the Black Basketball Association is another one.
Even when you get right down to the individuals who call your office looking for support, like a group you talked about in Lincolnville or an individual who might live in Lincolnville, whether it's the councillor, Sheila Pelly, or a citizen, Alonzo Reddick, or whoever, our role is to assist where and when possible, to work with the MLA and to support movement of files that have been here before government for some time - and this is the most critical role I think I have, and it's the one where I think I had the most success, and it's the one I spoke of at the very beginning when I first became the minister - my role is to be at the Cabinet Table and to advocate on behalf of African Nova Scotians so when initiatives come forward and things happen through the governance of this province, that I'm able to ensure that when people, like Bill or Sharon or Irving or Lou, bring concerns to my attention that we're able to address those concerns and needs.
You know, I'm proud of some of the things we've been able to do. We supported the Black Cultural Centre with a grant for several hundred thousand dollars to address an outstanding need they've had for a long time, with the replacement of the roof and the refurbishment of their interior. In my mind, it was a great accomplishment for me, as a minister, and it was absolutely necessary.
Now, I could go down a list of contributions that we have made to groups and organizations as a result of people calling me asking me and our office to advocate on their behalf, and the list is long and it covers a variety of groups and organizations and individuals that cover every aspect of life and I think that is the foundation of our success.
MR. PARIS: I hear that and my push back, Mr. Minister, is, again, I'm not sure if we are in the same arena when we talk about - you talked about the support and I think I'm talking about in a more proactive manner. Do you know what? I recognize, and I think most people in Nova Scotia recognize those things around support that your department does. That's not the crux of this discussion. When I talk about advocacy, it's that person or individual or department that is willing to take that risk and advocate on behalf of somebody. We all advocate in different ways - some of us do it more silently than others. But the type of support that your department provides is not the issue here. I think probably more than anything, as ironic as this may sound to you, I'm trying to be helpful and that may not be coming across as such.
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I think what I hear on a regular basis - and when I say "community" members, I'm referring to one of the hardest communities to work in, I mean it's a very hard community to work in - what people generally feel is that lack of advocacy, so there may be a PR issue that is only lacking here. I don't know. You would know that better than I, but I think there is certainly a perception out there that the department could be doing more.
I thought it interesting when I heard you say that you sat at a table which you have access to - I guess my interpretation would be you sat at a table that has some power to it. I see that all well and good. My next question, and this is a repeat question, not from today, but from months gone by - I'm always curious and I just want to hear again - why is it that we don't have, or you don't have, a deputy minister? Why is it a CEO and not a deputy minister?
MR. BARNET: Well, at the end of the day the term CEO or deputy minister, in my mind, does not either make us stronger or weaker as an office. I understand that the offices of government, for the most part, or I believe maybe exclusively, all have what are called CEOs, and departments of government have deputy ministers. At least from my perspective, it's less about the terms or the names you would call the senior official, it's more about the work that we are able to do.
We are going to have to agree, specifically, to disagree on the issue of advocacy. I do know that often I get asked by media my views on things and whether I support this or don't support that, and I'm told by my colleagues that I've never met a microphone that I didn't like, but I'm not a shy person.
I do believe that I do advocate very well on behalf of African Nova Scotians, but more importantly I'm able to deliver to them when they bring issues of concern - not always, we are not able to give everybody everything they have asked for but, I can tell you, I have in front of me a list of groups and organizations who have come to us for support and over the period of two years we have been able to help them. This is just the stuff that we have done, in 18 months, the stuff that we have been able to help them with from the Province of Nova Scotia. More importantly, and I think most importantly, is the way we have been able to assist them with the work that they do as groups or individuals to access other levels of government, to advocate on their behalf with municipalities, with health boards, and with departments of government.
Again, I don't want to say it too many times, we are going to have to agree to disagree. I think that as I go around this province - and I talked to a lot of people who have expressed great appreciation for the work that I do as a minister, and the work that we do as a department - I know I'm not going to please everybody. I absolutely know that, but I'm going to try damn hard to do that. From my perspective, it isn't simply about putting money at a problem, it's about finding solutions and working together. If you had a specific circumstance or concern where you believe that for some reason I was neglecting, as the Minister of African
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Nova Scotian Affairs, my duties, I would be more than happy to address that. It may simply be as you described, a communications issue.
One thing that I don't do well is beat my own horn all that well, but what I do is work hard to ensure that as an office we are out there actively involved and our office sits on and is involved in 12 committees, groups and organizations. As new things occur, we get involved and I have to tell you, I think as a Party and as a government, we decided to move forward with the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs and I think it was a very responsible and productive thing to do.
I know that as somebody who likes to build and point to things, I can point to things that have been built that we've been able to say, I've had a piece in that, I was involved in that and part of that is because of me. That's why I run for office.
MR. PARIS: Mr. Chairman, I think I have to reiterate what I just heard, that you say you're not very good at blowing your own horn but what I just heard was very good at blowing the horn of the department. Again, I want to make this clear, that I've never questioned the work that your department did or does, that was not the issue here.
What I want to go back to is when we were talking about advocacy - and again, if you can restrain from mentioning about the support that you offered those organizations, I'm not looking for specifics and not looking for names, this is not a request for anyone to breach confidentiality - but could you give me a ballpark figure or maybe even more than a ballpark figure with respect to caseloads that your department has with respect to individuals who have been confronted with racism that are currently active within your department?
[1:15 p.m.]
MR. BARNET: I will but I just want to say one thing first, I don't think it is possible to separate the work that I do as the minister from the work that we do as a department. I don't accept the fact that somehow you can imply that the department is doing great work and I'm doing nothing or naught. I disagree with the premise of the way that was phrased.
MR. PARIS: I don't think I said that.
MR. BARNET: No, I guess it was the premise of how it was phrased. I think I have done good work and that we really do work as a team, but to specifically answer your question, I really don't want to get into a protracted debate about that, maybe that's just my own sensitive side picking up on that.
There are approximately 36 cases that we've had of individuals who have brought concerns of racism to the attention of our office, that's the last couple of years. Some of those may actually be as a group environment or something, do you understand what I mean? Some
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of that has been referred to us from the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice and some of it came directly to us in African Nova Scotian Affairs. When I say groups what I mean is, for example, if a group charged environmental racism that would be one of those 36.
MR. PARIS: I feel it incumbent upon me - and I certainly don't want this to be a protracted debate about he said, he said - but I don't recall during the course of the last 45 minutes that we've had discussion, me making any sort of reference to your work ethic and I just wanted to make that clear.
MR. BARNET: So you're saying that I'm doing a good job?
MR. PARIS: And I don't think I said that, either. (Laughter)
MR. BARNET: That's what I was trying to coach you into saying actually.
MR. PARIS: Can you tell me - and I hope it doesn't take 10 minutes to do so - what the future has for the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs? Before you answer that question, I just want to replay the tape because I did make a note when you were talking about titles and the acronyms, whether it be CEO, deputy minister, whatever and yes, I'm thinking the same thing, maybe we should just change them all to be consistent with everything.
MR. BARNET: I do think that there is a legislative reason and I'm not clear on it, this is why I don't want to give you the exact answer, I can tell you what I think is the approach. For offices and agencies it is generally considered a CEO or an executive director; for departments it is deputy ministers. The difference is departments develop legislation and have Acts of their own and rules and regulations, and agencies and offices would have an Act that allowed them to occur or develop. Often the person who is at the CEO level and/or the deputy minister level are people who are at the same level within pay structures and that kind of stuff and the same responsibility centres. It really is simply a term that is given to offices and agencies that is different from departments. I don't know the actual specific reasons why that is but I do know there are reasons around that.
You asked a great question because a couple of things, when we look at the future and I actually had it in my . . .
MR. PARIS: Is this a 10 minute answer?
MR. CHAIRMAN: There is 10 minutes left.
MR. BARNET: I'll try to reduce it down. The future is actually bright for us and it has been for a while. One thing is the future includes the opening of our satellite office in Cape Breton and yes, you are invited and so is any Member of the Legislative Assembly to come
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and visit our staff - some of them are with us today from the Cape Breton office - to see what it is that we do there. We will be having a grand opening on April 26th where we actually launch the office and open it officially. Our staff are now in place, our office furniture and equipment and computers are in today.
One of the big things for our department, or office, in the next year is going to be a couple of these two primary reference groups that I spoke about in my speech. These are opportunities for us to start advising government in a bigger, broader way and to involve the community so that it isn't just me as the minister - and you have to remember, for a long time this department was just me as the minister and my executive assistant. We went out there on our own and worked hard for about six months as we developed this thing and built it from the ground up. I think we've done a great job and I still think there is a lot more work to do and I'm very proud of our staff.
We do have an aggressive work plan in the future that involves supporting initiatives like the Tall Ship, Amistad and the PRG, the opening of our Cape Breton office and we will continue to work with the groups and organizations that we have, and assist government and the communities in every way that we can. I hope that is less than 10 minutes.
MR. PARIS: I can't help but think that when I think of the office, in Nova Scotia we have a very proud and significant history with respect to African Nova Scotians. Yet what I do see is I still see sometimes that subtle racism that unfortunately still exists in the Province of Nova Scotia. Even something one would think that would be easy to remedy, when I look at the ABCs - the agencies, boards and commissions - within the Province of Nova Scotia and I look at the composition of those ABCs and I see the lack of diversity on those ABCs, that's a very, very subtle message to a lot of people. When I go to the Moosehead hockey games at the Halifax Metro Centre and I look at all the individuals who are employed there, I don't see any one - I pay my ticket to go to the Moosehead hockey game as a season ticket holder but yet I don't see anybody employed there who resembles me.
So there's an employment imbalance that I would think that government, and certainly your department, would have some influence to change that. Is this part of your mandate? Can we expect some changes in the not too distant future in that respect?
MR. BARNET: This is a big part of my mandate, in fact, when I was appointed as minister, the then Premier John Hamm specifically spoke to me about a couple of things in providing me my mandate; one is that he said it would be his vision, as the Leader of our province, to have a workforce that reflected its population. Frankly, it is something that we have actively been working on.
With respect to agencies, boards and commissions, you are absolutely right, we are actively working on that as well. We have been working on it from two fronts; one is to try to bring awareness to the agencies, boards and commissions to do what they can to support
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and encourage African Nova Scotians and other under-represented groups such as females, to apply to those boards; from the second front, we have been actively working with individuals, community groups and organizations to encourage them to apply. So as much as there are two fronts to this, we recognize it as a problem and we are trying to address it.
With respect to our workforce, we don't employ the people at the Metro Centre but we do employ the people around this province in a variety of government departments. We do have what we call a diversity round table and a task team that is actually actively out there working on trying to meet our objectives to have the workforce of our province reflect our province's diversity.
MR. PARIS: This is the second time, Mr. Minister, you and I have sat around the table and had this discussion and I think that each time it gets different. Maybe the third time we have this discussion it's going to be that much different again and maybe some of these questions that I've asked today will not be a requirement to ask the next time we do meet because I also have a concern when we talk about the ABCs and I'm very pleased to see that I got your full agreement on the ABCs.
I think sport in general, and since there's a wee bit - I mean similar to you, I also have a wee bit of a hockey background in my history.
MR. BARNET: You know I mentioned that because we've tried to get you to play on the MLA hockey team and I haven't had an approval yet from you, so maybe you're just talk and no action.
MR. PARIS: That sounds like a challenge to me.
MR. BARNET: It was.
MR. PARIS: It sounds like another place in time - maybe some one-on-one hockey.
With sport, one of the things that often bothered me - especially on the officiating end of sports - we have coaches who go through the federal Coaching Certificate Program, but what I don't see is anything at the provincial level for our officials when it comes to diversity training.
Once Sport Nova Scotia had a philosophy, and I think it was Sport For All, it was one around inclusion. I know that myself, as a former - I don't know if I was an athlete, a has-been or a never-was, that sometimes a lot of the problems that I had, as an African Nova Scotian, were not so much with the opposing players but more with the officials themselves. So I'm wondering if that's also in your briefcase as one of the things to address.
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MR. BARNET: It is something that I believe we currently do invest in through my other portfolio, Health Promotion and Protection, in terms of supporting the sport organizations themselves, through grants to help them and/or individuals to assist them with funding towards programs, that kind of stuff.
I can't reach in here and get the briefing note but I do know that I've seen, on occasion, where we have supported either the sport organizations themselves or individuals, to help them and assist them with that very thing. It is really on a case-by-case basis and it is a sport-by-sport basis and it is application-based and we will continue to do that.
It is something that I'm recalling only because I read it - one minute left? Sorry, go ahead.
MR. PARIS: Well with that, it seems like every time you get the minute bell, you get all kinds of conversations coming at you. I certainly want to end this on a positive note, I certainly want to thank the minister and all staff members who came in today, but in particular I want to reiterate my thanks to the Liberal caucus for giving me this extra time. I want the record to show that it has been duly noted by me and very much appreciated. With that, I'll say thank you.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you. We're just about at the moment of adjournment. We will be asking you to come back again on Monday, when we'll begin after the daily routine has been completed.
So that being said, we are adjourned. Thank you.
[The subcommittee adjourned at 1:29 p.m.]
