Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. This week I believe the Minister and his department will be going out and doing some regional engagements throughout the Northwest Territories starting, I believe, today in Hay River, regarding a program called Skills for Success Initiative.
I want to ask the Minister in terms of this Skills for Success Initiative, what does he plan to get out of these regional engagements? I believe there’s a symposium that’s happening next month here in Yellowknife. What’s the Minister’s goal and objective of these regional engagements and the symposium he’s going to be hosting next month? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the forum we are having in these communities, more specifically Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Behchoko in February and March, is to gather all the information, the data that we require that will lead to the development of a strategic framework that will set out a new direction for adults and post-secondary and skills training in the Northwest Territories. That will be followed by an action plan, monitoring and evaluation and also an accountability plan. So there is a great deal of work ahead of us, but we want to compile the information to share the northern perspective, to hear their voices and plant a seed from there. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I know he’s going to all the regional centres. What is he doing for all the small communities where you’ve heard, more and more in this House, that’s where we’re having the highest unemployment rates? They are in the small communities.
How is he getting input or engaging people in the small communities to get them on board for this program but also get them trained and educated so they can get the employment they need, support their families and also the economy? What is he doing to engage the small communities outside of these regional centres that he mentioned earlier? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I agree with the Member that we also need to focus on small communities. Small communities tend to feel left out and this is an area that will capture them as well. Even though we have regional representatives, that does consist of community members as well. That is educators, trainers, students, employers, industries, job seekers. All those will be captured. I assure you the small communities will be well represented.
I appreciate the effort. The Minister is showing the need to engage the residents of the Northwest Territories. I went on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment website and I was looking at what we currently do for the labour market and got some information. What I did pull up was an NWT Labour Force Development Framework from 2009-2010 that is supposed to guide us until 2020 that has specific recommendations, statistics from all the communities and from the Bureau of Statistics Canada, some really good reports.
I didn’t get a chance to look at all the reports, but why is the Minister redeveloping a framework that he went out and engaged in in 2009-2010 and actually has reports right up to 2013, I believe. Why does he want to reinvent the wheel and spend more money, when this government has been telling us to be on a fiscal restraint policy, and start putting the words into action? We have something here. Let’s start putting into action instead of consulting about it and talking about it. Why is the Minister reinventing the wheel when we already have it here, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
I am fully aware of the framework that was initiated in 2009. It has been six years now. A lot of things have changed over that six-year period, such as employment and training stats. We’ve been told over and over, either by this Assembly or the general public, that we need to engage the public. We need to seek their input. We need to gather that data. That’s what we’re doing, Mr. Speaker. Over six years there’s been a lot of work put into play and now we want to build on that. That’s what we’re doing. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
We’ve got some really good strategies out there such as the Economic Opportunities Strategy, which was mentioned earlier, the Oil and Gas Strategy being developed, Mineral Strategy. We have strategies in place. These reports give us information on what has been happening. Now we have to put it into action.
All the recommendations are in there, I’ve read it. Why don’t we put those into action rather than continuing to talk about it? We know these statistics are low. We know the economy is slow.
Will the Minister take this report and give this Assembly and residents of the Northwest Territories an up-to-date report on the progress his department has made with regard to this framework? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That’s exactly what is going to be happening. Today and tomorrow in Hay River there’s a visitation that’s happening, and in the following regions, as well, up to March 2nd. Once there have been visitations and forums that have taken place, then there will be a follow-up with an action plan and also monitoring, evaluation and accountability. That needs to be established. Once the action plan has been developed in the business planning process, then we will be moving forward to implementation. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Minister of Health and Social Services talked about the plans for palliative care beds in Deline. Is the planning study expected to be completed by the end of this Assembly? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, we are planning to have individuals from the Department of Health and Social Services go into the community of Deline during the 2015-2016 fiscal year, which is the fiscal year coming up, to do the analysis and identify what kinds of needs exist in the community. We anticipate that information will be ready and available for discussion with committee during the ’15-16 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. So, in 2015-16 the needs assessment and analysis will be done for Deline palliative care beds in that community and that discussion will come forward for discussion for the ’15-16 infrastructure. Is that correct, Mr. Speaker?
That will give us the ability to insert it into the capital planning process, which the Member does know takes a bit of time. I do hear the Member clearly around palliative care. We want to make sure, where possible, individuals can be supported for palliative care in the communities. While we’re doing the planning study and we’re getting the information which we can have further discussion on, we are making sure that our staff are trained so that the communities can support palliative care where medically possible in our communities in individual’s homes for short periods of time. In Deline, by way of example, we do have equipment that can be shared on a temporary basis with residents who are providing palliative support.
Although the capital planning process is going to take a bit of time, this planning, this will help inform the capital process, and we are also doing things to make sure that we can provide palliative care in the community without beds until such time as we get through the capital process.
There are provisions, there are training resources in the community of Deline should an elder want to go back to the community for their final resting area. Are there provisions and resources in that community that people are trained to look after their loved ones?
At this time, depending on the medical condition of a person, whether they’re an elder or whether they’re a young person who wishes to return to their community and die in their community, we can provide palliative care for certain conditions. There are some conditions that we’ll probably never be able to provide palliative care for, for a person who wishes to die in their community, because of the extreme medical needs of some. But for certain medical conditions we can do it now. Yes.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Is there any funding in the provisions to train and assist local people in the community of Deline to look after their loved ones in times of need?
There isn’t a specific fund for that but there are different types of training that are available to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Things like First Aid, Medical First Aid, and Mental Health First Aid. There are a number of programs that are available. But as far as specific palliative care training, no, there isn’t. But we do have some dollars in our budget that allow staff to put in some overtime to provide some one-on-one support to families and the patient if needed.
Just a reminder, this is palliative care for short periods for certain medical conditions. It certainly can’t cover all conditions.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few questions for the Minister of Human Resources. I’d like to ask the Minister, what is the most current vacancy rate for GNWT jobs in the Mackenzie Delta including education and health authorities?
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can give the Member a snapshot of what we have on PeopleSoft October 31, 2014. There were 19 vacancies. Usually by September all of the positions in the schools are filled so that there will probably be no vacancies there, but with the rest of the GNWT there are 19 vacancies in the Mackenzie Delta at that time.
I’d like to ask the Minister, on average, how long have these jobs in the Delta gone unfilled and how does that compare to the NWT average?
Right now there are nine of those 19 jobs. Well, as of October 31st, when those vacancies were identified, we proceeded to try to fill nine of those jobs, so either those jobs have been filled or are in the process of being filled. Then there is also the possibility that there have been more vacancies created. On average, the jobs that we go to fill are being filled in the same time period as other jobs across the territory.
Last year the Minister announced the Regional Recruitment Program which was supposed to link on-the-job training to a permanent job.
How often has this been done in the Mackenzie Delta and what are the results so far?
I don’t know if any of the regional recruitment positions are in the Mackenzie Delta riding. I can get that information. However, I do know that if there is a possibility that any of those positions would be eligible for the regional recruitment position, we would use that as a method to fill jobs. If a standard process was not working, then we would use a regional recruitment to fill those jobs.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within the last year the Gwich’in, the GNWT and Canada have all signed an agreement to build capacity within the communities. I’d like to ask the Minister for the status of that as of today and how many jobs are working towards being filled.
This is a committee between the Gwich’in and GNWT. The Premier and the president did sign this memorandum of intent on April 1, 2014. We set up a working group between the Gwich’in, GNWT and the federal government. The intention is to have three people starting at the Gwich’in, three people starting in the GNWT and three people starting with the federal government all at the same time and working in those positions for one year and then they would rotate. We would also make accommodations if any of the Gwich’in people wished to stay exactly where they were after year one. We’re expecting to make the first placements of those positions on September 1, 2015.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to ask questions to the Minister of Transportation. Just before I do that, of course, I’d like to send a little hello and a shout out to Patrick Joss who is watching our proceedings here all the way in Ulukhaktok. It’s really exciting that we have people watching.
Speaking of people watching, many of the people I had talked to in Gameti wanted to know when the Tulita winter road would be worked on as a capital project and when would money be put into the capital plan so they can eventually see the Tulita winter road connect from Highway No. 3 all the way to at least Whati.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve done a considerable amount of work in the plan to build an all-season road off of Highway No. 3 to Whati. It’s one of the roads where we have a group working on it, GNWT and the Tlicho government. This is something that we are looking at. I don’t have the exact status as of today, but there are some requirements that need to be filled prior to this going forward in the capital plan and we’re working on those requirements now.
I think I was reading in the Huffington Post a few weeks ago about how important connecting communities to road infrastructure is and how it changes the life when it comes to cost of living. It adds benefits such as regular fuel supply, regular grocery supply and certainly family connections. I could go on about the merits, but the question really is when can we expect to see it in the capital plan to help lower the costs of communities like that, that are so close to the highway? We could make a real difference and a dent in the cost of living in their lives. We should be on this.
We’ve certainly talked about the highway a lot. I can’t give a definite date on how close we are, but we consider that to be one of the roads. We have a few roads right now. We have a proposal into the federal government on the Mackenzie Valley Highway, so we’re looking at that as well as a couple of other all-season roads.
I want to assure my good friends from the Sahtu that I’m not wanting to take away from their road. I think the Mackenzie Valley Highway merits stand on their own. This road would provide close community access to major infrastructure and connect family, food, people, everything. You name it, it comes with all the fantastic benefits.
Certainly if we had the money to do all the roads we would be able to do it. The Whati all-season road has a price tag of about $150 million to go from Highway No. 3. It’s approximately 105 kilometres into Whati. There are certainly benefits to doing that. Again, it’s tied into our capital, our ability to borrow the money if need be. So, that affects the borrowing limit of the GNWT. We’d like to do all these roads, but we have to put them into some sort of priority as the borrowing limit makes the decision on whether or not we have the money to borrow to build these highways. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the GNWT willing to put, sort of, money where their mouth is and start to make a commitment to the engineering and the environmental assessment on this particular project so we are able to get this off the ground so when the federal government does get off and make a decision and finally agree that this is an important highway to connect people and families and certainly put industry together and create a window of opportunity for people to go to work?
Is the GNWT placed in order to be able to respond in a timely way to these important things? Thank you.
Like I indicated, we are doing a lot of the legwork, environmental assessment. We’ve looked at some of the roads, some of the planning that’s needed to build the highway to Whati. However, it’s based on whether or not we have the ability to borrow money to build that road. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
