Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take that question. I will respond to the Member’s question. That could be an option, and it’s a discussion that we have to have with NWTAC because they are huge stakeholders in this. We can have that discussion with them and see if there’s an appetite from them to have a phased-in approach or have it phased in at all. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for considering that. That’s great. I appreciate that commitment.
One of the things in the fall MACA update, there was a little blurb on municipal access to information and protection of privacy legislation, and that was my initial reason for asking some questions. It states in the MACA fall update that it is expected that this report will be completed during the life of the 17th Assembly. In the response yesterday, the Minister said that they’re working on it, they’re talking to senior staff at communities, but I didn’t really get a sense of when the report is going to be completed.
So I’d like to know from him, if he can tell me, is it going to be done in the life of the 17th Assembly? Thank you.
The report will be done during the life of the 17th Assembly. As to exact time, I’m not quite sure; I’d have to get that information. But it will be done during the life of the 17th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Buying and owning a home is the largest decision a person can make in their lives, and towards that goal a person has to really understand just the personal financial management of ensuring that they understand the value of money. So my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
Can the Minister describe any programs that are in place to teach residents about financial literacy and the whole homeowner obstacle course? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Housing, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe it’s a homeownership obstacle course. There may be a time when it was, but I think we’ve streamlined the programs where it makes it fairly easy to navigate through.
There is a course, once somebody puts an application in, Solutions to Educate People. We call it the STEP course. During that course they would have some courses or some information on finances and how to budget and things like that. So, we try and assist them through the systems so they know exactly what they’re getting into and what’s required of them once they become homeowners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his reply. There is a forgivable loan option under the PATH program.
Can the Minister describe what measures are taken to inform NWT residents about this option? Mahsi.
We make every effort to inform the public of some of the programs we offer. The forgivable part of it is just one component of the course, or one component of some of the services that we offer. So, we have it on our website, and once people put an application in and if they find out they qualify for X amount and that’s forgivable, then we explain to them how the forgivable portion of it works. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Housing Corporation has a number of homeownership programs geared to low-and modest-income residents.
Can the Minister describe what type of monitoring and evaluation are being done to find out what’s working, what’s not working, and why? Mahsi.
It’s an ongoing evaluation, and one of the ways we find out if it’s working or not working is the number of houses that have been quitclaimed back to the NWT Housing Corporation. We put people into units, thinking that they have the ability to maintain these units. In some cases, many of them succeed, but for the ones who don’t, they quitclaim their units. They go back to the NWT Housing Corporation, and they realize they may be better suited as public housing clients.
We also have the HELP program, a two-year program that transitions them into homeownership. They’re responsible for all the upkeep of the unit for two years, and they make a determination after that whether homeownership is for them or not, then they go on to the next phase.
I could also point out that if they move on to the next phase, there’s also a bit of an incentive that we offer them to go from the HELP units into homeownership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Can the Minister describe what’s being done in small communities to build up the stock of private market homes for sale? Mahsi.
We don’t put any more units in communities on speculation unless we know we have clients for them. One of the things the Member asked was what we had learned before. One of the things we did learn was, when we had the Affordable Housing Initiative, we put many units on the ground, assuming that we had people in the communities who would qualify for these units. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much uptake as we thought. Many people didn’t qualify. We converted a lot of them over to public housing units, which was well received by most communities.
Our position now is we would like to make sure that we have clients who are qualified first, before we put the units in the community, because we’ve faced the issue in the past of too many vacant units in the community. I think we heard it from Members at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th, so we’re taking steps to address that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of ITI made a statement about manufacturing and the GNWT’s support of manufacturing in the Northwest Territories. I guess one of the problems I have is that I’m not seeing that in real life. I have a question for the Minister of Transportation today.
In October the Department of Transportation issued a tender to have a plow truck manufactured in the South. It was given to a northern contractor, but all the work is being done in the South.
Can the Minister of Transportation indicate why this tender was issued? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, the Northern Manufacturer Policy has certain items that are under the Northern Manufacturer Policy and a plow truck is not one of the items under the northern manufacturer product, even though they can be made in the Territories. In that case, the individuals constructing plow trucks in the territory would then compete with other bidders and they would have Business Incentive Policy numbers apply. Thank you.
I don’t understand the concept, because the Department of Transportation had plow trucks built in the North by northern manufacturers before, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
It is likely that they have the plow trucks assembled here in the Northwest Territories. I guess my point is that the plow truck itself is not approved as an NWT-manufactured product. It’s not registered as an NWT-manufactured product. So when they build a plow truck, they go through a regular tender process and then they compete. Wherever it is considered to be northern, then they would get the Business Incentive Policy applied, which would benefit them and give them that advantage in that category, but not necessarily getting the job just outright as a northern manufacturer. Thank you.
I guess the manufacturing policy, if there’s a 25 percent value-added is the indication, and the information I’ve been given is that the value of this tender was 70 percent of manufacturing and the truck was only 30 percent of the cost.
The department has bought plow trucks from a northern manufacturer before. How does this company not get on a manufacturing list? How does the Department of Transportation not support northern manufacturing?
The company that put the plow truck together, manufactured the plow truck, is a registered northern manufacturer, but they’re registered to provide steel tanks, bridges, steel plate girders and so on. In order for them to become a northern manufacturer of plow trucks, then they’d have to go through the process of going through ITI and getting registered as a northern manufacturer. I don’t think there’s anything preventing that from happening, however. If they’re recognized as a northern manufacturer and the added value is there and they’re approved, then in the future when DOT buys plow trucks we would just go directly to our approved northern manufacturer of products. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It baffles me that the GNWT doesn’t… A product they’ve already bought, a product they’ve already been given several times, they still don’t respect that. Even if the manufacturing wasn’t respected, on a bid of $216,000 or $217,000, even if BIP was applied at 10 percent, the bid prices were $8,400 apart. Even 10 percent on a $200,000 bid price, that’s $20,000. A northern company should have got it. A value-added would have been in the Northwest Territories.
Can the Minister explain why this company was not given the tender? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don’t have the BIP evaluations here with me today; however, I have confidence that the individuals who are tendering and the procurement are doing appropriate BIP evaluation. I’m assuming after the BIP was applied that the company that got the job had the lowest number. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After a review of yesterday’s Hansard, I’d like to continue where my colleague from Yellowknife Centre left off yesterday during questions on foster families. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Referencing the 2014 Report of the Auditor General on Child and Family Services, it was stated by the Auditor, and subsequently noted by committee, that there was no standardized approach for foster care. Beyond the standard rates of pay for foster parents, there were no territory-wide standards of delivering foster care.
Can the Minister indicate if these disparities in rates of pay and standards across regional authorities and Yellowknife have been resolved? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to clarify, yesterday there was an indication that rates have not changed for foster care since I believe it was 1996. This is in fact not correct.
In 2007 there was a review of foster rates done here in the Northwest Territories, and from the results of that review, the rates increased in most of the communities in the Northwest Territories based on an assessment of food costs, including baby formula, operation of automobiles and trucks, household cleaning supplies and other paper goods, personal care items, water, fuel and electricity, reading materials and other printed materials. These are the criteria that were used in determining the rates, and those rates, as I indicated, increased in most communities in the Northwest Territories.
On top of that, we also added an age of child amount, which increased the base amount that was provided to foster families by either four, three or five dollars, depending on the age of the child. This was done in 2007. Following up on the recommendations from committee, we are doing another analysis to make sure that the rates are still appropriate, and we’re working very closely with the Foster Family Coalition who is partnering with us on this review of the individual rates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure if I got an answer to the standards of care of delivering foster care. I’ll maybe ask that question another time.
I also noted in that 2014 Auditor General report there was a chronic shortage of foster care families, and this shortage continues today. Maybe the shortage is somehow financially linked. Again, we’ve heard from the Minister that the rates have changed from 2007.
Can the Minister indicate where is the rate for Yellowknife? It was at $24. Where is the rate today?
I indicated that the rates went up in 2007, and following up on a recommendation from committee, we’re doing another review of those rates. As I indicated, we’re working very closely with the Foster Family Coalition for the Northwest Territories on that review. As of today the rate of Yellowknife is still $24 an hour, but as I indicated, there’s also the age of child bonus that can be added on to that based on the age of the child. They will get a bonus of $4 a day for children between the ages of zero to five, $3 a day for six to 12, and $5 a day for 13 to 18. That’s on top of the $24.
I believe I heard $24 an hour but I’m assuming it means per diem per day. I’m assuming that’s the number we’re referring to here.
Again, I’m not quite understanding whether or not there was a change in 2007 to the per diem rate for foster care families. It is alleged that $24 was the rate that may not have changed since 1996, as indicated in yesterday’s Hansard, but I’ll leave it at that. The question still is that that there is a CPI index that needs to be looked at since 2007. So, if by minimum compounded standards of 1.83 percent per annum, there would still have to have some considerable amount of money being put in in terms of the indexed of this amount annually.
Would the Minister at least agree to investigate further whether this number should be indexed and will it be indexed moving forward?
The Member is correct; the additional child amount is per day not per hour. As I indicated, in 2007 there was a review, and I’ve articulated the different criteria that were used to determine the rates that will be provided. Virtually every community in the Northwest Territories went up as a result of that review. Yellowknife was not one of them. There were three communities that did not change. Yellowknife is still at $24 a day.
As I indicated, we have taken the recommendation from committee and we are clearly looking at these rates that are provided and we are working very, very closely with the Foster Family Coalition on that review and we’re incorporating the comments from committee as we do that work.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s still not clear here. I am led to believe, from what we’ve heard today and what we hear from yesterday, is that the $24 rate per day has not changed for Yellowknife since 1996. Again, if we were just to apply simple math of 1.83 percent compounded annually over the 19-year period, that would be a 41.25 percent increase in that rate, or should be, applied to that rate, so that at a minimum, that number should be at least $33.90 per day.
Would the Minister at least consider raising the per diem rate for Yellowknife for foster families to at least $33.90 per day?
As I indicated, in 2007 there was an analysis done of the foster rates provided to all communities in the Northwest Territories and there was a number of criteria including cost of living, food costs, baby formula and operation of household equipment that were used to help determine that rate. That rate changed in almost community in the Northwest Territories. By way of example, Aklavik went from $35 to $43 a day, Deline went from $37 to $45 a day, Kakisa went from $24 to $34 a day. There were some communities that did not change. Unfortunately, Yellowknife was one of those communities that did not change. It remained at $24 a day plus the additional child amount, which was new money, money that did not exist before. No matter what, no matter how you look at it, Yellowknife did go up a minimum of $3 a day based on the actual additional child amount.
I’m not arguing with the Member. I’m agreeing that we need to do this review. Committee did indicate that the review is necessary, and we’re in the review. I do need to stress that we are clearly doing that work with the Foster Family Coalition that is providing input as we move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s certainly a pleasure to ask questions here today. Although I did some of my Member’s statement in Chip, my questions will not be in Chip. Although I’m sure Mr. Beaulieu helped me very greatly. I want to give him special credit and thanks for that help.
The question I’m going to be raising here today is in my Member’s statement I talked about the importance of the Social Work Program. In the Northwest Territories we have a two-year diploma program, and in order for a student to seek a degree in this particular program, they have to continue the third and fourth year in a southern institution and I believe many of them use a university in Regina.
My question, really, for the Minister: What would it take to get on the education agenda, the Aurora College agenda, an evaluation of basing a full four-year program here in the Northwest Territories so our students who choose to take the Social Work Program can take it here in the North where they want to work, where they want to live?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I guess part of the process would be for those students and also the community members who are interested in having a four-year degree-granting program delivered in the Northwest Territories, then that message can be delivered through the college, the venue. In order to make that happen, our legislation has to change as well.
Currently, we have three college campuses that currently deliver a diploma program, two years, and then they either continue with a third and fourth year degree social work or an option for them to pursue the workforce area. That has happened in the past and they continue with their distance learning, as well, and they eventually obtain their degree program. Those are just some of the areas that students or community members can access through the college.
I would kind of like to hear how the Minister wants to create this type of change. He said there was a legislative issue there. The Northwest Territories, through Aurora College, found a way with the teachers, found a way through our nursing program. Why can we find a way through this path?
I’m asking the Minister: What is he willing to do and what can he do to help ensure that the students in the Northwest Territories who want a Social Work Program, a full program, can obtain this opportunity here in the North where they want, in their home, in the North, where they want to do their work in their community?
As I stated, this is an area that the college is fully aware. We’re currently delivering a bachelor of education through our southern partners, and even through the Social Work Program, the diploma program…(inaudible)… southern institution along with other degree-granting programs with our southern institutions. We don’t have the legislation to grant the degrees in the Northwest Territories at this point, but this is an area that the college, I’m fully aware, is exploring, having a survey to the students and community members on which programs should be delivered as a degree-granting program in the Northwest Territories. It is in the works and I’m looking forward to the outcome of their feedback.
I’m going to use the opportunity to remind the Minister that he’s in charge of the legislation and he could move the legislative initiative forward. Once again, as the Minister, clearly he’s aware that this is an option here for the Northwest Territories. Clearly, he’s already said there are discussions going on, and frankly, I want to hear what he is willing to do, because I kind of get tired of how we talk about how we can’t do things. I remember the excitement when we all ran into this building and said how we will do things.
What is the Minister willing to do so we can work towards getting the social work program a full degree program here in the Northwest Territories?
What I’m willing to do is listen to the students and listen to community members on which area we should focus on, whether it be a bachelor of education, whether it be social work, the nursing degree-granting program or other specialized degree programs here in the Northwest Territories. Those are the people who are taking those courses. We need to listen to them. That’s what we’re doing at the current stage, having a survey from the college perspective, to hear and also receive feedback from the students who are taking these programs.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
