This is a conversation we do have at the Cabinet table. I regularly share the information on where we are with respect to affirmative action. That information is available to the Ministers by department. I also continually push the different programs and opportunities available to the individual departments, like the Regional Recruitment Program and things like the geographical hiring for non-statutory jobs. I am happy to continue to push this as a priority. I'm happy to help move this government towards a public service that represents the population that it serves. We do have challenges, Mr. Speaker. There are some departments that are doing better than others. There are some departments that are doing worse than others. Some departments have a significant number of statutory requirement positions where they need individuals with specific skills, which is why we must work closely with Education, Culture and Employment. The initiative that Education, Culture and Employment is currently pursuing, Skills 4 Success, will help us focus in on the types of jobs that we need to train and work towards. I think it needs to be a partnership between education as well as all the departments. I know the departments and the Ministers are eager to have a representative workforce as well, so we are working on those things.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask if the Minister would consider developing a new strategy for increasing Priority 1 employees across the GNWT public service, including the development of a human resources plan by each department. Thank you.
We do have the strategic plan, the 20/20, for the Government of the Northwest Territories, which is focused on building a public service that is responsive, respectful, but also representative of the population we serve. I will commit to working with each of the departments to try to find priorities and activities we can do within the individual departments. As far as individual human resources plans, I believe much of that work is already begun, or has existed in the past. We will look to see if we can revitalize any of that, but also need to focus in on: what is it really going to take to develop a workforce that is representative of the population? Our workforce isn't currently representative of the population. I think the number of individuals who identify themselves in the workforce is not 50 or 51 per cent Aboriginal. I think, once again, we really need to work closely with Education, Culture and Employment, target those jobs that are out there, and move forward with Skills 4 Success, and the government has to be a partner. We are a partner on Skills 4 Success, which will help us develop the workforce and improve our rates here in the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister tell us the status of the development of the prescription drug monitoring program and when we might expect to see a recommendation that could be shared with the social development committee? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have developed a steering committee, as the Member mentioned in her Member's statement, to review options around prescription drug monitoring, and we've asked them to come back with recommendations on best approaches that would be appropriate here in the Northwest Territories. We do know that the most effective monitoring method needs to be consistent with the department's emerging suite of e-Health tools, such as electronic medical records. At this time, there have not been any final recommendations provided by the committee on how to improve or implement a prescription drug monitoring program. However, it is still our intent, and we are still moving forward with that work to help curb prescription drug abuse here in the Northwest Territories and help us advance the design of a monitoring program. However, given our current fiscal environment, it's not possible to state with any certainty when this will be able to move forward, but we are committed to moving forward and we are committed to getting that work done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that answer. I appreciate that the electronic component is a significant dimension of this program. Can the Minister give us a brief description of how the linkage to the pharmacies across the territory would be achieved and how we will partner with the pharmacists in ensuring that the system works across the territory? To have their buy-in, not just the technology.
As I indicated, at this time we don't actually have any recommendations from the committee. The membership on that steering committee does include the NWT Pharmacy Association, and we already collaborate with pharmacists across the territories on a number of initiatives. They are a critical and a key component to making this a reality here in the Northwest Territories. We will continue to consult and work in collaboration with the pharmacies across the Northwest Territories to ensure that a program, when it is put in place, is both effective, efficient, and responsive to the needs of both clinicians, pharmacists, and most importantly the patients.
Mr. Minister, this question has to do with the project rolling forward. Obviously there will be a presentation of plans when those are available, and I'm wondering if there's any chance we can see them in the coming year's budget.
The budget is before the House. We are going through the budget. Hopefully we'll do Health and Social Services in the next couple of days. There is no money for the implementation of a prescription drug monitoring program in this budget, but we do have the steering committee. We do fund the work they're doing within existing resources, and that work is going to continue. We are still moving forward; we are still quantifying what a prescription drug monitoring program will cost. We are looking at how to incorporate e-Health and electronic medical records, and we are working with pharmacies to find out how we're going to make that linkage with them to make sure that the information is readily available but not contravening things like the Health Information Act.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My last question deals with amalgamating this initiative into the work of the new single territorial board. Can the Minister comment on whether, and how, the creation of the new board will affect delivery of the electronic medical records system? Thank you.
Moving to a single authority should actually help us move this forward in a quicker manner because we will be able to work as a system as opposed to a fragmented group of authorities. With respect to planning for the system-wide EMR, it began years ago and implementation is well under way. Four authorities are currently using the EMR, representing a significant portion of the NWT populations; that's Yellowknife, Hay River, and Fort Smith, and system-wide resources have already been identified to help move that forward. We are hoping in 2016-17 to bring the Tulita, Sahtu, Deh Cho, and Beaufort-Delta in as well. This is a huge step for us and this is an ability for those involved in a circle of care of individuals to actually see the records, so that individuals will know what has been prescribed for an individual as long as they are in the circle of care so that they don't over-prescribe. It doesn't link in the pharmacies, which is a key component of the prescription drug monitoring program. That is something that we need to do as well, and as I've indicated, the steering committee is going to provide us advice and guidance on that. We will cost it out, and we are working closely with the Pharmacy Association. Unfortunately, as I've said, given our current fiscal environment, I'm not in a position where I can actually say when we will be able to roll that out. Needless to say, though, we are still doing the work so that we can have a business case to present and discuss when appropriate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned in my Member's statement, my question is directed to the Minister of the NWT Power Corporation with respect to the pilot project that is, I would probably say, completed and producing results here in the community of Colville Lake. As you know, it's a small-populated community similar to a few others in our NWT area. Visualizing and seeing the results, having spent a couple of years in my growing up days there and seeing and reading by candle light now to solar powered-generated LED light bulbs is really a vast and significant change here and contribution should be given to the previous Assembly in doing so. My question today is, after realizing the repeated benefits, are those benefits going to be reviewed and applied to other similar communities of that size? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to attend with the Premier, several weeks ago, and other staff from the Power Corporation and government officials, at the opening of the solar battery diesel plant, grand opening, official opening, in Colville Lake. There is a Solar Energy Strategy that the Government rolled out in 2012, I believe, and so we are committed to looking at other projects. It appears that there will always be a need, obviously, in view of where we live to have a combination of supplies, if I can put it that way, of perhaps diesel, or including diesel, but we wish to, in particular, look at the diesel communities and hopefully replace them with solar alternatives to as high an extent as we can. There are expenses involved. The plant in Colville Lake was not cheap, but it also built capacity for the Power Corporation going forward.
My second question is: what other communities are on the list on a move-forward basis?
We are, of course, as I mentioned previously looking at replacing diesel so that we are looking at the thermal communities. I could perhaps undertake to provide a list of communities that we're looking at in the future. I don't have that list in front of me now.
With the savings that we are realizing and seeing here, is the Power Corporation going to pass that savings on to the ratepayer or the customer? In addition to seeing the benefits that are being created by solar power in the small community of Colville then applied to the other communities and the recent reduction and restructuring of the board of directors of the corporation, that's an additional benefit as well. Are we going to see those benefits passed on to the consumer or customer, and are they going to realize in seeing that benefit on a monthly-end bill?
The prime objective of the Power Corporation is to supply customers with safe, reliable, cost-effective energy. As part of this, we are rolling out other projects that will assist in us arriving at that end. I will say, though, at least initially, that often solar projects are quite expensive and do not result in an immediate reduction in the amounts that people see at the end-of-month bills. But there are other benefits to solar. It reduces the emissions that go into the atmosphere, so again, the Power Corporation is intent on delivering power, whether it's diesel or other means, at the cheapest possible price that we can, and hopefully we will be able to pass benefits on to the ultimate customers. I don't see that reflected in bills in the immediate future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi. We've put one of the Ministers at the end of the row to work today, and I'd like to work with the other Minister opposite at the end of the row. Earlier today I did commend the government for the changes that they've made to income assistance, but I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment whether income assistance payments were increased or not on April 1, 2016, and why.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, the income assistance was not increased on April 1, 2016. However, they were increased on April 1, 2015. The reason we didn't look at the increase was, obviously, there was a federal announcement of the child benefits and we wanted to look at our regulations. The Member stated it very well in his Member's statement on why we were looking at delaying any type of increases. Currently the GNWT does have a northern market basket measure. We worked with the Governments of Yukon and Nunavut to create this. All other jurisdictions across Canada have a market basket measure that represents a modest basic standard of living in which they represent their income assistance. We've created one in 2014 for the northern territories, but that was the reason the federal government did make an announcement with the federal child benefit and we're looking at how we can benefit from that, and we are currently going through our regulations and changes right now.
I thank the Minister for his response and the efforts that his department is making, although I don't believe that an annual increase in income assistance necessarily should have been linked to things that were happening with other governments and sorting out things at our end. I'd like to ask the Minister if he is prepared to look into the issue of indexing income assistance payments to cost of living.
Yes. The department is always looking at reviewing our programs and services to make sure that they meet the basic needs of our clients in the Northwest Territories. Currently about 15 per cent of our department's budget is actually on income assistance. In 2014-15, we had over about 3,323 families on income assistance. With the low economic downturn throughout the Northwest Territories, it is increasing and on occasion we do bring supplementary appropriations before the House for approval to offset some of those costs. As I mentioned to the Member, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut have created a northern market basket measure which was finalized in 2014. We do base that on when we were reforming or changing the level of benefits available from the income assistance programs. Last time it was done was April 1, 2015, and as I said, the department is always looking at reviewing our programs and services.
I want to thank the Minister for helping me make the case for indexing of income assistance payments. I'm wondering, though, if he could commit to looking at this issue within the next year and bringing that back to the appropriate committee.
The Member did bring up these questions during business plans. We did direct the department to look at what other jurisdictions are doing from 2014. The Member did mention that Yukon is doing something similar, so we will look into what Nunavut and Yukon are doing in terms of indexing to the cost of living. I think our northern market basket measure is effective when we are reviewing our programs, but we will see what Yukon and Nunavut are doing and if they are in fact indexing their income assistance and programs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi. I do appreciate the Minister's commitment on that and I look forward to sitting in on the committee work on that particular issue. I do note, though, that we have a number of other income support systems in place where payments are made to families and individuals. I'm wondering if the Minister could commit to review whether we should be incorporating indexing into all of those programs as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Obviously as our Minister of Finance said, the best social program is a job, having job creation. One thing that our department has done was create five positions, employment transition officers, and I think it's the first year that they've gone through it. We're trying to get people out of income assistance and relying on government and getting to the job workforce, and it's been very successful so far. We're hoping to continue to support people getting into employment. In terms of bringing income assistance, we are going to be going through an income assistance review and how we work through those, and we will be obviously taking the information from standing committee and I look forward to our discussions moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about young people working as surveyors, and these young people had a very great opportunity in the early stages of their careers in working with mentors that help refine their careers and their work as surveyors. My questions today are for the Minister of Lands. Could the Minister provide some examples of survey work that is currently taking place in the NWT? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have any ones off the top of my head. I mean, I will follow up on that and see if there is work that is ongoing right now, but I take the Member's point and I appreciate his comments about trying to get our young people interested in the trades, surveying and community property assessment and that. It's a thought that we've shared, and if we can encourage our young people to take those types of training, then there could be some opportunities available for them.
I'm glad the Minister didn't go on an obtuse tangent, but he committed to the idea of the point. Would the Minister agree or commit to work with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, municipalities, and other departments as required to find meaningful ways to recognize the work of First Nations surveyors in building our current communities? Mahsi.
I'll refrain from going on another tangent that the Member speaks of. I will be very diplomatic in my answers. Mr. Speaker, could I ask the Member to repeat that question please?
---Laughter
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that was a 360. Would the Minister agree to work with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, municipalities, and other departments as required to find meaningful ways to recognize the work of First Nations surveyors in building our current communities? Mahsi.
I could have just said yes in answer to his question. Yes, I will work with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. We all know that he can be difficult to work with sometimes, but I will commit to working with him and seeing what kind of opportunities we can put together for people. I have been looking through a number of courses offered through other institutions and looking at what the requirements are, and there is no reason why we can't maybe look at making some of those opportunities available here. Again, the first part of it is to try to get our people across the Northwest Territories interested in this type of occupation. There will be opportunities for them.
I'd like to thank the Minister for his reply. What is the Department of Lands prepared to do in terms of promoting careers in surveying and geomatics among First Nations youth, highlighting how spending time on the land can enhance future professional skills?
We started the process during this exchange, where we're promoting trying to get those interested in surveying to take up the trade. I think one of the first things we do is have to identify where some of our needs are for training. If we can identify those, and if there are opportunities for us to put some training programs together, work with Education, work with the School of Community Government and try to get some opportunities available. But I think, with the exchange we just had today, that's a good start in promoting the desire to get our people interested in the trade, and that way they would have a fairly good occupation where there always seems to be a demand for that type of trade. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister responsible for Addressing Homelessness announced various funding commitments related to the $16.6 million in federal funding this government has received for housing. I have questions for her related to those announcements. Like the rest of the territory, Hay River has a growing problem with homelessness. Since Hay River does not have an emergency shelter, are we ineligible for any of the $600,000 that was announced yesterday for semi-independent housing units within emergency shelters? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Homelessness.
