That’s appreciated, and I think that there might be some further consideration at the federal level given to that if we were to raise it again, so thank you to the Premier for that commitment. Then lastly, for the interests of the public, can the Premier describe how the GNWT will be recognizing Aboriginal Day in 2016?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government first and foremost, and the only jurisdiction in Canada has recognized this as a statutory holiday.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the weekend of March 1st, there was some concerns raised about who you need to contact to get information on smaller airports. In the past, it was a regional staff, but I’ve heard this has changed. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Transportation please advise the House when it comes to dealing with after-hours issues for smaller airports and they do not have government staff, who do they contact, and is there a 1800 number? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I missed the very last part of the Member’s question, if it was a 1800 number, but we take all airport safety and issues seriously in the smaller communities. If you cannot contact a local contractor, I suspect you can get right hold of the Department of Airports, which would be our local director.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess my question is if you’re going to be contacting the NWT or the Department of Transportation, is it a regional contact or is it a territorial Yellowknife contact?
It probably depends on the issue, the concern that the people will have, so you can actually go through the regional person or come right directly to headquarters.
I guess I should have clarified. These are afterhours issues on weekends. In the past, it’s been my understanding, what I’ve been told by people in the communities that there was a regional contact. Now, it is territorial contact. Can the Minister confirm this is the practice?
Any 24hour issues that they may have with some of these airports, there’s always a duty manager on location in Yellowknife. There’s a flight supplement number, which could be accessed through a 1877 number, which I can provide to the Member anytime they want. Airline companies, I suspect, are the ones that are having these issues, and they’re probably well aware of this number, but we’ll gladly share that with the Member anytime he wants.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer, and that’s great to hear there’s a 1877 number. When the Minister talked about the contact being a duty officer in Yellowknife, was this always the practice to have the duty officer in Yellowknife deal with it, or was it a regional office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Centralizing the functions of the duty manager resulted in the department saving over a quarter million dollars by identifying more effective and costsaving practices for answering calls received after hours.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I tabled some correspondence from the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce that advocates to decrease the small business tax rates to two per cent, and the larger business tax rate by one per cent, which would give the Northwest Territories the lowest and most competitive tax rates for businesses in Canada. The Minister of Finance indicated he supports this recommendation.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as part of our mandate, I believe the support to small businesses was part of the 18th Legislative Assembly’s mandate, and it is something that we would have to consider. We’re going through an exercise and a budget session right now. We will be taking part in our business planning process in September, and we know it is part of the mandate. It is a concern of many of the Members in this Assembly, so as we continue to go forward, we will explore the possibility. I can say that we have probably about 50 per cent of our small business is in the Northwest Territories, I believe, don’t pay any tax at all, but having said that, recognizing that it is in the mandate and a priority of many of the Members, it’s something that we would have to consider.
Not sure if that was a clear commitment to the recommendation, but I appreciate that the Minister’s speaking about developing approach. Can I take that to mean that by the next budget, Mr. Speaker, we will have a small business tax cut continued in that budget?
Mr. Speaker, I can’t make that commitment here as to what’s going to be in the next budget without going through the budget planning process, and as part of that process is the business planning process in September, which we take part in along with the Regular Members. I’m sure the issue will be raised at the time, and it’s something that we can determine then, if it’s financially viable to include into next year’s budget cycle.
Mr. Speaker, certainly, we on this side of the House can advocate for things, but the department needs to drive the bus. Will the department be bringing forward in their next business plan a tax cut for small businesses?
I appreciate the Member letting the department drive the bus when it’s convenient for Members on the other side. We will work with the Members as we have committed to do, and bring in a lot of the issues in the mandate forward. There’s times where we try being erased to the bottom with the other jurisdictions across the country as far as business tax go, and in our case, because of the high cost of delivering programs and services up here, it gets to be a little unaffordable. I have made the commitment to work with Members opposite when we go through our business planning process, and as we develop our main estimates for next year.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, year on year, corporate tax revenue has shrunk. I think that sends a signal that we are losing investment. Measures like this send a clear signal that the North is open for business, and we aren’t drawing much from our small tax, our small taxes anyway. It’s a sacrifice that will result in economic growth. It’s supported by many in the Northwest Territories, including our business community. I’d like the Minister to give a firmer commitment that it will be in the business plan for the fall sitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there’s a number of reasons why business is not as lively across the Northwest Territories as it usually is. Part of it is because of lack of investment, and what we’re trying to do going through the exercise that we’re going through now is to have more money that we can invest into more opportunities for our businesses to take advantage of some of the money that we will make available. Again, it is an issue that needs further discussion, and I have committed to being a part of those discussions with the Members across the floor, and with my Cabinet colleagues as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The most recent antiviolence campaign in the NWT was called What Will It Take? It was aimed at changes by standard responses to violence against women. Can the Health and Social Services Minister report on what that campaign accomplished, including how many people took the workshops and where they were offered? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has indicated, the campaign was intended to break down some of the myths and stigma that exist around family violence and create awareness. The program has had a number of workshops delivered across the Northwest Territories. In 2015-2016, as an example, there were 26 workshops that took place. Twelve of those were facilitated by the Status of Women with 146 participants in communities across the Northwest Territories. We also had other facilitators providing the workshop. FOXY facilitated 14 sessions for youth across the Northwest Territories. I don’t have the participation numbers for the number of people who attended the FOXY sessions, but I will get that information and share it with the Member and committee.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Does the Minister have an evaluation of this campaign that he could share with the House, other than strictly relying on participation numbers?
Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Department of Health and Social Services worked with the Program Review Office to develop a comprehensive evaluation of framework for the What Will It Take? campaign. Based on this framework, the new participation feedback forms are being developed, and they will be completed in time to provide to participants during the 201617 delivery of What Will It Take?, and that will help us get the information and evaluate the effectiveness of the program longterm.
Thank you to the Minister. It’s good to hear that these plans are in place and going forward. How does the Minister plan to follow up the What Will It Take? campaign, or alternatively, can he advise us how long this campaign will run for?
Mr. Speaker, the department has $82,000 in annual funding, and ongoing funding which was available to implement What Will It Take? training across the Northwest Territories. We’re looking at branching out and launching a broader media campaign to create awareness of the program, but also to start working to break down some of the other myths that exist around family violence. We have been attending the community healthy living fairs that have been taking part in the Northwest Territories and we’ve been promoting What Will It Take. We intend to keep running this program. How it looks in the future will depend completely on the evaluations and the effectiveness, which we’ll be in a better position to assess once the questionnaires have come in after the 201617 delivery of the What Will It Take? campaign.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you to the Minister for that. My last question is in reference to the change to the Change the Story strategy which I referenced in my statement. What would it take for the Minister to create a territorial primary prevention strategy on violence against women?
Mr. Speaker, we work in cooperation between the departments, and addressing family violence is a priority for the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Social Services. Education, Culture and Employment clearly has a role in helping break down some of this with younger people and youth, and the Status of Women certainly as a partnership. We work together trying to come up with mechanisms and programs that will help us break down the stigma and reduce family violence. I hear the Member. I’m not familiar with the program that she is describing. I’d certainly love to sit down with the Member and committee and get a bit of an update on what she has learned and see if we can share that with departments to move forward, to continue to combat violence against women and children in the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Sunday will be Father’s Day. I’m hoping that the Minister of Health and Social Services could deliver some good news. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister of Health and Social Services please explain the existing support for families during the delivery of their children?
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are physicians across the Northwest Territories providing obstetrics services. We also have midwifery services in Fort Smith, Hay River, as well as the MORE OB program up in Beaufort Delta, and we have birthing here in the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, and I think it’s to the Member’s point, there are individuals that do have to come out of their smaller communities to centres like Yellowknife or Fort Smith, Hay River, or Inuvik to facilitate birthing. To bring those individuals in, the mothers, we do bring them in on medical travel and we do provide, whether it’s one of our boarding homes or other mechanisms, places for them to stay when they have to come to one of the centres. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for acknowledging that. Our challenge with supporting family, yet from small communities, pregnant women have to be brought here for their own safety and wellbeing at Yellowknife, and they stay here for extended periods of time, and they’re separated from their children. Can the Minister explain, how does the department support fathers to ensure that they could be with their spouses during the special moment at delivery?
Mr. Speaker, unless there’s a clinical need, medical travel isn’t available or escorts aren’t available for birthing mothers who have to come to one of the centres, and it is up to the family, the father, to find their own way to the central location where the birthing is going to take place.
Mr. Speaker, there’s been discussions in terms of the efficiencies in terms of government spending and revenues, and one of the focus points has been the issue of medical travel. Will the Minister commit if there is perhaps down the road an opportunity to review the program, would the Minister commit to ensure that the involvement of fathers during the delivery of their children is considered with the view of trying to support families in that special moment?
Mr. Speaker, medical travel is actually currently being reviewed and one of the pillars that is being reviewed is escorts when and how they should be supported. We did go out for public engagement. We got a significant amount of feedback from residents across the Northwest Territories as well as other stakeholders and we are moving forward with that plan. I’ll have a conversation with the department, certainly, and I’m certainly willing to continue to have a dialogue and discussion with the Members across the floor about what we should be covering under escorts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t hear a commitment from the Minister. Will he commit once again to support the review of medical travel at the same time with the view of support and follows to be involved and besides their spouses, during the moment of delivery of their children? Yes or no? Masi.
I’m not going to commit at this time to covering fathers during birth, but I will certainly look at exploring the possibility of how we can be, you know, provide better support and other mechanisms. But at the end of the day, our medical travel is incredibly expensive. We have escorts for certain criteria. Criteria like a patient who is under 19 years of age who needs an escort. A patient who is breastfeeding an infant and requires an escort. A patient who has a medical or physical disability of a nature that they require an escort. There’s a lot of criteria that we have to apply and in the situation of birthing, those situations may not apply unless there’s a clinical need on behalf of the mother. But we will certainly look at it, Mr. Speaker.
