Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to use this opportunity to recognize two constituents from Inuvik Twin Lakes: Sarah Jerome, who we've spoken about numerous times already today; I appreciate the work you've done. With her is her husband, Freddy Jerome. So welcome to the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to congratulate all the inductees, specifically starting with Valerie Gendron, who actually taught five of my children and she survived. I thank her for that. Her husband, Roger Pilling who is a good friend and a good volunteer for the fire department. I'd like to welcome and thank him for coming here. And Rita Mueller, a dear friend, it's well deserved, and she's very humble, as is Val. And then, of course, Ms. Jane Dragon, who I've had the opportunity to speak with numerous times, and her daughter, Joyce. Welcome to the Assembly. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Sarah and Freddy Jerome, who spent a lot of time within my riding visiting family and friends. Also I recall when they used to live 12 miles north of Tsiigehtchic. I still remember those days. Welcome to the House. Mahsi cho.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Vivian Pellissey from Tulita for her huge contribution as one of the inductees, and the rest of the group as well for this huge personal contribution to the whole environment of education capitalization. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. What can the Minister do now with discretionary reserves and funds to hire more resources to clear the backlog of applications to the Public Guardian? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member has indicated, the current wait list for the Public Guardian is unacceptable in all ways, and I have already directed the Department of Health and Social Services to review the business processes to make sure that the business processes make sense and we're getting the most efficiencies and utilizing our money in the best way. As part of this business process review, I have asked them to analyze how applications flow, assessments, referrals, and also do some trend analysis on the increased demand that we're having on the Public Guardian Office. This review won't be done until the end of the calendar year and we do have a significant backlog at this point in time, so the department is actually looking to do some in-house training to train more assessors, whether they are in the Northwest Territories or outside the Northwest Territories, so that we can move on the number of assessments that need to be done so that we can start reducing that list while this review is taking place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. He referred to the assessor, and my question is whether that assessor training will happen in this fiscal year and whether there are intake resources at the regional health authority level for the Public Guardian?
Under the Act, any person assigned the responsibility to prepare such a report by the Public Guardian can become an assessor. This could be a nurse, it could be a psychiatrist, it could be medical practitioners, it could also be clinical social workers. So these are individuals that exist across the Northwest Territories, and we're looking at training people across the Northwest Territories to be assessors as one of our initial steps. But also we are looking at individuals outside the Northwest Territories, so it's both.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. So if I'm one of the 50 people who is now waiting for the Public Guardian to adjudicate my application, how much longer should I expect to wait?
It's 72 outstanding referrals, actually. The number continues to climb. There is a number of reasons that accessing the applications can take longer than would be desirable. Some of the challenges that we face are actually tracking down some of the individuals who have actually filed the applications. It's a transient territory; people are moving around. We've also had our challenge with the number of assessors, which we are addressing currently. There are individual situations where we have found members that are disputing who should actually be the public guardian or the private guardian. So there are multiple reasons why some of these applications take a long time. We are looking to expedite the process and clear off as much of this backlog as we can, but there are some additional challenges far outside just the number of assessors we have. I can't give a definitive time, because every application is unique and every application will take a different amount of time depending on the challenges faced.
Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member's statement, clearing the backlog will also result in a greater case load for the current Public Guardian staff, which is, as I understand it, one person and one assistant, which is beyond the capacity of the resources currently allocated. So I would like to hear the Minister's plan to not only clear up the backlog but to better staff the Public Guardian's office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Member indicated, there are currently 68 individuals in the Northwest Territories under a public guardianship, and there are about 80 individuals that are under private guardianship that had to go through the full assessment process. The Member is right; the numbers are increasing, with the 72 referrals in front of us that will likely result in some additional individuals requiring either public or private guardianship.
The first step that we're taking, Mr. Speaker, is doing the review of the program to make sure that it's efficient, that it's meeting the needs, what changes we can make with existing resources. From there, we will be able to clearly assess future demand and ongoing demand, which may require some additional investment in this area, additional positions. I won't commit to adding positions at this point in time. We have to finish the assessment to determine what the true workload in that unit is, and whether or not additional positions are required. But, given the demand, it may be necessary to add some positions. We'll know by the end of the calendar year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you heard from my Member's statement, the Youth Ambassador Program is very important for our youth. As part of the promise I made to the youth, I will have some questions for the Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, you always hear that youth are important. However, sometimes governments -- local, regional, or territorial -- do not follow up on that action. Can the Minster please tell us what the department is doing to enhance programs like the Youth Ambassador Program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Youth Ambassador Program is, in my opinion, one of the most important programs that we run within the Government of the Northwest Territories, and I think we will see some long-term benefits of the program. We've retained a consultant to complete an evaluation of the Youth Ambassador Program to provide suggestions on how we can improve this program in future years. The review is actually going to cover all ten years of the program's operations, and once the evaluation has been completed, the department will be in a position to consider program enhancements.
Mahsi cho to the Minister for his answer, and I know the youth will appreciate hearing it, such as I do. Mr. Speaker, part of the Youth Ambassador Program is the promotion and showcasing of traditional games and knowledge. Can the Minister please advise this House how the department is looking at new training events to get more youth involved and preparing them to be able to showcase our traditional games and knowledge in future events, as our older performers -- or as our performers are now getting older?
The department really has some good training programs when they are preparing youth to go off to some of the events that they attend. A training event will be held in March of 2017 to prepare the Youth Ambassador Project at the Canada Summer Games, and discussions are still under way with the Host Society in Winnipeg to gauge our interests related to our Youth Ambassadors, but no decisions have been made on the traditional games component of the -- at the March event. The Aboriginal Sports Circle continues to do some community clinics and hosting the traditional game championships. So my experience has been in the past that we've seen a number of events where our youth have been there, at NWT Days in Ottawa especially I think was a very successful event and it was well-attended and well-received by all the people that attended the event. We continue to train our youth, and we know some of our youth workers are going into communities, promoting traditional games. So it's one that's high on the radar, and we will continue to promote.
I thank the Minister for that answer. The Minister, in his previous answer -- not this one here, but the previous one -- talked about the evaluators and doing a 10-year evaluation of the program. Can the Minister confirm that he will be talking to all candidates that were part of the program, all the alumni, and get their stories and their challenges and how that has had an impact on their life presently?
An evaluation is currently under way and the report will be provided to MLAs, and I can say from personal experience, having the MACA file and dealing with the Youth Ambassador Program since 2008, I've seen first-hand the benefits and a lot of the Youth Ambassador alumni that are actually doing quite well. We actually had some at the NWT Association of Communities AGM that was held a couple of months ago, and the feedback that we got from them, that they were so interested in municipal politics that they may consider a run for municipal politics in the future, or as early as this fall. We're looking forward to that, but I see first-hand the benefits of the Youth Ambassador Program and it's one that's going to be continuously supported by this government.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I thank the Minister for his great answer. Yes, some of us who have been involved with this program understand the importance of it. Now, we've talked about the challenges of making this program successful. Can the Minister commit the department will look at increasing funding for this program, or add a coordinator position that will lead to more success for this program, not this year but for the next business plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are always looking at ways that we can increase our funding, especially for the youth. I mean, I can tell this House that we've had five events, I think, in the last year or so and we spent close to $650,000 at these events, and some of this is O and M funding for staff time and such. So it is a program that, you know, we will look at ways to enhance once the evaluation has been completed, and we will work with committee members to see how we can incorporate into our business plans and main estimates going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to a Member's guest in the gallery. We have a former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Wiilideh, also former Premier and former Minister. Welcome to the Chamber. We also have His Worship, the Mayor of Hay River, Brad Mapes. Welcome. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. As per my Member's statement, I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment some questions. Will the Minister have the Department of Education, Culture and Employment work with YK Dene First Nation on implementing components of Skills 4 Success? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. the department will be continuing the work with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. In the past, we have worked in partnerships with CanNor as well as with the Department of Tourism, Industry and Investment in the development of an Economic Development Strategy, as well as a Labour Force Strategy. Our goal is in the next few months to table an action plan on the Skills 4 Success document in this House, and we want to make sure that YKDFN is part of that and that we listen to their advice, listen to the direction that they want to go, and yes, we will be continuing that work with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Will the department commit to working in partnership with YKDFN on the development of the skill development in the two communities of Detah and Ndilo?
The department is committed to working with all our partners throughout the Northwest Territories. The Yellowknives Dene First Nations is a key stakeholder; obviously they are involved in a lot of the socio-economic agreements that we have with the mines. We're working with all partners that are involved in adult post-secondary education and skills training to support NWT residents. With the skills knowledge and attitudes for employment success we are committed to continuing working with Yellowknives Dene First Nation in how we can focus on developing the skills as well as the education, post-secondary education needed to get into the labour force or else meet some of our in-demand job needs, not only here in the region but right across the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister if his department is able to commit funding to YK Dene First Nation for their skill development program.
Any program funding that the department does have is based on program eligibility, and funding applications must be submitted to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in order for funding considerations to be explored. Our department is working with partners or interested organizations to help them develop those proposals and applications moving forward. And, like I said, it's based on program eligibility and whether or not they do meet the criteria, but we are interested in receiving applications from the Yellowknives Dene First Nations and moving forward from there.
Masi. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, the YK Dene First Nations are interested in, of course, making all the appropriate applications; the deadline for those are on July 5th. They feel that they want to have a meeting with the Minister, this is scheduled for June 30th because of Session, but the community is asking if the Minister would be prepared to meet with them a couple of days earlier than what it scheduled on June 30th. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm losing my voice here. I was back home doing a lot of talking over the last few days, and a lot of speeches the last couple of days as well. Unfortunately, during session time we are-- there's a lot of meetings that go on here in the House as well as session and going through our budget process. However, my schedule doesn't really confirm that I'd be able to meet before the 30th, although I will commit that officials in my department are available to meet before the 30th. Should a time open up that I might have some time, I will also look forward to trying to meet ahead of time. I know there is a short timeline to get the applications through. Pending availability I will keep in touch with our officials and I know our officials are talking with members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and should a time come up I'd be happy to meet with them earlier than later.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment about the draft Agriculture Strategy the government shared with Committee earlier in the week. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister and his department for the work that they have done in both the consultations that have been conducted as well as the current draft.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister share how the strategy will integrate the work of the Northern Farm Training Institute, the Aurora Research Institute, and the in-house work of the department to make the most effective use of our resources and knowledge base? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Agriculture is a very important sector to our government and part of the Mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly. We have provided the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment with a draft Agriculture Strategy for review and look forward to hearing back from the committee. A key recommendation of the proposed strategy is that various organizations need to work together, including departmental collaboration to ensure that we all use our resources efficiently and effectively.
Another recommendation is the creation of a central repository or a common public point of information sharing. This portal will assist community advocates as multiple agencies will be contributing to shared data program. And I should also point out that we've worked very closely with all of the agencies that the Member referred to and they've played a very large part of developing our draft Agriculture Strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I'm happy to hear about the portal and shared data; I'm sure that will be very useful. Mr. Speaker, what steps are included in the strategy to identify and make more land accessible for agriculture?
