Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Earlier this week, I asked questions about the change in Income Assistance Regulations. You will recall that the government has eliminated the food and clothing allowance for children under 18. The Minister assured us on both Monday and Tuesday that there have been no concerns brought to our office.
Mr. Speaker, a resident contacted me with his concerns about this reduction. The resident forwarded to me written responses signed by the Minister addressing those concerns, which he brought to the attention of the Minister. I'll table these e-mails at the appropriate time. Could the Minister please clarify his statement that he hasn't heard any concerns about the change in Income Assistance Regulations? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will continue going on and saying that we haven't heard any concerns since the implementation of the Canada Child Benefit. Leading up to the Canada Child Benefit implementation here in the Northwest Territories, there were some concerns that were going around on Facebook and social media that were brought to our attention. We assured individuals that nothing was going to change; in fact, money was going to go up after August 1st. So, yes, since we have the implementation, we haven't heard any concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To say again, this is an e-mail exchange where the Minister has signed the e-mails and the resident has signed the e-mails, and he expresses his concern about the reduction of food and clothing allowances within the Income Assistance Regulations. Could the Minister please clarify that, in fact, he has heard concerns about the changes that have been made?
Any concerns that were brought to the attention of the office, we clarified the situation. As I mentioned, we've taken out the Canada Child Benefit that was introduced on July 1st, so we wouldn't count them in the assessments, meaning that all children and all families, in fact, got the full amount of the Canada Child Benefit and we just clarified anything that came up. Since that, we haven't heard any concerns since then.
So is the Minister saying, then, that he has heard concerns about the changes in the Income Assistance allowances?
Yes. Prior to implementation, actually our CSO staff got very good training, should that anyone that's on income assistance that was concerned about the changes coming forward, that we are going to provide them the information that they need. If the client that the Member is talking about, and the Member herself or any Members of this House, any of the 19 Members that are concerned about the implementation of our changes to the income assistance we'd be glad to give an update; have them sit down with one of our client service officers. As I said, each situation is unique and different and we'd be willing to sit down and provide that information to clarify the concerns that the Member has.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to table these e-mails and I will pursue my concerns in greater detail at another time. But my last question in this string is to ask the Minister what his department has done proactively to explain the changes to people who receive income assistance about their allowances. Not about the child benefit, the Canada child benefit, but about the change in the income assistance allowances.
As I mentioned earlier, all our client service officers got the adequate training; the training that they need should any concerns be brought forth from our income assistance clients. As I mentioned yesterday, all the dollars that were going to the clients, ones with families especially, have actually gone up in every household. So any other further concerns, I'd ask them to go and speak to a client service officer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. My questions are about the government's policies in support of northern businesses and manufacturing. Northern manufacturing includes the full spectrum of the economy from agriculture to industry. How is the GNWT promoting local manufactured products and encouraging residents to buy local? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
I'm glad to answer this question, because before I got elected to the 18th Legislative Assembly I helped move the manufacturing group together and get lobby together to how we can make things better within the GNWT and working with the manufacturers. Currently, the department is working with the Manufacturers' Association in updating their marketing plan moving forward, with a goal to help them promote their products both within the Northwest Territories and within industry and this is something that we are working on.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply, and I also commend the Minister for his previous efforts in this regard. Mr. Speaker, recently ITI provided a presentation at Opportunities North conference that showed small businesses were in significant decline in the NWT. How is ITI working to determine why small business is in decline, more importantly how will they correct this trend?
Yes, small business is in decline in the Northwest Territories and probably right across Canada in most jurisdictions as the economy has been in a downturn for quite a while. There are lots of challenges facing northern businesses. People are shopping online, people are going south to stretch their dollars as much as they can, but what is the department doing to correct this trend?
We have a number of programs that we're trying to do to help small businesses in the Northwest Territories, from the SEED Program, to marketing their programs, to assisting them with financing and stuff as such. We will continue to do that and we will continue to work with the small businesses and chambers across the Northwest Territories to try to correct this trend.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Mr. Speaker, my final question is: as we develop contracts for larger projects, are we emphasizing local benefits by ensuring that subcontracts are bundled into manageable accessible segments for local independent business?
As a government, we're always looking at how to maximize local and Northern content in all contracts and procurement in the Northwest Territories, and we will continue to review our policies and stuff moving forward to maximize that.
A couple of things that we do use already to help maximize local involvement is the BIP Policy; that gives someone local and northern content to give you a little leverage over anyone else, and also the Northern Manufacturing Policy has a whole different set of rules around it to help people purchase northern manufactured products in NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. We just went through a business plan session with the departments; I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. The first time we went through this most of us were very new and I didn't quite understand the process, and I'm still not clear on some things and so I'd like to clarify with the Minister about some of the decisions that were made. Specifically, when the department is looking at cutting positions as was done throughout the GNWT, what factors are considered when determining which positions are expendable? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the departments look at any kind of reductions within our programs, specifically when it comes to positions in the GNWT, we look at three factors. One is the nature of the position: does the incumbent require specialized training or could the task be delegated to others within the work unit.
Another one is the status of the position; whether it is vacant or not. The third factor that we do take into consideration is risks and impact on program delivery: could the program continue to be delivered with staff that are still within that division.
So what level in the government are these expendable positions identified at? Is it the office manager, regional manager, director, ADM, deputy minister, et cetera?
Mr. Speaker, all positions from entry level to management are looked at and reviewed and we base it on those three factors that I mentioned; mostly the one that would be least disruptive to the program delivery in that division.
My question, I must not have phrased it properly is: who determines if the position is expendable? Is it the deputy minister? Is it the ADM? Is it the director? Is it the director in consultation with the manager? At what level is that position identified and that decision made?
Given the confidentiality of the reduction exercise, senior management that the department delivered the exercise with the positions as mentioned from entry level to management.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So from the sounds of it, it's senior management, which I assume is above a director. I'm not quite sure what "senior management" means, but they identified positions that they feel as though could be filled by someone else or it won't affect the work being done on the front lines. So I just want to confirm there's no consultation with the actual office manager or a direct supervisor of someone's position who is up for the chopping block? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Going through such an exercise is difficult on our senior management. Obviously, we don't want to look at any positions being cut as affecting residents of the Northwest Territories, but we do look at the position based on those three factors. It's not based on the individual that's in that position, it's based solely on the position and using those three factors to identify should a job be cut that it will have the least disruption to the programs that they serve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, I spoke of the uncertainty and lack of transparency around how hydraulic fracturing seems to be taking place in the Northwest Territories. There doesn't seem to be any kind of monitoring program for abandoned wells and no funds from industry to help to do this or pay for any remediation that may be necessary. Alberta has an orphan or abandoned well system. Will the Minister responsible commit to developing and implementing a polluterpay system to ensure that there is monitoring, inspection, and the necessary funds to carry out remediation of abandoned wells? Merci, Monsieur le President.
Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have committed in our mandate to develop and propose amendments to the Oil and Gas Operations Act and the Petroleum Resources Act. These acts are currently mirrored on the federal government that was in place prior to devolution, but, moving forward, we are currently in the early stages and we will be seeking input from MLAs and others for information on this process. The public review process, when it happens, will be the opportunity that we must use to identify and address those in areas of concern and priority of NWT residents.
I guess the other thing I'd like to mention is the Member has raised a number of concerns on oil and gas so far in the House, and I can assure him that these are well recognized, and I welcome him to bring these comments forward when we help guide this review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response from the Minister. I really look forward to bringing forward my ideas and suggestions when we finally get there, but the response by the Premier to my written questions tabled earlier in this session reveals a convoluted regulatory system that is not open or transparent.
Previously, we've heard the words "evolve" and "devolve." Can the Minister responsible provide any assurances that we will improve this and move to a co-management system as is currently in place for land and water, where openness and transparency are far greater?
To answer the Member's question, we will need to obtain the technical information from the office of the regulator of the oil and gas operations, and, as such, I'll have to take this question as notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about the month of cancer awareness. Many times, on occasions, we're given the opportunity of trying to raise the awareness, so my questions are to the Minister of Health and Social Services. In the NWT, what services does the department provide for cancer patients from initial diagnoses to treatment and beyond? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's kind of a difficult question to answer, given that every individual will be treated differently, depending on the nature of their illness. We do have providers across the Northwest Territories who can do some frontline diagnosis and assessment, and, if an individual is at risk or there are concerns about cancer, they certainly can be referred to a specialist who can help develop an individual care plan that suits the individual and the particular type of cancer they have.
But, on a broader scale, Mr. Speaker, we do have the 10year cancer strategy that we put in place. In fact, I tabled it in October of 2015. This is a 10year plan. This is the first strategy that we've had in place, and, as a result of that, we're doing a number of things across the Northwest Territories to help people who are living with and/or going through treatment processes, things like sharing circles and other opportunities for people to get together, share their experiences, and work together through the healing process. But, when it comes to actual treatment, Mr. Speaker, like I said, very difficult to answer. It really depends on the individual and the nature of the cancer that he or she may have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to thank the Minister for his reply. At the very minimum, cancer patients that go through the experience of dealing with this condition, at the very minimum, this system should have a care and compassion, and a public system sometimes becomes very impersonal. What is the department currently doing to promote cancer awareness, prevention, and standardized access to screening? The Minister has stated that he's tabled a 10year cancer strategy. Can he please explain in terms of the prevention measures that his department is taking?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to the cancer strategy, we're also trying to work with residents across the Northwest Territories and create awareness of healthy choices. Those are not only to help prevent cancer but also help prevent other chronic diseases that are really prevalent here, in the Northwest Territories. We're trying to get more information out there on healthy diets and physical activity, reducing or quitting smoking preferably, as well, you know, controlling the amount of alcohol that one consumes, basically everything that the Member said in his statement, which I thought was a very fantastic and a very thorough statement.
We're working with different communities. There are different community wellness plans in place to create awareness, to create promotion, and we do have the cancer strategy in place. We have "Let's Talk About Cancer" websites, where there's a tonne of information. I would strongly encourage the Member to encourage all of his constituents to please take a look at this website and learn about the information that's on there and talk to family members, encourage people to eat healthy and not smoke and get physical activity. In fact, I would encourage all Members to use the means that are available to them through newsletters and other promotional materials to get that information out, as well. We all need to work together to create awareness and encourage people to make healthy choices moving forward.
Going forward, building upon the tabling of the 10year cancer strategy, how are Indigenous traditional beliefs reflected in treatment of First Nations patients?
Mr. Speaker, that's one of the things that we're trying to do across the Northwest Territories. We've been holding different cancer sharing circles throughout the Northwest Territories, with different groups, working with organizations like the Gwich'in to try to get those sharing circles out to different communities. I believe we had one in Aklavik.
We want to keep doing this type of thing, where we're working with the communities, trying to find things that work with the communities but also give people who have cancer an opportunity to share and have some people to share their experiences with, people who have a lived experience who can talk about the frustrations they had, the fears they had, but also the successes they had and where they were able to get support and help. Once again,
I would strongly encourage people to take a look at our website, the cancer website, where there's a lot of this information, very detailed, in there that they can go and figure out what's happening and figure out who they might want to talk to.
If people are worried that they might have a chronic condition or cancer, please go to your Well Woman, Well Man clinics. Please go to the health centres and talk to the resident practitioners, whether it's a nurse practitioner, community health nurse, or visiting doctor. So talking is important, but they also need to get out and talk to the practitioners if they're worried. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I ask these questions to try to bring awareness to cancer and also, at the same time, to the public to be more educated in terms of understanding this plight that affects lots of people in the NWT. The Minister encourages the public to, you know, refer to their website, but, at the same time, not everybody has an opportunity in terms of basic access to the Internet, including the website that he refers to.
Many Northerners volunteer for many different anticancer organizations but can feel frustrated when high cancer rates continue to affect themselves, their friends, and their families. What is the department's role in coordinating cancer awareness, screening, and research efforts across the NWT? Mahsi.
