Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi, colleagues. Representatives of the NGO sector are reporting positively and hopefully on the efforts with the disability action plan, but the test here will be whether this new plan suffers the same fate as the last. Clear deliverables, regular evaluation and reporting, and, above all, adequate resourcing will be essentially for making progress on helping persons with disabilities make the most of their potential. We'd like to see an end to the resolution of disability access cases through human rights complaints and settlements, as reported twice in recent media. It's time to get out in front of complaints with proactive delivery of services. I'll have questions for the Minister about the road ahead. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs tabled a report, and it was done by The Sutcliffe Group. In looking at this report, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise how this organization or company was selected to do this report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs selected the contractor for this project through the standard request for proposal process, so that means we put out a call for proposals that was publicly distributed. The Sutcliffe Group was the only respondent to this request for proposals, but their bid matched the criteria that we were looking for in the request for proposals. Therefore, we awarded the contract to this group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for her answer. In looking at the report, there were a number of recommendations. Can the Minister advise this House if any of these recommendations have been implemented at this date?
At this point, the department has begun to implement a couple of recommendations. The main one is that we're looking at undertaking the work that's involved to establish a Western Canada Lottery Commission within the department.
I thank the Minister for her answer. Can the Minister please explain why it only seems that the recommendations for nongovernmental organizations are being affected by this implementation?
The department actually reviewed and considered all of the recommendations contained within the report. At the moment, we are working on the implementation of the most critical ones, so right now we're looking at establishing in our legislation a special fund for the lottery operations. We are also in the process of calling together our five partnering sports organizations. The purpose of that will be to review the sectorialwide policy, and, also, we will be looking at all of the recommendations within the report, to obtain their feedback on where we should be moving forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. I'm looking forward to that work. I think it's a very positive step. Can the Minister make a commitment to this House to report on the recommendations and see exactly where they are by the next sitting? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, I will make sure that we actually give the Members an update during the next session. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about arctic fisheries, and my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: how is the GNWT monitoring the development of an agreement on the arctic fishery? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to advise the Member from Nunakput that the Government of the Northwest Territories has been monitoring the development of an arctic fishery. We do this by our ongoing engagement on this file with our federal colleagues in Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and also we do so by being actively engaged in other forms, like the Arctic Council.
Any offshore fishing that takes place in that region can potentially affect fish stocks in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. My second question, Mr. Speaker, is how does the GNWT work with the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in areas such as fishery where there is some overlap in the resources that we manage?
In the early days, we were involved, before the creation of Nunavut, with the Arctic fishery getting its early start. Since then, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a positive working relationship with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and every GNWT department interacts with DFO in one way or another. For example, our officers of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, through an agreement with DFO, have enforcement and administrative responsibilities under the Fisheries Act. Also, we as a government have written to the Federal Fisheries Minister requesting devolution of Fisheries' responsibilities to the Government of the Northwest Territories.
The concerns around managing commercial fishing in the Arctic are ultimately linked to climate change. My question, Mr. Speaker, is how is the GNWT incorporating traditional knowledge into work being done to create the NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework?
The Department of ENR, as well the Government of the Northwest Territories, has been very active in seeking the input of MLAs, Aboriginal governments, stakeholders, and residents as part of its work on developing the Northwest Territories' Climate Change Strategic Framework. We have incorporated those comments and concerns into the Climate Change Framework. Traditional knowledge has an important role to play in both the development and implementation of the framework, and our work will reflect that once it can be released.
I should also point out that the Government of the Northwest Territories has had a Traditional Knowledge Policy for over 25 years now.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a couple of questions for the Minister of ECE. As the department develops the junior kindergarten implementation plan that reflects the recent motion, how will they communicate ongoing developments to current program providers and to communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
As we move forward into the implementation of junior kindergarten and some of the recommendations that were made out of the motion we'll continue to engage with child day homes, day care centres, as well as Aboriginal Head Start in making sure that the transition to junior kindergarten is moved in a good manner, and that we share all the information moving forward. We do understand some of the concerns that are coming specifically out of the Member's region and we're trying to work on addressing those.
Going forward from today, what avenues will current program providers and communities have to approach the department with their questions and concerns about junior kindergarten?
As I mentioned, Aboriginal Head Start in particular is one that we've heard some concerns. Our staff has sat down with the managers and the staff on numerous occasions. We've also had the superintendents of the Beaufort-Delta Education Council work with the schools and Aboriginal Head Start to make sure that it's moving forward in a good manner and the working relationship is good.
We continue to do those consultations with Aboriginal Head Start, as well as all our other early childhood providers. As I mentioned, on August 24th we met with the Canadian Public Health Agency of Canada to inform Aboriginal Head Start that their funding is not going to be affected with the implementation of junior kindergarten. So any concerns that Aboriginal Head Start has in terms of implementation in 2017-2018, we still want to have those engagements and have those concerns brought forward to the department and we'll continue to share that information and have those dialogues.
There are a number of people in my riding that have a lot of questions. I'd like to ask the Minister if he would be willing to travel to the communities to do a tour, whether it's in January or December. I know he's very busy, but if the Minister has time, would he accompany me on a tour?
As I mentioned on many occasions, since I've been in the position I've been to 20 out of the 33 communities in the NWT. We've seen some successful junior kindergarten programs in some of the regions that have been implementing them, whether it's the first year or even the third year. So I'd be more than happy to join the Member on a community tour and look at the programs, early childhood programs, in this community.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's been recently brought to my attention by a few residents or constituents of Yellowknife North and, frankly, others, that there are concerns with regard to eye care, in particular, insured coverage. The challenges are that progressive lens and tri-focal lenses appear to not be covered within the Blue Cross coverage that these folks pay for. I'm wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services can, in fact, clarify whether those types of lenses are covered or not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, this has actually come up a number of times, and I understand the frustration that residents of the Northwest Territories, in particular seniors, who are accessing our extended benefits have with respect to these lenses. Progressive lens and tri-focal lens are a common lens; it's a lens that many people use. In fact, it's preferred by most individuals. Unfortunately, in order to not have a two-tiered health system here in the Northwest Territories with respect to what we're providing by way of coverage, our extended health benefits match exactly what is offered through NIHB; and to date, NIHB does not provide coverage for progressive lenses or other lenses like the tri-focals. As a result, we provide the same level of coverage that they did.
It has come up. I agree that it is frustrating. I've made a commitment during our negotiations with the federal government on NIHB; we intend to raise this as an issue and we hope that they would modify their formulary to include things like progressive lenses so that we can ensure that our residents, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, young, old, seniors, are getting the lenses they need.
I guess the question is: can the basic coverage be applied to the tri-focal and the progressive? Is there the opportunity to negotiate that portion of our agreement sooner rather than later to at least have the basic coverage applied to those types of lenses?
I wish, but, unfortunately, no. But to the Member's point, the negotiations have actually started already. We're in early stages of discussions, figuring out how the negotiation is going to move forward. I've made a commitment to our Aboriginal partners and governments that during these negotiations we want to make sure that our Aboriginal partners are engaged. The Aboriginal people are telling us the same thing around progressive lenses; that the seniors who are accessing our extended health benefits are saying. I can't say that we will win that fight, but it's a fight that we're undertaking now.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. It's good to hear that we're in negotiations in this regard. Can the Minister give us a potential timeline as to when he expects the negotiations to conclude, and that we can give Northerners what they deserve as it relates to their eye care coverage?
We deliver NIHB on behalf of the federal government. It is a federal government program, and the timing of the negotiations really depends on the speed that they wish to move forward. We're already engaged. I, unfortunately, can't tell you when these negotiations conclude. The end date is somewhat mobile or somewhat flexible, based on the intensity of some of the negotiations.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've seen a number of proposals for some infrastructure projects that are going as P3s. These partnerships have often been criticized. Notably, in 2014 there was a report from the Ontario Office of the Auditor General that indicated there could be an awful lot of savings if government handled the projects themselves. As we're looking towards P3s, I'd like to ask the Minister of Finance why we are pursuing a P3 options, what the advantages are over government capital projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we like to think there is a number of advantages, one of them being the risk. There is a risk that goes onto the proponent through a P3 process. There's value for money. Before we determine whether we're going into a P3 process or not, we do have a deputy minister's committee that reviews it. Then the Minister will make a recommendation to the FMB, whether there's some merit going to P3 or not, once you do the balance of the positives and the negatives going towards a project rather than a traditional procurement process. But we think that it's a direction that more larger projects might go in the future. We've heard one of the directions that Canada would prefer, the jurisdictions as well. So there's a lot of value to it, and we'll continue to share all the information we have with committee as to some of the benefits of the P3 process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the challenges of being a territorial government versus a provincial or the federal government is we have a debt limit that's controlled by Ottawa and is capped. How do P3s interact with our debt limit? Can we find more flexibility through P3 financing through our own borrowing?
In a P3 project is just what we bookmark for the project that goes towards our debt limit. So, for example, if the project is worth -- let's use $100 million as an example. If we have to put in $50 million, well $50 million would go toward our debt limit. If we go through the traditional procurement services, then all the money that's bookmarked for that particular project will go towards our debt limit.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. It seems that we do need to explore other options to suit our unique circumstances as a territory. If we're going to invest in infrastructure today, we need to look up those options so we can free up more time for investment. So it sounds like the Minister is doing that, and that's great, but how are we ensuring adequate oversight of P3 projects? Can the Minister provide honourable Members with some examples?
We find that this is a way to have our infrastructure dollars go further, and some of the risk being on the proponent. So I think there's some value there. As far as oversight, I'll used the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway for an example. We have an Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Oversight Committee that meets regularly and gets updates on the highway. So that type of oversight will continue for any of the other projects that we go through a P3 process; we get updated on Stanton quite regularly, we get updated on the Mackenzie fibre optic link quite regularly. So we have an enormous amount of oversight in these committees, and we feel that, in the future, this is the direction to, as I said before, stretch out our infrastructure dollars a lot more to get more projects for the residents of the Northwest Territories. It's something that we would continue to pursue, unless we have a compelling reason not to.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
