Masi. Recognition of visitors in gallery. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are very fortunate to have one of our longest serving victim service workers with us in the gallery today. Marie Speakman has been providing a valuable service to victims in Yellowknife with the Native Woman's Association for 17 years, and I'd like us to take this opportunity to recognize her service here today.
---Applause
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Seniors. As I am sure he is aware, there used to be a day program for seniors in Yellowknife, based at Avens, and the program was a safe place for seniors to socialize. It also gave caregivers a break, as I mentioned in my statement. Since February, there has been nothing. Can the Minister tell us what action he is taking to reinstate this program? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Seniors.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Avens let us know on October 2016 that they were intending to suspend operations of the program. They also at that time expressed to us their intent to redesign the adult day program to better meet the needs of clients that it serves and to address any quality and safety concerns that were raised. A working group has been established with representatives from Avens, the department, the territorial authority, and they are conducting a review of the Avens day program, and they have been doing that since late January 2017.
The working group has completed the following components. They are doing a literature review of best practices of adult day programs available throughout the country, they have looked at the historical use and the policies that were in place, and they are doing a review of issues related to safety and quality concerns that were identified. They are currently compiling all of that information and looking forward to bringing it forward to their stakeholders shortly, and a draft report will be circulated once the work is completed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not sure if I'm encouraged or dismayed by the fact that there is now a working group working on another report and another deadline. Maybe the Minister could tell us whether there is money in place to implement a solution when one is identified?
Core funding is provided to Avens to provide the wide range of programs and services that they have. I had an opportunity to meet with the board and the acting executive director about a week and a half ago where we were talking about a future expansion on the site of 48 beds. This topic also came up at the time, and at that time, Avens indicated that they would like to work with the department on an operational review to look at how they're spending their money to make sure that they are getting the dollars that are being allocated, and they are using them to maximum effect. We haven't committed to funding that operational review, but I have asked the department to work closely with Avens to come up with a mechanism and ways we could support them to do that operational review so that they can ensure that the money they are receiving is being spent to a maximum effect.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. Is the Minister open to solutions that may look for a new partner rather than Avens to provide this program?
As I have said several times in this House, we are currently doing a continuing care review and a review of homecare services that are planned throughout the Northwest Territories to support residents to age in place as much as possible. We have talked about different models that might be used, whether it is family support or community support. Once we are done that review and we have an actual plan in place, we will be in a better position to figure out what, if new partners are out there, that might be able to assist us in supporting seniors to integrate and be part of their community, as well as age in place. I would say the answer is "yes," but we want to finish that review first.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, the bottom line here is we've got a group of seniors who are isolated because of their lack of socialization, and that's been the case now going on for six months. We have got various reviews, one of which the continuing care review which is overdue. So, I guess my bottom line question is: when can seniors who need this program, and families who need this program, expect to see a solution? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the report that is being done by Avens now on this very exact topic is expected to be completed by Avens by mid-June 2017. At that point, they will have some ideas how they intend to move forward to support day programming. The continuing care review, the homecare review that we have been talking about, has already been intended to be available to Members of this House in time for business planning so that we can have an informed discussion, and allocated resources to meet the needs of residents across the Northwest Territories moving forward in subsequent fiscal years.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has shown its appetite to work on comprehensive issues for the government. The Honourable Minister for the NWT Housing Corporation has just undertaken a very long and lengthy review of the Housing Corporation's policies and programs. The Minister for Public Engagement and Transparency is doing a very public process on Open Government Policy. Will the Minister responsible for Infrastructure commit to undertaking the exact same style of review for procurement policies without delay? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Well, the Minister consults with me; that is one person. I am wondering if he will consult with everyone in the Northwest Territories through a public engagement process, and then create a report that can come back to this House and be assessed by the standing committee and the government on its results and lead to comprehensive procurement reform in the Northwest Territories. Will the Minister commit to do that?
No, I will not commit to do a comprehensive review across the Northwest Territories. As I have told the Member before in this House, I have been part of both sides of this equation, and I believe that the process in place is a fair and equitable one for all businesses in the Northwest Territories. Yes, maybe we have to tweak a few things to make everything better. It does not matter if it is from health care to education to procurement, but I am willing to sit down and have those conversations. However at this point, I am not willing to do a territorial-wide review.
Does the Minister agree that a 15 month wait for a procurement application is unacceptable, and that that issue needs to be dealt with right away?
This is the first I've heard of this situation. I want to sit down with the Member after session today and get the details on it. I believe 15 months definitely is too long to hear back on an issue.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that commitment. I'll be happy to sit down with him and share my constituent's experience with our procurement system. Finally, I know that the Department of Procurement Services through the Department of Infrastructure is undertaking some vendor workshops. Is there any opportunity for public engagement in the procurement process through those workshops, or is this merely an effort to tell vendors how to do business with government? Are we actually listening to them or are we just telling them they're doing it wrong? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, that's not how this works. We're always open to all types of feedback, good or bad, and we'll try to improve the system as we move forward.
Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the budget process, the Department of Health and Social Services received new funding to support enhanced homecare and youth in crisis. On Thursday, we received an e-mail from the Minister of Health and Social Services identifying a proposed plan to allocate this funding. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Health and Social Services please provide further information on the plan to us here today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have already talked a little bit about the comprehensive review of homecare services that are being planned for 2017-2018, and this is going to help us make informed decisions in the next round of business planning on how we're going to invest to support aging in place for seniors and persons with disabilities. However, Mr. Speaker, we do know that there are some pockets of documented unmet demands for homecare services in many communities through the Northwest Territories. Recognizing this, we truly appreciate the $2.5 million allocation that was issued during the budgeting process. We're intending to use it to make some incremental investments to meet the demands for patient care that we know exists in several of the communities and our regions that have been previously limited by resource shortfalls.
With the new 2017-2018 homecare funding, I'm pleased to announce that we'll be strengthening homecare services in our three largest communities and introducing homecare services in six communities where there are currently none offered. We're looking at putting one additional nurse in Inuvik, as well as two additional home support workers. We're looking at putting three additional home support workers here in Yellowknife and we're looking at putting halftime home support workers in Wrigley, Jean Marie River, Sambaa K'e, Nahanni Butte, Kakisa, and we're looking at putting in an additional one-and-a-half home support workers in Hay River, with 0.5 of that being utilized to support enterprise where there are currently no home support services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This is great news and I must publicly thank the Minister for sharing this information here today. I was very concerned during the budget process, and now I'm happier to hear this good news. I have to recognize the hard work that the department and Minister have done to this date. Can the Minister advise if this good news e-mail can be shared with the public?
Yes, please share the e-mail with everybody you want to share. In fact, all the MLAs I would encourage to share the information. Mr. Speaker, this is a good news story and it shows us working together as an Assembly and that we recognize the need to invest in staff and home support positions to meet the needs of our residents across the Northwest Territories. Please share the information with everybody that the Member would like to.
I'd like to thank the Minister for allowing us to share this good information again out to the public. Mr. Speaker, with this plan in place, can the Minister explain the next steps to implement this plan and provide a potential timeline, like job descriptions and stuff like that, that have to be done?
I am a little reluctant to speculate on a timeline. There is a significant amount of work that needs to be done. The position job descriptions need to be written. They need to be evaluated. They need to be incorporated into the complement of positions that are out there. Then we do have to go out and staff those positions and that can take a bit of time. Once we do have the positions filled it will likely require some training for individuals to make sure that they're providing the high-quality service that we want to make available to residents throughout the Northwest Territories. I can say that I have talked to the territorial authority and I have talked to the department. They are going to move forward as quickly as they can to get this upfront work done and get these positions filled and on the ground as quickly as possible. I have asked that we utilize the regional recruitment program where appropriate so that, if there are people who meet the qualifications today, we can work to help train some local people for local work.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister, how was the community of Aklavik advised when the open water and the ice road was first discovered and the weight restriction was lowered? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When this came up on a quick and short notice, the local superintendent out of the Inuvik region would have notified the mayor of Aklavik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What plans were put in place to finish bringing in supplies that were supposed to come in on the ice road?
I don't know which plans would have been put into place once the roads was closed. That would be up to the local people. It's unfortunate the road closed in a quickened manner. That happened because of safety reasons, but now with the new purchase of the barge company, maybe we can use them.
The ice road conditions are no different than they were last year. Just this year, the department seemed to get a little too -- I don't know, they just got a little carried away this year, but how does a department incorporate traditional knowledge into ice road construction and other infrastructure planning?
Road safety is our number one priority, particularly on the ice road. As I've said in this House a number of times, climate change and things have had a number of impacts on the condition of our ice roads and winter roads in the Northwest Territories. It's unfortunate, like I said, that this happened in Aklavik this year due to safety matters, but if we look at the incident that happened at Deline two years ago, we certainly don't want this type of situation happening particularly on the Beau-Del, where there's great resource for fish in the Northwest Territories, and to have an incident like that would be catastrophic. I'm not an engineer and I'm not an ice profiler, but on recommendation of our superintendent and our people that go out there and profile the ice, this road was closed in that time.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister does specialize in signs and, you know, we could have put signs up in this area. Also, put a berm on half of the road. That could have helped in this area here. So what lessons could be learned from this year's closure of the Aklavik ice road that could be applied in the future especially as winter conditions become more variable? Thank you, Ms. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are always lessons learned in every season. This one in particular, I guess I would say that the lesson learned from this is we're going to have very close ties with the community on a day-to-day basis as spring comes to the region, being that it's the only ice road left up there; we're not going to Inuvik anymore. We'll have better communications around how we're planning on closing of the ice road.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, in light of the federal government's announcement in terms of funding Aboriginal languages for the Northwest Territories. First, of course, we have the federal government making the announcement of four-year funding. The GNWT is involved with Aboriginal governments, as well, so I wanted to ask the Minister: how could these three partnership arrangements ensure that there is a strong community involvement with the preservation, enhancement, and revitalization of ongoing efforts to ensure that our languages flourish and are used every day? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
