Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Mr. Darrell Beaulieu, Mr. David Ramsay, and Margaret Gorman. Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize our Pages from Tsiigehtchic that we have, Shayleen Shae and Thomas Norbert; also their chaperone, my CA, Liz Wright. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I just stated, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services about the lack of coverage for any mental health conditions when it comes to prescription drugs. I would like to ask the Minister, first off: what is the justification for offering prescription drug coverage under the Extended Health Benefits program for specified disease conditions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, drug coverage under the Extended Health Benefits program for specified disease conditions has evolved over time. With regard to mental health, which is the issue the Member is raising, the only reference within the GNWT Extended Health Benefits Policy to cover conditions is chronic psychosis. Within this broad category of chronic psychosis, there are a number of specified conditions that are open to interpretation and application to a number of specific conditions.
I would add, however, that this approach to extended health benefits is clearly dated, as eligibility for programs is based on a list of specified conditions rather than based on the clinical and/or financial need of the individual or family. Members may recall that there have been two previous attempts to review the approach to supplementary health benefits. Both were not successful. The last attempt was in 2010-2011, during the 16th Assembly.
I recognize, and the department recognizes, that there is a need to review and update the approach to supplemental health benefits, and it is in its initial stages of updating some inter-jurisdictional research to inform a review, with the intention of moving this project forward in 2018.
I bring up this program because there are no mental health conditions covered under that, and, while the territory is doing a lot to address mental health issues, it gives the impression that they do not take it seriously because there has always been a stigma attached with it, and it seems like they are just second class to physical conditions.
The Minister brought up some of the work that has been done. What work has been done when it comes to including mental health conditions in that specified disease and condition program? I am speaking in terms of: do they know how much it would cost? Because, if we know how much it would cost, there is no reason we cannot just, with the stroke of a pen, add those conditions to the list.
I would just like to provide a little bit of clarification. There might be a slight misunderstanding. The broad category of chronic psychosis does provide for coverage of a variety of mental health conditions. Those are based on advice from referring clinicians. Individuals need to consult with their referring clinician to determine whether their condition is in fact covered by the extended benefit under the chronic psychosis category.
I believe that most patients in the Northwest Territories are getting the care they need. However, it is clear that we need to update the policy and associated guidelines to ensure that they are focused on patients' needs and support the clinicians in the work that they do. I would also suggest to the Member and all Members that, if you are aware of someone in real need who is not being served by the system, I would encourage them to reach out to their local healthcare providers or even our system navigator to explore the opportunities for exceptions that the system can put in place where there is hardship.
As an MLA, I am the person who a lot of these people reach out to. I have never heard about these exceptions, and the people who come to me have never heard from their physicians about these exceptions, so what is being done to inform physicians, let alone the general public, that this coverage could be extended to them?
The department does work with the medical association and others to try to get that information out there. I will have a conversation with the department to make sure that they are working with our practitioners across the Northwest Territories. It does not cover every condition, but it does cover a lot of conditions. Where it is not covered, as I said, I would encourage the Member and all Members to have these people get in touch with system navigators or come to them, and the Members can come to us and we can explore opportunities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I bring this up because people get swept under the rug because, like I said, most people have coverage, and so this approach of looking at a case-by-case basis does not seem like the best way to do things. When can we expect this review to be done and hopefully some specific conditions added to this list to help those who are in need of prescription medication for their mental health conditions but cannot afford it?
I would just like to confirm once again that the broad category of chronic psychosis provides for coverage of a variety of mental health conditions, so a number of them are covered. People need to make sure that they are working with their practitioners to get that information out. A full review of the supplemental health programs will take over a year as it will involve significant cross-jurisdictional review, analysis, and consultation. Once again, we are doing that work now. We will certainly keep the Member and committee updated as we move forward.
However, if the Member is aware where people are experiencing hardship, I would encourage them to deal with their practitioners or go through their MLAs to explore opportunities for exceptions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was talking about my travels across the Southern NWT and asked questions of the Minister of Infrastructure. I'd like to follow up with some questions here today.
Mr. Speaker, I noticed that, when I was crossing the Deh Cho Bridge, on both sides there was work being done and gravel being moved from a spot along the north side that hadn't been moved in a long time, and this work was being done by a company from outside the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise what work is being done to the bridge and the rationale why a company not from the Northwest Territories is doing this work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of our bridge monitoring inspection regime, we've been closely monitoring the side slopes on the approaches and the embankment movements of the Deh Cho Bridge. Some longitudinal cracks have appeared and we've been observing them on the bridge approaches, and as a proactive and preventive measure of our ongoing part of our maintenance program, we're working to stabilize these approaches and embankments to stop future cracking of the longitudinal cracks that are appearing.
As to the contractor that's on-site, they are called GeoStabilization International. This was awarded, a contract, through public procurement through the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. That's very helpful and clears up a number of things. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please tell us if this work is covered under the warranty or are these additional costs that the Government of the Northwest Territories has to cover with this bridge?
The cost of this preventative work is actually covered by various bridge capital projects. It's ongoing preventative bridge maintenance across our system, and it's there to extend the life of our bridge assets.
I appreciate the department is actually doing preventative work on there. I was hoping it would be covered under the warranty, but I guess it isn't; it's part of our new capital projects or O and M direction.
I've also heard during my travels there that the slope on both sides is very steep and some truckers, especially on the south side, have to speed up to get across the peak there. If they don't, the vehicle could stall. Can the Minister advise if he's heard these concerns and, if so, what is the department doing to address these issues?
I'm not aware of this concern. The bridge is built within normal sloping operating grades and, I suspect anyone who has a Class 1 driver's licence operating should have the skills to navigate the slope of that bridge.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer, but it's been an issue, so I'm addressing it to him so maybe he can look into it.
Mr. Speaker, I've also been told that one of the piers wasn't built correctly and it needs to be replaced. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise if this is true and what the department has planned to replace this pier? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm not aware of a requirement to replace any pier on the Deh Cho Bridge. This bridge has been functioning well since it opened in 2012, and as far as I'm concerned there's no need for that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My statement earlier today referred to the Feasibility Study of Universal Affordable Daycare in the NWT that was prepared at the direction of the last Assembly. You can find the study in our tabled documents if you know where to look. It's available on the University of Toronto website, but if you look on the GNWT website, including the Education, Culture and Employment Department, you can't find it there.
Will the Minister commit to putting this study back among the resource documents of his departmental website? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, that's a question to the Minister of Education. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, we are committed to improving the accessibility, affordability, and inclusivity of childcare in the Northwest Territories. It continues to be a priority of our department, as well as a priority of this government. We want to ensure that we support the creation of new childcare spaces and programs in all of our communities across the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, currently we have childcare spaces in 23 of the 33 communities of the Northwest Territories. We need to put our focus, our finances, financial resources into making sure we have childcare spaces throughout the NWT, so there are 10 communities that we need to continue to work with.
The GNWT over the past two years has put into place a variety of initiatives to address the accessibility and the affordability, and we continue to focus on that. We've implemented junior kindergarten. We've made significant changes to streamline and simplify the licensing and funding application process for NWT licenced early childhood programming among many other things, Mr. Speaker. We're continuing to commit to focus on accessibility and affordability to ensure that all of our communities in the Northwest Territories have early childhood programs and spaces. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to thank the Minister for his statement in the House about childcare. Unfortunately, he didn't answer my question about whether he would make the study available on his department's website, but maybe I'll give him a chance to answer that with my next question.
The proposed changes to the mandate were brought forward to this House by Cabinet. What is the position of the Minister on universal childcare for the Northwest Territories and when will that happen?
With the mandates and the focus of this government to ensure that we do have childcare spaces in all of our communities, before we can even get into universal childcare we've got to make sure that all of our communities do have childcare spaces, and the fact we can actually put our resources that we have now within the remainder of this government to focus on addressing the childcare spaces and needs in 10 more communities across the Northwest Territories while maintaining and sustaining the early childhood programs that currently exist in all of our other communities.
I think that, as a government, we should put our focus on getting all our communities childcare to not only help the child, give the child every chance to succeed, but also help families as well.
I don't seem to be having much luck with the Minister today. He still hasn't answered my question about whether he can make this study available on his departmental website.
Of course, if there are 10 communities missing childcare facilities or programs, that should be part of an action plan. The proposed revisions to the mandate would axe the commitment to universal childcare and the action item in our current version of the mandate calls for an action plan for universal daycare within the next two years. It doesn't mean we're going to do it; it just says that we should have a plan to do it. That's from 18 months ago. This means that, until the mandates change, the department should have been working on this commitment and the work should almost be done by now.
Can the Minister tell us the status of the work on an action plan for universal childcare in the Northwest Territories?
We do currently have an early childhood development action plan within this government, and we're also working on an early learning and childcare agreement with the federal government to look at outlining where our focus is going to be over the next three years.
The Member asks us if we're going to put energy into creating this action plan. We have some documents that we're referring to right now, but a lot of our energy has been working with some of those communities to create daycares. We have two new daycares in two of our smallest communities, and it's a very successful story.
I'm working to make sure that all communities across the Northwest Territories will have that opportunity to see their children, their youngest, succeed, as well as families getting the supports that they need with child daycare.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I seem to be having problems here with the Minister, getting actually any answers to any of my questions today. He cannot tell me if he is going to post a study to his website. He does not want to tell me what his position is with regard to universal childcare. He cannot tell me what is happening with the action plan that his department was supposed to be developing.
Let us go back to the feasibility study. It estimated that a territory-wide program could be introduced for a cost starting at about $20 million a year. Since then, junior kindergarten has come on-stream, which largely replaces the need for child care spaces for junior kindergarten-aged children. Has the Minister's department calculated the reduced implementation cost for universal childcare in the NWT, given junior kindergarten is in place; and if so, what are the reduced costs for universal child care? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I did give him a heads up, so I don't know what the problem is. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.
As I mentioned, our focus is to make sure that we provide those childcare spaces. We have increased subsidies for early childhood programming, specifically on the infant spaces. We are putting more time and energy into making sure that all families in the Northwest Territories have that opportunity in early childhood programs. Subsidies, we made changes to the childcare benefit, the NWT childcare benefit. We are doing a lot of work in the area around early childhood development, and we want to continue to make sure that all of our communities have access to childhood spaces so that our children can succeed, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Oral question. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Homelessness. Yellowknife has the largest homeless population in the Northwest Territories, and the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness provides an action plan to eliminate this problem. Will the Minister prepare a formal response to the plan, and release this response publicly when available? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for Homelessness.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to give some thought to actually releasing a public statement on the plan, but I can say in the House here that the plan was actually a great joy to read. Dr. Alina Turner, who wrote the plan, actually backed up everything that I have been saying for the last two years, that we need a continuum of support, that this is not just one strategy will fix all. A lot of her plan actually was very complementary to my own personal beliefs based on my expertise in dealing with homelessness by working with homeless people for the last 20 years. I have also been in contact with the City of Yellowknife on this issue, and have agreed to work with the City of Yellowknife on this issue. I will have to give some more thought whether I do it as a public announcement, more than what I am doing just now in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for her response. I understand that she is very engaged with this issue, and I am glad that she supports the approach that the report has taken. One of the findings of the report is that it costs more to manage homelessness than to eliminate it. I am wondering if the Minister agrees with that statement.
I absolutely agree with the statement that it takes more to manage homelessness than it does to address it before people become homeless. That is why the Housing Corporation last year spent $132 million, $70 million coming from the Government of the Northwest Territories, $35 million coming from the federal government, and $30 million actually coming from the low rents for the accommodations that we have. We spend a lot of money to try to deal with not only homelessness, but homelessness is housing, so to deal with housing.
I think the key distinction here is between homelessness and housing. I know that the NWT Housing Corporation funds public housing throughout the Northwest Territories, and that there are some pots of money that go to the shelters. I think that what I am asking about here is whether the Minister will work to a more comprehensive response as it relates to the territorial problem that exists in Yellowknife. The plan calls on all the orders of government, that is, Indigenous, territorial, and federal, to work together to create this commission that will work on implementing this plan. Is the Minister planning to take part in this opportunity?
As stated earlier, the City of Yellowknife has approached me. When the 10-year plan was developed, they came in and we had a meeting. We did talk about the Homeless Commission, and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, myself, and/or the president, Tom Williams, have agreed to take part in this Homelessness Commission on a quarterly basis.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is good news. I think high-level leadership on this issue is very important to the implementation of the plan.
My final question has to do more with housing than homelessness. The report concludes that while overcrowded and substandard housing persists, people will continue to migrate to urban centres. Does the Minister agree with this conclusion, and is it on her radar to address the core need in housing? Thank you.
