As I said, the agenda is set by the Prime Minister so I took some representation to have cannabis added to the agenda by the consult of federation. Carbon pricing was not discussed. It was not on the agenda. The discussion on cannabis mainly followed up on the consult of federation meetings that we had earlier in the year in Edmonton where the Premiers expressed concern about the fact that a lot of work still had to be done in five key areas with regards to implementation of the cannabis legislation.
We were reminded once again that there were still some concerns about the lack of time that June/July of 2018 is too soon and that we don’t have enough time to get properly ready. The prime Minister indicated that this was not an evented time. It was a progress over time where we’re looking to protect our youth and our children from the bad effects of drugs. Also, we’re trying to make sure that the bad guys didn’t get to keep all of the money. The longer we waited to implement, more money goes to the bad guys. We had a very good briefing by the parliamentary secretary. He talked quite a bit about enforcement of impaired driving or cannabis impaired driving and how that was going to work. He talked a lot about education. We also talked about the retail methods that would be used. I raised the matter of we have dry communities in the Northwest Territories and obviously to have communities where we don’t have cannabis would go against the initiative of legalizing cannabis.
The parliamentary secretary did advise that our member of parliament has invited him to visit the North and he would be visiting at some point in the near future. I think that would be very helpful. There’s still a lot of concern about licensing of retail or distribution methods and also the production of cannabis is still felt by the Premiers in a lot of the provinces that as soon as cannabis is legalized, there’s not enough production available to meet the demand. That was the gist of the discussions, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Premier for his very thorough answer. I very much appreciate getting the information. Can the Premier tell us whether he had any side meetings with Northern territories Premiers, and generally what might have been discussed, and any outcomes?
We attempted to organize the meeting with the three northern Premiers because historically, we work to have a united position on a lot of these issues. Also, we are doing work on a pan-territorial sustainable development vision which we are trying to do in conjunction with the development of a federal arctic policy framework, but we were not able to get the three northern Premiers together because it was just too short a period of time, and everybody was arriving at different times.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Once again, I would like to thank the Premier for that information. I really do appreciate getting this information from the Premier, and I know he is just fresh off the plane. Again, I sincerely thank him for this. I know that other Ministers also go to federal-provincial-territorial meetings. I am just wondering, this sort of reporting back would be really helpful, at least for myself and probably other Members on this side of the House. Can the Premier find a way to more systematically get back to Regular Members about what happens at federal-provincial-territorial meetings like the First Ministers' Conference?
In practice, generally, FPT meetings and even the council or federation meetings, generally, we share whatever communiques or decision documents that are released with the standing committees and the Members, and we are prepared to continue to do that. In this case, the First Ministers' meeting, there was no communique or documents that were issued, so I would be prepared to brief the committee if we can find the time to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. He appeared at the Standing Committee on Social Development last winter to talk about the 2015-2016 audit of Child and Family Services. He provided as a follow-up, a report on the audit, but not the audit themselves. Why wasn't the audit given to us in the original form? Thank you.
Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, audits prepared by the Department of Health and Social Services around Child and Family Services, are never made public or shared with committee as a result of the confidential nature of much of the detail and information contained within. When I met with committee in January 2017 when we discussed the audit, I indicated that although we had put in a new audit process as a result of recommendations from the Auditor General of Canada and as part of our building stronger families, an audit was done that looked at qualitative and quantitative data, and a new tool was developed by the Department of Health and Social Services for this process including a new database.
On reviewing the audit results, or rather the audit report, unfortunately, it became clear that the quantitative data collected was not at all reliable. This was as a result of a number of reasons including the staff were not particularly familiar with the new database that was created, and because the standards were constantly changing during that year the audit results were done, and they were not linked to consistent standards. It was a problem. It was unfortunate. It was frustrating for both myself and for the Members. I did commit at that time to pulling together a summary of the results that we had at the time, recognizing that the quantitative data was not as reliable as we had hoped for, but there was qualitative information gathered at the same time which did provide some useful insight. We provided a summary to committee. That document once again is not made public as a result of the confidential nature of some of the data within.
I have made a commitment that we are going to provide summary documents to committee in confidence moving forward. In 2016-2017, we have put in a new audit process that has been tested and retested to make sure that it is actually going to give us the data that we need in order to make informed decisions and provide quality reports which will lead to a quality summary that will be shared with Regular Members.
Thank you for that answer. What kind of reports, audit reports were shared with regional authorities in the 2015-2016 audit?
Originally, prior to the changes in 2015-2016, the audits were done with regional authorities, were done by a senior auditing team within the department, and were unfortunately conducted kind of on an irregular basis, and I think this is one of the things that the Auditor General rightfully, hammered the Department of Health and Social Services on, that this was not done in a regular way. This was not done regularly. In the past, the individual reports were shared with the authority so that recommendations for improvements within could be made. We want to be able to continue to do those types of things, provide information to regional operations of the new territorial authority so that they can make improvements and provide high quality child and family services. With our new audit tool, we believe we have a system that will allow us to do both the qualitative and quantitative analysis so that we can continue to make recommendations at a local delivery level for the high quality provision of child and family services, recognizing that today, we are moving in a new direction of child and family services. Building stronger families is the new way of doing business. It is different than it has done before, and we are looking at supporting families rather than apprehending children.
There is no question that this is the right direction to go. Apprehending children is the last resort. With respect to the 2015-2016 audit of Child and Family Services, the former CFS advisor, Andy Langford, is quoted as saying, "Taken at face value, our measures of compliance are arguably worse than they were three years ago when the auditor general completed his audit." This is not a comforting result. Could the Minister tell us how the department responded to this observation?
This goes to the fact that we have put in a new system for actually collecting data, and we have tested it rigorously to ensure that the data collection is something that is both useful and practical, and it will give us information we need to make informed decisions moving forward. Mr. Speaker, I certainly would like to see a copy of the information the Member is making reference to, and put it in context with respect to where that letter was sent to, who, and what was it answering as opposed to making assumptions in this House on exactly what the conversation before and after was.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I think that the Minister can get that information from the department. It was obtained through access to information by media and reported this morning. One of the end results of the conversation last winter was that there would be this new audit tool which the Minister has referenced. When will the committee receive the report of Child and Family Services for the 2016-2017 fiscal year; and is there any consideration of making a summary of it public to promote confidence in Child and Family Services? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the directors' report will be made public. It is a summary of activities over a year, ongoing progress and processes where we are at any given time with Child and Family Services. The summary that I am going to provide committee is not something we are prepared to make public at this time. I hear the Member, and I would like to, obviously, bring some comfort and confidence to the work that is being done in recognition of the incredible hard work that many of our staff are doing to improve Child and Family Services in recognizing that we are taking a new direction with building stronger families. Those summaries will contain some information that might identify, or certainly could be used to identify families which is something that we are not prepared to do at this point in time. I will share it with committee so that we can have discussions about moving forward in a collaborative way for the best interests of our children, but I am not prepared to make that document public and risk identifying individuals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my question is directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services here, following up on my colleague from Nahendeh's question on the Vital Abel House boarding unit.
To improve standards by the service provider at the Vital boarding home, will the Minister review or take actions towards the continuation of the word "audit" or an "improvement inspection" to the facility? Thank you.
Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have contracts with a number of providers, both here, and in Yellowknife, as an example, as well as in Edmonton. These homes provide incredibly valuable services to the residents of the Northwest Territories who do need to receive care and/or assessments and diagnosis outside of their home communities. We are always monitoring how the contract is being administered. I will commit to having a conversation with the department to find out where we are now, when the last sort of review was done, and any information I get, I am certainly happy to share with Regular Members.
I will provide a couple of examples that can be included on the checklist of the inspection. It would be wheelchair access, one of these automated buttons is not on there during my last visit; and another checklist item could be, what are the options for the overflow of people over and above what the room capacity is actually designated to have?
Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate getting some suggestions and ideas from the Members. I will certainly share that information with the department as we are looking into our current contracts with our providers. I have been to the different facilities that we do support by way of contract here in the Northwest Territories, and they are wheelchair accessible. There are spaces for people that do have limited mobility, but certainly interested in following up on the Member's suggestions.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister provide that information after gathering the inspection results to my office and to my colleague from Nahendeh, please? Thank you.
As we’re looking into our contract, if there are any irregularities or changes coming, I’m certainly happy to share that information with Members. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I spoke about the vital role the Zhatie Koe Friendship Centre plays in Fort Providence and the uncertainty of funding commitments to the Northwest Territories friendship centres. My questions are to the Premier today. My first question is: when the Northwest Territories’ group of friendship centres sought core funding from Cabinet last spring, what was the outcome of that meeting? Mahsi.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll thank the Member for the question. I just want to point out that friendship centres provide a very important service to the communities, and the friendship centre movement I believe is a very unifying force in the communities. Having said that, the friendship centres are core funded by the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories is not privy to those fiscal arrangements.
I do know that the federal government has been looking at a broad range of fiscal arrangements with Indigenous organizations and this may include friendship centres. Our understanding from the friendship centres is that they have a concern over possible funding reductions, and just recently you’ve been made aware that they’ve reached an agreement but there are delays in the flow of funding. When we met in May, a request for core funding was not made. The only request that was made was to establish a process whereby we could work with them so that they could fundraise on a more effective basis.
I’d like to thank the Premier for his reply. My second question is: in the absence of core funding, will Cabinet consider bridged funding for the Zhatie Koe Friendship Centre to ensure they can stay in operation until their federal funding comes through?
As I said, the friendship centres provide a very important service. I’ve recently seen some correspondence where we’ve been asked to lobby on their behalf with regard to having the funding flow more quickly from the federal government. This is certainly one of the areas where the federal government and the friendship centres can work together to help advance and facilitate the aims of the friendship centres.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my years as MLA, I have witnessed many occasions where Cabinet has found funding for urgent projects and supplementary initiatives. This suggests to me that the funding is there and can be found if there’s a political will to find it. Will the Premier be hero for the Northwest Territories’ friendship centres and work with his Cabinet colleagues to find funding for them?
We’re always looking at ways to become heroes,
---Laughter
but I should say that over the past three years the friendship centres have accessed funding from the territorial government. We’ve provided over $900,000 to the friendship centres for program delivery. The friendship centres provide a lot of important programs and services on our behalf, and they also are able to access, on an application basis, other funding pots that are available. As I said, I expect to be able to respond to the friendship centres with regard to trying to find a way to work with them and to improve their ability to fundraise.
Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. He has indicated that he’s working with the Northwest Territories Association of Friendship Centres for a process to work together. Will the Premier commit to the Northwest Territories’ Association of Friendship Centres that he will work together with the Cabinet, along with our federal colleagues, to ensure that there’s consistent and timely transfer of funding to friendship centres.
I think it would be a shame if friendship centres had to lay off workers and employees because funds that are supposed to flow are not flowing as quickly as they should. We’re quite prepared to work with all of the different bodies and institutions to try to find a workable arrangement so that friendship centres can continue to provide the important services that they provide to the communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a follow up to my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. I’d like to ask the Minister: what is the Department of Infrastructure’s current intention for winter services on the Louis Cardinal and the Abraham Francis Ferries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank yu, Mr. Speaker. As most Members know in this House, our intention is to run the ferry until freeze up this year, and after that we will be attempting to accelerate the winter road service to the regions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I mentioned in my statement, with the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway November 16th, I know a lot of my constituents - and I’m sure a lot of tourists - are awaiting the opening so they could be the first to travel this road. I’d like to ask the Minister what the department’s rationale is for this decision that will contribute to the isolation of small communities in the region.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To inform the Members of this House, because this decision was made quite a while ago to accelerate the ice road there and keep the winter ferry going as long as we could until the road was up to capacity was made in 2013, I believe, 2014. They began to do the accelerated construction of the ice road crossing. This was mainly around the energy concerns for the community of Inuvik and the low volumes that possibly shut down the kill well at the time. A propane mixture was going to have to be introduced to get through this dry spell of the well until something else was figured out in the long-term.
That’s not the case, however. The number of propane trucks has not increased in volume. In fact, the number has pretty much decreased in volume since 2013 to now. In discussions with our department and the proponents of the kill well, there’s no longer a need for us to have the ice road accelerated. There are also contingency plans put in place to have propane in the community to carry them through this closure. The other part of this is the weather around the Dempster. In 2015 the road was closed 40 per cent of the time that we did the winter ferry service, and that was at a cost of $1.8 million for 36 days.
I’m not sure where the Minister gets all his numbers from. Last year alone we had in the neighbourhood of 140 tractor trailers on those ferries. I’d like to ask the Minister: how does the department plan to support the increased demands for travel and access likely to put pressure on regional infrastructure in the lead up and follow of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway?
As I’ve said, we’ve committed to the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway on November 14th. Depending on weather, freeze up is at the end of October. We’ve committed to buying some lighter spray equipment this year, which is en route to the communities to accelerate the ice road construction. That will allow us to get on the ice roads sooner. Historically, that ice road should be open within three weeks to light traffic, and probably mid-November for heavy traffic. That’s based on the historical numbers that I have.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
