Mr. Speaker, today is national Pink Shirt Day. I applaud all Members for wearing pink in the House today to symbolize that we will not tolerate bullying of any kind.
The Internet has opened an invaluable connection to the world by allowing residents of all ages, in even our smallest communities, access to information and opportunities easily. Sadly, it has also allowed bullying to move online.
Cyber-bullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. The intention is to cause harm or distress to the victims. Most often, it is sustained and repeated over a period of time and can damage a person's feelings, self-esteem, reputation, and mental health.
Cyber-bulling includes:
Sending mean or threatening emails, texts, or instant messages;
Posting embarrassing photos of someone online;
Creating a website to make fun of others;
Pretending to be someone by using their name; and
Tricking someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others.
Mr. Speaker, cyber-bullying affects victims in different ways than traditional bullying. Unlike face-to-face bullying, cyber-bullying can be relentless and can follow a victim everywhere 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Because cyber-bullying can spread quickly to a wide audience, most teens today have been involved in some way or another, either as a target, as a bully, as a silent observer, or as someone who participates on the sidelines and becomes part of the problem without realizing what they are doing.
As well as being traumatic, people need to know that forms of cyber-bullying can be illegal. There are repercussions to these actions. Repeated tormenting online can amount to criminal harassment. Threatening to share someone's personal information with others can be extortion or uttering threats. Fake profiles created to ruin or damage someone's reputation could result in charges of identity theft or fraud, while spreading untrue rumours may be defamatory libel. The sharing of intimate images of people may be illegal under the Criminal Code of Canada. The sharing of intimate images of youth, even solely among youth, may also fall under the Criminal Code's provisions relating to child pornography.
I encourage anyone who is experiencing these types of incidents to report it to your local RCMP or to Cybertip.ca. If you are being bullied online, know that every social media site has the ability to report and block the culprits. Phone service providers will take reports of unwanted text messages. Don't respond to the cyber bullies, but don't delete their messages, either, as these will be useful to the service providers and the police as evidence. Be sure to talk to a trusted person or get any help or support you might need from those able to assist you.
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP plays an integral part in combatting cyber-bullying in our territory. I am proud of the efforts that the RCMP and its members have made in building relationships and trust in the communities they serve. In addition to investigating reports of cyber-bullying to determine if charges should be laid, RCMP members are also available to visit schools to speak to the youth about cyber-bullying.
Mr. Speaker, cyber-bullying is continually changing as new technology and social networking sites emerge. All residents need to stay alert to the presence of cyber-bullying. If you know someone who is a victim of cyber-bullying, talk to them and let them know that they can trust you and that they shouldn't deal with the bullying alone. Help them to report cyber-bullying to their telephone service provider or social media site, school administrators, or to the RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister for Education, Culture and Employment.
Mr. Speaker, many factors impact a child's life, both negatively and positively. As a parent, I understand some of the struggles parents face, and as a social worker, I adhere to the principle that all of us, parents, family, friends, community members, and governments, have a role to play in ensuring children have the supports to succeed in life.
Upon assuming the position as Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, one of my first priorities was to ensure we were doing our part to meet the developmental needs of children and having measurable outcomes to assess if our programs and services are effective. The 2015-2017 Early Development Instrument results and a national 2017 Early Childhood Education Report confirmed that my concerns had merit, and, although we are working in the right direction, we still have much to do.
The Early Development Instrument, or EDI, is a nationally utilized tool, administered prior to grade one, that provides a snapshot of five-year-old children's developmental vulnerability rates. The most recent data available shows that vulnerability rates of Canadian children are increasing. This is reflected in the results for the Northwest Territories, where vulnerability rates have increased from 38 percent to 42 percent, as compared to the 2012-2014 results. Unfortunately, the EDI results alone do not identify specific causes for vulnerability that we can easily address. They reflect the accumulation of early childhood experiences within the family, community, and wider society.
Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services will continue to work together on initiatives in the Right From the Start Framework and Action Plan to address areas of vulnerability in the Northwest Territories. This action plan will be renewed during the 2019-2020 fiscal year, and the EDI data will be used to inform the new action plan and any initiatives included in that plan as we move forward. As part of this work, we will renew our joint Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability Plan to ensure that we are looking at the impacts of initiatives over the longer term and adjusting as necessary.
As well, we will work in partnership with the federal government through the Early Learning and Childcare Agreement, and we will work closely with education bodies and licensed childcare operators to support healthy early childhood development. Only by all of us working together can we provide a comprehensive set of programs and services to better support families and young children.
Mr. Speaker, the effects of junior kindergarten across the Northwest Territories continues to be monitored and has been one of our early successes. Although junior kindergarten is optional, 552 children are now enrolled in this early childhood programming. Not only is this helping to address the cost of living for families with small children, it is also ensuring more children have access to play-based early childhood programming. Preliminary analysis of the Early Development Instrument shows that children who attended junior kindergarten during the implementation in small communities were showing fewer vulnerabilities than children who did not.
During this 18th Legislative Assembly, we have developed a curriculum for our junior kindergarten programming and resources to support schools. In the coming year, we will also be introducing an early learning framework and, through federal funding, providing resources, including music, books, and other play-based materials, that reflect Indigenous beliefs and culture for licensed centre-based programs. A strong relationship with a child's own culture boosts a child's self-esteem, mental health, and general wellness.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that access to licensed-based childcare supports healthy child development, as does junior kindergarten, and reaches even younger children. However, we still have 11 communities without any licensed childcare programs. This continues to be a priority. During the coming year, we will be completing the mandate to develop a comprehensive plan to make childcare more accessible, affordable, and inclusive. As well, where communities identify a need and interest in operating licensed early childhood programs, ECE will work with the community to support their establishment. We will also be placing a stronger emphasis on reaching out to communities lacking licensed childcare programs to increase awareness of the start-up and ongoing funding available, as well as other supports we offer.
Mr. Speaker, to assist in the cost of living and encourage more licensed operators, we also have made increases to the licensed childcare operating subsidy rates beginning in October 2016, which were further enhanced in 2017-2018 through federal funding. These increases, as well as the grants for health and safety, start-up funding, provider enhancement funding, and the Early Childhood Staff Grant program, will hopefully assist in making this opportunity more attractive to potential operators and early childhood educators.
Accessing qualified early childhood educators and ongoing training was a concern that we have also been able to address though the Canada-NWT Early Learning and Childcare Bilateral Agreement and its three-year action plan. With this federal funding, Aurora College has expanded its certificate program and is now offering a full-time, two-year diploma in Early Learning and Childcare. As well, we have increased the scholarships available for students in early childhood programs from 10 to 30 scholarships. Over the coming year, we will also be developing an ongoing training plan for flexible and sustainable training for staff of licensed childcare centres and family day home programs.
The Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, released its 2017 Early Childhood Education Report. This report assesses early childhood education programming in Canada by province and territory. From 2014 to 2017, the Northwest Territories' rating increased from 6.5 to 8.0 out of 15, which places the Northwest Territories exactly in the middle of all of the provinces and territories. This ranking shows that, as a government, we have made early childhood development a priority and are investing in our youngest residents, a commitment that must continue.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that it takes a community to raise a child, and we are doing our part to assist in this. We have made some great progress to date, and although we have a lot of work ahead during the rest of the 18th Legislative Assembly, we know how critical our work is, and we welcome the challenge, knowing that our efforts will assist our most valuable resource, our children. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Ministers' statements. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the visitors in the gallery. We have with us students from the grade nine social studies class from Ecole Sir John Franklin High School. Welcome to our Assembly. Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, this Legislative Assembly has committed to support early childhood development, and today I want to provide Members and the public with an update on our work to provide equitable access to a range of inclusive, culturally-informed programs and services for and children under five years of age and expecting parents.
In June 2017, our government tabled a renewed three-year Early Childhood Development Action Plan designed to help us take action at several sensitive times of a child's development. For the past two years, we have worked with parents, elders, healthcare practitioners, community partners, and research organizations to improve services to young children and their parents and caregivers in order to improve developmental outcomes.
Mr. Speaker, to support the best health and social outcomes for children under five, the Department of Health and Social Services has been doing work in a number of areas, including maternal-child health.
The department has been advancing work to establish a territory-wide program to enhance access to midwifery services, including safe options for birthing as close to home as possible. The NWT Midwifery Practice Framework has been updated, and we are acting on the recommendations of the NWT Midwifery Stakeholder Engagement Report. Prenatal care and education is available to expectant mothers through several programs, including the Midwifery Program and the Northern Women's Program and during one-on-one appointments with community health nurses. As part of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan, the department is taking steps to improve the delivery of prenatal education by developing a standardized prenatal program.
Related to this work, officials met with Indigenous community partners in Fort Smith to pilot the first Indigenous Doula Training course in the Northwest Territories. This training can strengthen the capacity of the community to support pregnant mothers and their partners. An evaluation of the pilot course will inform our next steps.
Since 2016, expectant mothers who travel to one of the NWT birthing centres receive the essential items that new parents need for the wellbeing and safety of their newborn, as well as information about the programs and services that they can access in their communities when they return.
The Baby-Friendly Initiative is our government's approach to maternity and community services that focus on providing quality care and enabling supportive environments in the Northwest Territories.
In order to better understand infant feeding practices in the Northwest Territories, the department commissioned the Aurora Research Institute and an Advisory Circle of Knowledge Keepers. This partnership resulted in a report that includes many stories discussing traditional knowledge practices and has generated new knowledge that will contribute to the advancement of the Baby-Friendly Initiative.
In December 2018, the Inuvik Regional Hospital received official designation as a baby-friendly facility, becoming the first hospital in the Arctic, and the most northern hospital in Canada, to receive this designation. Four other healthcare facilities in the Northwest Territories are currently working towards their Baby-Friendly designation.
We also funded Moms, Boobs and Babies to develop a volunteer peer support breastfeeding program to help build local breastfeeding support and capacity in all regions.
In addition, we are working with Hotii ts'eeda to renew the Healthy Family Program. Hotii ts'eeda is a research support centre for community members, organizations, and researchers involved in Northwest Territories health and health research. To support the renewal, the project team is visiting nine communities in five regions to research and design an innovative model that reflects the unique needs and features of communities. The team is learning about specific needs and cultural practices related to parenting which are unique to Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents, newcomers, families in smaller communities, and parents without family support. They want to hear the views and perspectives of communities where the Healthy Family Program is not offered. Hotii ts'eeda will make recommendations this spring to pilot a new program design.
Mr. Speaker, the department has made significant progress to identify resources available to children and families to enhance healthy growth and development. When developmental delays occur in a child, it is important for these concerns to be identified early, so that interventions can begin as soon as possible, and before school entry.
All parents and caregivers can schedule Well Child Baby visits for children between the ages of zero and five with community health nurses and public health nurses to ensure early detection and referral to appropriate services, such as rehabilitation services.
Mr. Speaker, since the inception of the Early Childhood Action Plan, our government has made strategic investments to better meet the needs of children with specialized needs. We are improving access and follow-up to rehabilitation services for children ages zero to five in small communities and enhancing diagnosis and case management services for children with autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Children and parents who need specialized services will be supported by the Stanton hospital child-development team with a satellite team in the Beaufort-Delta.
We are currently in our second year of the three-year action plan, and we are making significant progress. We will continue to implement the Right from the Start Framework and action plans and use data from the Early Development Instrument to help update the action plan when it is renewed in 2020. We will also renew our monitoring, evaluation, and accountability plan to ensure that we are looking at the impacts of our actions in the longer term.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that it takes a community to raise a child, and we are doing our part to assist in this. We have made some great progress to date, and although we have a lot of work ahead during the rest of this 18th Legislative Assembly, we know how critical our work is, and we welcome the challenge, knowing that our efforts will assist our most valuable resource, our children.
Mr. Speaker, supporting early childhood development is critical work for our government. We are committed to working with families and communities to ensure that they have the tools and resources to support the best outcomes for their children. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Community governments are an important partner for the Government of the Northwest Territories, and we continue to be one of the only jurisdictions in Canada that provides ongoing funding to this level of government. While we recognize that community governments have many financial needs that exceed current funding levels, we remain committed to supporting them and have made considerable gains in closing the community government funding gap during the 18th Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, at this time, I do seek unanimous consent to conclude my Minister's statement, even though I just started.
---Unanimous consent granted
Addressing the financial needs of community governments is a long-term project that has to include clearly understanding what exactly those needs are and how effective our policies are in meeting them. That is why, Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories did a comprehensive review of its community government funding policies in 2014. The review was initiated, in part, because existing funding policies were difficult to understand and defend, in terms of the amount of funding any one community received. In addition, there was no direct linkage between the operations and maintenance funding policy and the infrastructure funding policy. The department felt there were significant gaps in understanding this relationship and the cost drivers related to infrastructure.
The 2014 review allowed a broad spectrum of community government officials to voice their concerns and help shape policy decisions. It started us on a path towards more accurate and detailed information for both the department and community governments and a clear and defendable approach to calculating community government funding needs.
The review also identified a large difference between current funding levels and full needs-based funding. This Legislative Assembly has made a commitment to close that funding gap, Mr. Speaker, and we have been making progress on that commitment.
Mr. Speaker, at the start of this Legislative Assembly, the Minister of Finance said the Government of the Northwest Territories would increase community government funding as its own revenues increased. Our government continues to keep that promise. In spite of our challenging fiscal environment that required our government to examine its spending closely, we have managed to not only protect community governments from funding reductions, but have actually increased base funding to them.
Over four years, we have succeeded in obtaining a total of $8.3 million in increased funding, closing the gap by almost 50 percent in both the community governments’ operations and maintenance funding and environmental services, also known as water and sewer services funding. Over the same period, the increase in revenues for the whole Government of the Northwest Territories, when you exclude specific project funding from the federal government, was just $49 million. That increase had to pay for all the forced growth demands and initiatives of the government, including addressing the municipal government funding gap.
Mr. Speaker, as well as allocating new funding to community governments as it becomes available to us, in accordance with the results of the Municipal Funding Policy Review, we also continue to update the existing community government funding policies to meet the needs of community governments and ensure the funding is distributed with a fair, clear, and understandable policy base. This work will provide an update to the calculations used in each of the funding models and support specific actions that the department will take in partnership with community governments to make sure that we continue to have current data that can be used over time to defend future funding requests through our forced growth and budgetary cycles.
A key source of the data used in the funding-model calculations is the infrastructure valuation provided through a third-party source, the Northern Communities Insurance Program. As Members of this House may recall, the base for our funding models is the infrastructure information, and that is why the valuation from the insurance data is so important to this analysis. A new annual insurance cycle starts with renewal on April 1, 2019, and will provide us with the most current and critical information on the common infrastructure in each community, its valuation and condition.
Over the four years since the initial research was completed, I would also like to acknowledge that we have continued to work with the insurance program and invested in asset management with communities. These efforts have resulted in better quality data on infrastructure than we have ever had before.
We will ensure that this data is available to provide more regular updates to the formula calculations as well as for supporting requests on future federal funding programs.
Mr. Speaker, I believe in the direction that the department has taken since the completion of the Municipal Funding Policy Review in 2014. We have made solid progress in closing the municipal operations and maintenance funding gap by almost 50 percent over the last four years. We have also worked hard to improve funding policies so that they are clearer and better account for community needs. We intend to continue this work and will prepare a plan that will allow the Government of the Northwest Territories to increase community government funding as our own revenues increase based on good data and improved policies for the next Legislative Assembly’s consideration.
We are well-positioned to advocate for community governments to receive their fair share of any new funding that becomes available. I look forward to discussions with stakeholders and Members of this House on community needs as a priority during the remainder of our term. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Ministers' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Minister's Statement 158-18(3) be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carried.
---Carried
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let's show our support today, wearing pink shirts, taking a stand against bullying. A short history: this day was started in 2007 by two students who organized a high school protest in support of a fellow student who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
Mr. Speaker, we tend to forget that sometimes it is the smallest acts that make a big difference, even if we speak up, if we listen to, or stepping up. Let's make this day aware in our schools, in our homes, in our communities, and in this country.
Children have the right to be protected from physical and mental harm and the right to live free from any form of discrimination.
Mr. Speaker, Pink Shirt Day has exploded with support. However, we still need to educate against bullying and make it known that it is unacceptable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Mr. Speaker, the regulatory delay for approval of the water license application for the TerraX Minerals project near Yellowknife has reminded me how important it is to push ahead in the long process of improving our regulatory system. When I say "long process," I do mean long. Regulatory reform has been going on for at least a decade, and the need for improvement has been there a lot longer.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier was fond of saying "devolve and evolve." This has been his mantra for a made-in-the-North regime to manage land and resources in the Northwest Territories. He has laid the foundation for this to happen, but we still have a way to go before we have true Northern control.
It's a big job in itself to keep pressuring the federal government to live up to its promises. With respect to devolution, this means the promises to begin a review of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and negotiate management of oil and gas resources in the Beaufort Sea. The latter negotiations were to have begun in 2014, but all we have seen is Canada's moratorium on offshore oil and gas development.
Right now, I am much more concerned about the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act or MVRMA as most people call it. The Northwest Territories needs more control over its own destiny and more control over our economy and environment.
The window of opportunity to do just that is about to open soon, Mr. Speaker. The exact day is the sulai xaye anniversary of devolution on April 1st, 2019. "Sulai xaye" translates as five years in South Slavey.
Mr. Speaker, under the devolution agreement, negotiations for the review of the MVRMA "shall commence... as soon as is practicable" after that day.
This is a tremendous opportunity for our territory. Through the Intergovernmental Council, we have already broken new ground. The collaboration of Indigenous governments and the GNWT to shape a joint land and resource management system is a unique achievement, but it is only the beginning. We can develop a better land- and resource-management system that reflects our needs and aspirations.
We can bring what we are all learning together to bear when we review the MVRMA with the federal government. Mr. Speaker, I hope our government is prepared to begin the job come April 1st. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. The Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I rise to talk about bullying. Mr. Speaker, I realize that bullying is not only in the schools, but that is where I will concentrate my efforts today. Mr. Speaker, we all wear pink as politicians and bring attention to the matter of bullying. Mr. Speaker, I think that we really do our share when we teach our children not to be bullies. Mr. Speaker, we do our share when, as adults, we speak to our children about the harms of bullying. We do our share when we speak to our children, period, about bullying. We do our share when we have empathy for others when they tell us that our children are bullying their children.
Mr. Speaker, we, as parents, must help people that know about the bullying in the schools, and we must help stop the bullying. Mr. Speaker, we have situations where children do not attend school because some child or some children are bullying them and, no matter what they say or do, it does not stop the bullying.
Mr. Speaker, we have many situations where children have ruined lives of other children by denying them on education because they are afraid to go to school. Mr. Speaker, I reach out to the parents of bullies today to say: please help stop your child from being a bully. If someone tells you your child is a bully, talk to your child. Find out what is making them want to hurt other children in school.
Mr. Speaker, the best place to stop bullying is at home. Let's make it so that our children, no matter what size or nature they are, can go to school and feel free and safe to get a good education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. The Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak on an issue which has left me and many Northerners with a bitter taste in our mouths, the sugar-sweetened drink tax. This government has stated that it wishes to address health outcomes in the territory and proposes to achieve this goal by the creation of a new tax. Let me be clear. The creation of a new arbitrary and regressive tax is not the course we should be taking right now.
This tax arbitrarily targets pop only from fountain drinks and pre-packaged cans and bottles. It exempts pop mixed with alcohol, the sugar in your coffee or tea, flavoured milk, flavoured yogurt drinks, and fruit juice.
Now, I hope I do not need to remind the honourable Members of this House of just how difficult it is for Northerners with low incomes to get by in the territory nor how local small businesses have already been feeling the crunch of our declining economy. Adding to the cost of living for residents and adding to the administration costs for business is not the way we should be combatting diabetes, obesity, or trying to improve oral-health outcomes.
Even by the GNWT's own estimates, the new tax will just barely generate more revenue than it will cost to administer, let alone reduce consumption. This is a misguided approach that uses a tax to achieve health outcomes. This ought to be a Department of Health issue, not a Department of Finance issue. Forcing people to pay more for calories they consume in the hope that they will change their consumption habits is patently absurd.
We must continue to combat obesity, diabetes, and poor oral health through education, access to sports, and availability of alternatives, not through further taxation, and yet this government continues its wrong-headed approach in increasing the cost of power, raising fees, upping service rates, and pushing new taxes. Enough is enough, and I urge Members of this House not to support this new sugar tax. Any support for this tax will only serve to add more pressure on those already living on overstretched home budgets. Mr. Speaker, taxpayers can only be squeezed so hard before they break. Thank you.
Masi. Members' statements. The Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to talk about FASD. FASD, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, is what they call an umbrella term. It covers various possible diagnoses, each with potential physical and cognitive issues for someone who was exposed to alcohol in the womb.
In Canada, FASD is the leading known cause of preventable developmental disability. It is a lifelong disability, and it affects an estimated 1 in every 100 Canadians. That is about 330,000 people.
Through prevention activities, we can build a future without FASD, but, because FASD cannot be reversed or cured, prevention activities alone are not enough. Governments and communities must plan for lifelong support for people with FASD.
For example, without a formal diagnosis, which can be very difficult to obtain, adults who may suspect that they have FASD can't access much-needed programming and services.
Mr. Speaker, once I started to look into FASD research, I was shocked by the scope of the challenges we face, not only in the NWT but across the country. For example, CBC reports that up to 25 percent of inmates in federal corrections could have FASD, but only seven assessments were funded by Correctional Services Canada in 2017. Sadly, it seems that a lack of adequate support is a common problem.
When it comes to the criminal justice system, obstacles for people with FASD are built into the courts themselves. Medical experts agree that it is common for those with FASD to struggle to understand court proceedings, to connect actions and consequences, and to change their behaviour. As it is, the system just doesn't work for them.
Manitoba has taken action to restore fairness. At the end of this month, it will open a specialized court, much like our wellness and DVTO courts, for people with FASD. Judges will be trained to understand FASD and support workers will be present to help defendants access community programs, including diagnostic services. The courtroom itself will also be smaller and quieter.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, I admire this work greatly. Here in the NWT, our healthcare and education systems are taking some important steps to improve resources for people with FASD, but, unfortunately, these make the gaps in our justice system stand out even more. I am hopeful that one day soon our people can have access to supports like those offered in Manitoba. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. The Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been approached by many parents and leadership that we need our own speech and language pathologists and occupational therapists in the Deh Cho. It is my understanding that there are over 70 speech and language pathologist cases and over 50 occupational therapy cases that need to be seen from the Nahendeh alone. The frustrating thing is that this has to be done in 13 service days. If there is one day of bad weather, the assessments get cancelled for months. This tells me that the services are lacking for the Nahendeh and Deh Cho and our youth. It explains why some of our EDI scores are so bad.
A majority of the clinics are held in major centres in Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, and Hay River. This means the smaller communities, such as Jean Marie and Nahanni Butte, Sambaa K'e, Wrigley, and Kakisa, would have to travel to these centres to get their children assessed. This means that the children would be assessed in a foreign environment instead of the location they are familiar with.
It is my understanding that families who have children with complex needs find it difficult to travel outside of their home communities due to the challenges that exist for their children. As well, it is my understanding that speech and language pathologists and occupational therapist services do not travel to smaller communities, with the exception of once in Jean Marie.
With the five small communities in Deh Cho proper, we are seeing youth not identified until they start going to school. In my research, I found that early intervention is the key to many speech and language pathology and occupational therapy issues. If speech and language pathologists and occupational therapists could travel to communities and provide workshops for the communities in collaboration with early child staff, many issues would be identified and possibly improved on prior to entering school. Decrease in vulnerability is noted on the EDI scores for the Deh Cho. How is this done? I believe by having speech and language pathology and occupational therapist staff in place.
If we have a speech and language pathologist and occupational therapist hired in Fort Simpson as part of the Dehcho Health and Social Services team, the patients currently being seen by Stanton and Hay River staff could be enveloped into the Deh Cho case load, further reducing the case load and helping these communities.
I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The government is ready to place a checkmark against another commitment fulfilled in the mandate of the 18th Assembly. The money is in place to build the road to Whati, and construction is expected to begin this fall, but let's take a moment to reflect on the cost of this project.
Mr. Speaker, two-and-a-half years ago I spoke in this House about the economic evaluation of the all-season road. The information came from a study by Nichols Applied Management of Edmonton, and it was completed in March 2015. To summarize the benefits, there will be a glut of construction jobs that will last, at most, three winters. The project will provide much-needed but short-lived jobs. A number of people will be employed afterwards for operations and maintenance.
Better returns on the road are available if and when Fortune Minerals builds its 50-kilometre spur road from its NICO project to Whati. There is no telling when that will happen. Fortune Minerals has the necessary permits, but the company has been unable to finance the $600 million project, and with its stock trading at 12 cents a share, development looks like a dot on the distant horizon.
Those are the benefits. Let's now turn to the costs. The 2015 report that I just spoke about put the cost of the road at $152 million. Two years ago my colleague from Yellowknife North asked the Infrastructure Minister for the all-in cost. His reply was $175 million, but that estimate is also short of the mark.
Ten days ago, the Minister announced that the contract had been signed to build the road. The NWT will spend $214 million for predevelopment and construction costs over the next three years, and a further $198 million over 25 years to repay the principal and interest on the debt, along with operations and maintenance of the road. The total all-in cost is $411 million, shared by the GNWT at 75 percent and Canada for the rest.
Mr. Speaker, let's focus on the opportunity cost. What else could $411 million buy? If we spent it on infrastructure, it could have bought a segment of road to more marketable projects in the Slave Geological Province. It could have increased the life of the diamond mines by reducing the operating costs of a winter road, or it could have been spent on people. It could have wiped out our housing problems.
I seek your consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, it could have met the needs of seniors who want to remain in their communities while they age. I don't think we have done enough to debate the opportunity cost of this and other infrastructure projects in this House. I recognize that it is too late for this debate to take place about the road to Whati, but it is not too late for other large infrastructure projects that the government is shopping around. It is time for the people to have their turn. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is well known that there is a shortage of skilled labour in the Northwest Territories and that it is getting worse. The number of apprentice program registrations and completions are down, and the number of licensed journeymen who are retiring is on the rise.
This shortage has negative effects across the board. Seniors can't get renovations done on their homes to help them age in place, because there aren't enough qualified people to do the work. The growth of small- and medium-sized businesses is being stifled because they don't have the capacity to take on new work. Our government can't deliver on half of the infrastructure projects that it promises to complete. An untold number of available jobs are going to fly in and fly out workers. The list goes on, Mr. Speaker, but I am sure that I don't have to convince anyone that this is a serious problem. As such, it requires the full attention of this Assembly and must be addressed by the whole of government.
It has been said in this House on many occasions that the best social program is a good job. I disagree, Mr. Speaker. The best social program is a good education, because it is the last social program that you will ever need. If you are a journeyman electrician, you are probably not going to be living in social housing or collecting income assistance. Investments in training boost the economy, increase government revenues, and lower future expenditures.
I will give credit where credit is due. In the past few years, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has worked hard to promote the trades, develop strategies, revamp programs, and made investments to help individuals, small businesses, and organizations offset costs of training. However, Mr. Speaker, it appears that we are missing the full support of the three GNWT departments responsible for capital projects: the Department of Infrastructure, the Department of Finance, and the NWT Housing Corporation.
While programs to help private businesses provide training are great, they are not enough. Small businesses often don't have the capacity to provide training, and increasingly, they often don't have enough work to take on trainees or apprentices. That is why the government has to step up its game. Every time the government plans to build a new facility, procure a new manufactured product, or enter into a new P3 partnership, the relevant departments need to figure out how to best utilize the project as an opportunity to provide training.
Mr. Speaker, an honest effort will require a change to the way that business is done, a change to how RFPs are designed and evaluated, and it will require the government to look beyond the bottom line and realize that an investment in training is one that we can't afford not to make. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The cost of living in Nunakput is the highest in the Northwest Territories. On February 18th, the price of diesel fuel in Paulatuk went up almost 17 percent, hitting $1.94 per litre. The cost of regular gasoline is up to $1.98 a litre. Prices went up in Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok, as well.
Mr. Speaker, the rising cost has been hard on hunters living in these communities. People need fuel to hunt, to feed their families, and to continue to pass on their cultural survival skills to future generations. Families simply cannot afford the price increases of fuel, supplies, and equipment.
When families cannot hunt, they have to purchase all food from the store. The prices are simply shocking compared to the prices here in Yellowknife. I will not mention the quality or variety, but just to buy basic essentials is impossible for families. Even with Nutrition North, people are struggling. Inuvialuit prefer to have traditional food, harvested from their own time spent out on the land.
The average personal income in Nunakput communities isn't much more than $35,000 a year, Mr. Speaker, relying on numbers from our Bureau of Statistics. That is not even close to the average in the Northwest Territories, which is over $60,000 a year. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for many of my constituents to afford fuel at these prices. The Minister of Infrastructure will let me know that the prices of fuel in Arctic communities are subsidized. That is all well and good, if the subsidy can reflect and positively affect the cost off of living in that community. Mr. Speaker, on average this year, a tank of gas for a snowmobile is around $50. When we raise the fuel price, all that we are doing is creating hardship for residents in our communities.
The mandate of this government calls for action to reduce the cost of living, not to increase it. The mandate also calls upon the government to promote the consumption of traditional foods, such as fish and wildlife, improve nutrition, and improve the wellness and the way of life of Indigenous peoples in the territory. Investment in traditional harvesting is another priority that we set in our mandate. So is reducing poverty.
Raising the fuel price in Nunakput communities does the exact opposite in all of those areas, Mr. Speaker. The high cost of fuel prevents the majority of people's access to food, cultural values, and wellness.
However, there comes a time in point when any increase is too much. What we need is a commitment to fulfill this mandate item and a continued promise to serve our Arctic communities better by easing the high cost of living. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
