Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is some concern with the sugar-sweetened drinks tax. We have changed the name. It was going to be the "sugary tax," but we have decided to change it to the "sugar-sweetened" because there are a number of drinks that are sugary that are not sugar-sweetened.
The consultation, as the Member noted, ended in January 2019. We have had public meetings in a number of communities, and we have heard from members of the public. The report of the results of the public consultations is anticipated for March of 2019, so March would start tomorrow, the next day, and then March has 31 days, so we will try to have that document released. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Has the Minister learned anything from this consultation that he feels necessary to share with the House now, such as abandoning this unnecessary tax?
We are doing our due diligence. This was to investigate the introduction of a sugar-sweetened tax. It doesn't say the implementation of a sugar-sweetened tax. This was to investigate. We have heard from people across the Northwest Territories. Obviously, you have seen some of the comments in the news from one person saying that, "I am opposed to any type of tax, and I will continue to drink pop regardless," and somebody else calling it a "goofy tax," but this was just to investigate the introduction of the tax. It doesn't say we are going to implement it. So, being the consensus-type government that we are, and we hear the voices of the people, according to our code of conduct, we have to listen to what they say before a decision is made to proceed any further.
Is the Minister going to implement the tax, then?
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if I need an interpreter. I said this was to investigate the introduction of a tax. It doesn't say that we are going to do the tax. There is still some work that needs to be done. We need to do our due diligence, and once we do that, a decision will be made at that time, based on all the information received, as to whether the tax will be going forward to implementation or not.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My constituents want to know, and that is why I am asking these questions. Certainty is what we are looking for, is what they are looking for, what I am looking for. I appreciate the Minister is proceeding through the consultation, so, if there is a decision to implement a, what are we calling it, the "sugar-sweetened tax," when can this Assembly expect to see it? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my constituents want to know, as well, as to the course of action that we are going, and I said that we will receive the feedback, and we will analyze the feedback, and then we will make a determination at the time whether this tax should proceed, the sugar-sweetened tax should proceed, and, until then, I mean it is hypothetical for me to say that yea or nay. I will wait until the results, and then, as most good governments do, we will make an informed decision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement, I talked about the fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, so my questions are to the Minister of Justice. Without a question here in the Northwest Territories, we have high rates of alcohol and drug abuse. My question is: the Northwest Territories Wellness Court is meant to support people with addictions or cognitive issues. Can the Minister tell me if our wellness courts currently support people with FASD? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The wellness court is an alternative to conventional criminal court. It focuses on the offender rather than the offence, and it seeks to address underlying issues of drug and alcohol addiction, mental health and cognitive challenges, and, certainly, it is an option for those with FASD. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Even so, although it may be a better option than regular courts, I am not convinced that wellness courts are the most suitable option for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Wellness court could create demand that offenders accept responsibility for the crimes that they have been charged with, and "be ready to put in a lot of hard work." For many people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, this just may not be a fair expectation. How have our courts programs have been adapted to suit the unique needs of people with FASD?
I do appreciate the Member opposite's concern about this very serious problem and his desire to see the best programming possible for people who find themselves in criminal court, particularly those suffering with FASD. I don't agree with the suggestion, however, that all people with FASD are not able to accept responsibility and put in a lot of hard work.
It is important to recognize that the programs are not necessarily for everybody and that the potential participants are assessed for suitability. The reality is that anyone pursuing the type of program offered is that success will require the willingness to accept responsibility and to work to change behaviour. That work may be hard, and I do appreciate that, and I do realize that it will be a challenge for those with FASD, as it is a challenge for those with other cognitive disabilities or addictions. However, this court, which has been in operation for more than five years, I believe, is a path for those who find themselves in these situations.
I think the department is on the right path. There is some innovation in terms of thinking, to try to decolonize the society here in the North, especially attitudes towards incarceration, and so can the Minister commit to considering the implementation of specialized courts programming for individuals with FASD in the NWT?
I can commit to the Member opposite that the wellness court program will be continually reviewed and improved. There is a steering committee for wellness court that includes representatives from the judiciary, Crown, and defence bar. Improvements can always be made, Mr. Speaker, and certainly we do want to make improvements to deal with those offenders who find themselves before the wellness court. I understand that more than a hundred people since 2014 have been referred to wellness court. The court, as I say, was set up in 2014. The first sitting was October 2nd of that year, so I do regard the wellness court as being a success. I realize that there is a lot of work involved by everyone, including the offenders. We are always looking to improve the system.
Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the outset of responding to my first question, the Minister stated that, you know, there are options to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in terms of working with the department. As another program, aside from the alternative court process, what other options does he mean in terms of addressing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder? Mahsi.
We understand that this problem has many facets and that they are not always dealt with the best in the court system. Of course, I am speaking of the wellness court that can assist, in my view, in these types of situations with those who do have cognitive or mental issues or addiction issues. There are also other options, through Health and Social Services, where people can be assisted.
The wellness court is a specific court dealing with offenders that find themselves before the court system, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other programs that can't assist. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today I spoke about the transition of health and medical services within the old and new Stanton hospitals and possibly offsite during renovations.
Can the Minister share any insights into the planning and coordination that is happening for the day when patients will be transferred from the old Stanton to the new Stanton? I believe that day is May 26, 2019. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May 26th is fast approaching. It is going to be an incredibly important day for the healthcare system, and it is also going to be a very complex and busy day. In order to ensure that we have little-to-no patient interruption or reduction in services during that time, we have been doing a significant amount of planning.
Health Care Relocations Inc. has been contracted to guide the Stanton team and the Stanton staff through transition planning. Operational readiness activities have been under way since November 2016, with the creation of 17 different transition planning teams.
The final move plan will be developed in such incredible detail and minute detail that the movement of patients will be scheduled down to the minute, with minimal impact on patients. The patient move will occur in one day, on May 26th. All necessary infrastructure, equipment, furniture, and systems in the new hospital will be in place and tested long before that date to ensure that we have a smooth transition.
Like I said, we want to reduce or have very little to no impact or reduction in services due to the transition. There will be some mock moves tested, some practice moves before the day actually comes. On that day, everybody, every service, will be coming out of the old Stanton building into the new Stanton building and a couple of other different locations around town for those services that will not be permanently located in the new Stanton building. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I am very excited. I will probably be a spectator, watching it all, but I appreciate that a lot of work is going into this. It is a very important event.
When I searched the Stanton renewal website, I could find some information about the final location for various services. There are some nice floor plans and so on, but there doesn't seem to be any information there about the transition period during renovations, when some of these services may be moved offsite. Does the Minister have this kind of information, and can he share it?
There will be some temporary program moves as renovations are completed in the legacy Stanton building, the old building. For instance, outpatient rehab will be temporarily located on level 2 of the centre square tower, while speech and audiology will remain at the Stanton Medical Centre, which is the building beside McDonald's. The extended care unit will temporarily move to level 5 of the new Stanton building. There will be some temporary moves.
Mr. Speaker, we want this information to be clear. We want this information to be transparent. We are intending to keep our website updated on a regular basis. The Member and I had a quick conversation about the website this morning, at which point I went and quickly checked the website to see if I could find the information. I was able to find pretty much everything that I was looking for. I may not have been looking for the same information that the Member was looking for.
I know that the Member wants us to do some updates on the website. I am going to encourage the Member to come down to my office, and we can sit in front of my computer together and try to find the pieces of information that he is looking for and make some suggestions to me on how we might improve our website, because, bottom line, we want to be clear; we want to be transparent; we want the information available to the public.
I would be delighted to join the Minister in his office and work away on his computer with him. I am sure that there is going to be a big public information campaign rolling out about these transitions within the old and new hospitals and so on.
Part of that campaign should include information about how services will transition from the old Stanton hospital to offsite, and the Minister has given some of that, during the renovations. Then, of course, they are going to return to the Stanton legacy building that the Minister referred to. Can the Minister tell us when all of this information is going to be put together and when it is going to be made available to the public?
Some of that information has already been made public. We have been clear on what types of services and what services will be going into the Stanton legacy building. The extended care will be there. Long-term care will be there, and there will be a number of other services, including some of the rehab services, the primary care clinics, and other things. Those are going to be in the old Stanton.
Like I said, I am happy to sit down with the Member. I was able to find that information when I looked. I would be happy to sit down with the Member and figure out what is missing from the average user's point-of-view, to make sure that we get the information out there. I, like the Member and like everybody in this House, want that information out there. We want our public to know where the services that they need are located so that there is no confusion during the two-to-three years that it will take to retrofit the legacy Stanton building and get everybody moved back in.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President, and thanks to the Minister for that. I guess what I am really looking for here is a Gantt chart, a list of the services that are located in the old hospital now, when they may be moved offsite, when they are going to come back, and where they are in the interim. I think a Gantt chart would help.
I am prepared to sit down and work with him on this, but can the Minister commit to putting this information about the transition of these services together using a Gantt chart on the Stanton renewal website? I would be happy to work with them and get that done as quickly as we can, but can he commit to doing that? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I commit to getting the information that the Member is looking for out into the public through our website. I recognize that I am not an expert in communications. I don't believe the Member is an expert in communications, although he may be good.
My recommendation is that we rely on the experts who are involved in getting information to the public on a regular basis and take their input to make sure that the right tool is being used. If it's a Gantt chart, let's do a Gantt chart. If it's not a Gantt chart, let's not do a Gantt chart. Bottom line: let's get the information out there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, earlier this session I asked the Minister about the heating at the Joe Greenland Centre, and I would like to follow up.
I would like to ask the Minister: what is the status of the work on the heating at the Joe Greenland Centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a little bit of history with the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik. That was completed in the fall of 2015. When it was completed, there were concerns raised by residents of the community that some of the units didn't have adequate heating during the winter.
The Housing Corporation did do an assessment, and we found, in order to resolve the issue and the situation, that in-floor heating was identified as the most appropriate solution to fix that problem. We went ahead, and we did that. The installation of in-floor heating began last year in November, when the required materials were able to get to the community.
From my understanding, Mr. Speaker, it has been completed. We will get an official confirmation for the Member so that he can share it with his constituents. I know that, when we did go and do the opening for the Northern Pathways to Housing in Aklavik, we did go into the Joe Greenland Centre and got a good update. From my understanding, at this moment it has been completed. We will get an official confirmation for the Member so that he can share that with his constituents.
I know this has been an ongoing issue since the opening. You know, this could have been avoided if the department didn't try to cut costs during construction. I'd like to ask the Minister: is there any further work needed on the Joe Greenland Centre, or will this solve the heating problems?
Once the residents raised the issue of the heating issues during the winter months, we did work with our professional engineers and our designers to address the issue. As I mentioned earlier, in-floor heating was the best solution to address the issue. We have done that, and as I mentioned, from my understanding, it has been completed. I will get an official confirmation for the Member. Moving forward, we will continue to assess the Joe Greenland building. I mean, it's providing a valuable service to our residents in the Beaufort-Delta, and we will continue to monitor that particular building.
That's good news. I'm sure the elders there will appreciate that. One of the other things that the elders wanted to see was a meeting area in the back. Right now, if elders want any fresh air or to go outside and have a cigarette, or something, they have to sit at the entrance, at the front door. Will the Minister now look into a meeting area in the back yard of the Joe Greenland Centre for the elders to have cook-outs during the summer?
We just completed a seniors' planning study that we tabled in the House yesterday. I think that, when we are investing in some of our most vulnerable people, obviously, we want to make sure that we get input from our residents, as well as our stakeholders, when we're doing this. A perfect case in point is Fort Providence, with their seniors' residence. We're doing some really good work there. This is something that we'll continue to work on with the residents and the leadership, how we can develop some type of congregation area, meeting place, for the seniors in the Joe Greenland Centre.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We always talk about aging in place, here. Would the Minister work with the Minister of Health to cost-share on a gazebo for elders to enjoy the summer, to visit with one another, and also to visit with community members? As I mentioned, it's great scenery there, at the location that they have, but it's a shame that our elders do have to sit outside to enjoy fresh air facing away from the mountains. You know, we should be making use of the scenery there. It's a good place to enjoy life. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the advocacy that the Member is bringing on for seniors and aging in place. With the planning study, we did identify that there are certain communities across the Northwest Territories that we do need to provide adequate care and services to, and as I have mentioned in this House before, the three communities that were identified were Yellowknife, Hay River, and Norman Wells. We want to make sure that we identify our priorities as a government, but at the same time we also want to make sure that our Indigenous governments and our municipalities also work with us and take part of that ownership to provide the services. The main thing right now is to make sure that we do provide the services for seniors aging in place, and at this moment we want to make sure that they can have an adequate space, health, and wellness of their own. Right now, the communities that have been identified have been Yellowknife, Hay River, and Norman Wells. If you want to look at gazebos and other things that might be on top of the priority costs, then we'll have to have those discussions in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the need for GNWT departments responsible for capital acquisitions, specifically Infrastructure, the Housing Corporation, and Finance, to better utilise the tens, or rather hundreds, of millions of dollars they spend annually on infrastructure to increase the number of skilled workers in the NWT. I honestly personally consider it irresponsible that we're not doing this to a much greater extent.
When the Department of Infrastructure's budget was being debated in Committee of the Whole, the Minister of Information told me that I should direct my questions about training to the Minister of ECE, so I have some questions for the Minister of ECE. We'll start with the basics. According to ECE's Apprenticeship, Trades, and Occupational Certification Strategic Plan, the NWT is facing a worsening shortage of skilled labour. What is ECE doing to increase the number of journeymen and skilled workers in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right. There is an issue about apprenticeships; in fact, it's a national issue that the numbers are going down, so we need to work on that. Since the Skills 4 Success was introduced in 2015, though, we have had 375 new apprenticeships and 188 certificates of qualification issued. One of the bigger issues that we recognize in doing that work, though, is that, one, it's getting them into it, but it's also supporting our apprenticeships to complete. So that is one of our strategies that we're looking at. In 2017, we did an Apprenticeship, Trades, and Occupational Certification Strategy to address the needs that we have for apprenticeships. We've made a lot of progress, actually, so I want to go over some of that.
Some of the progress that we've done is we've revised the Trades and Occupations Wage Subsidy Program to better support employers; so we've increased that for them. That happened in April 2018. We are also working in cooperation with Aurora College to deliver new programs. That includes the revised Housing Maintainer Program and introducing the Pre-employment Carpentry and Pre-employment Electrical Programs. We are developing a communication strategy, which will be implemented in the beginning of March 2019. We are also doing a training module for career development officers, which will be offered in May 2019. So those are done.
Some of the things that we are also in the process of doing is we are reviewing our apprenticeship record book to streamline the reporting. We get a lot of complaints. People say it's cumbersome, so hopefully this will work to streamline things and make them easier. We are leading a pan-territorial working group to revise and redesign the Housing Maintainer Occupational Standards. This is in process, and we are currently at the second year of our strategy. So we have a lot of work to do, but we've done quite a bit. We recognize that it's an issue, and we are working as hard as we can to address it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I looked into what ECE is doing. They're actually doing quite a few things, and I think even more than the Minister just mentioned. I think they need to improve their supports for the career development officers. I think we probably need an extra one in Hay River. The community learning centres at Aurora College probably need to be better utilized, as well, to help people train to actually take the trades entrance exam, which is a big barrier to many people. There are a lot of investments there, and I'm not a fan of just throwing money at a problem and hoping that it fixes it. We need to know what the problem is and if what we're doing to address it is effective. That being said, the strategic plan the Minister mentioned calls for the creation of performance measures and indicators and the implementation of an effective data management and information system to track and report on results. What is the status of this work?
