That is a very timely question. The GNWT recognizes the importance that our government can play on influencing the market for the goods and services that we procure. Following engagement conducted in 2017-2018, ENR worked closely with the communities on the development of an NWT waste resource management strategy. The strategy is anticipated to be released in the coming month. As part of this strategy, goal number four focused on actions to greening government. Greening government means making decisions about what we buy, how we manage our assets, how we run our business to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water, and solid waste.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like this waste strategy may go some of the way towards answering this question. My final question is whether the government has any interest in reviving a program such as the One-Tonne Challenge that focuses on personal action and accountability. Does the government have any interest in drawing citizens individually into this, beyond taxing them with the carbon tax?
Again, we know the crisis that we are in with climate change, and I think the public is becoming more and more educated as we become more and more educated. Our youth are taking steps to become more and more educated, and I think, through that process, there will be a lot of people doing that on their own, reducing their carbon footprint and how they do business. If it's an initiative that could help us address the situation that we are in, then I think it's incumbent on this Assembly. I say "this government." When I talk about the government, I am talking all 19 Members. It's something that this Assembly can look at and possibly get behind and promote and see if we can make that initiative come to be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I spoke of a former Member of the House talking about coerced sterilization in the NWT. Following that statement, there was an article written in Windspeaker publication which described a GNWT program where coerced sterilization victims could come forward to begin an inquiry if they believed they were wrongfully sterilized. My question for the Minister is twofold: how long did the program run in that time; and, in that time, how many women came forward? Thank you.
Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a government, we acknowledge that the abhorrent practice of performing sterilization procedures upon Indigenous women under a forced or a coerced circumstance took place in the Northwest Territories in the past, long before any of us were in this House. I personally condemn the practice, as I know all Members in this House must, of coerced or forced sterilization. As a government, we take seriously the accounts that have been shared by residents. I would really like to commend the individuals for their courage in sharing their stories and bringing forth this issue.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, at this time, I do not have the precise information on the number of women who came forward under that GNWT program that was offered in 1998. It was a number of years ago. However, I would like to reconfirm that this government will always take seriously and respond to patients' accounts of forced sterilization. With respect to the information from the 1998 program, I will do my best to get that information and share it with the Member, as well as other Members of this House.
I would like to acknowledge once again that I agree with the Member that such practices are a violation of medical ethics and of a patient's rights to information and informed consent, so I thank the Member for raising the question.
I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Mr. Speaker, in December 2018, the federal Health Minister responded to an issue of coerced sterilization by inviting all provincial and territorial Health Ministers to participate in a taskforce on cultural competency in healthcare. My question is: what was the department's response, our department's response, to the call, and are we participating?
The federal government has formed a working group to look at ways of embedding cultural safety and humility into the design and delivery of healthcare services in Canada. This working group, as a note, will not deal directly with forced sterilization as part of its mandate. We do support the federal government's efforts to collaborate with provinces, territories, Indigenous groups, and national provider organizations on measures to improve cultural safety in the health system. We are participating in that working group. The GNWT is also committed to working with Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories in our efforts to improve cultural safety here in the Northwest Territories.
As the Member knows, we have come forward with a Cultural Safety Action Plan to help us address the issues, the very real issues, around cultural safety that do exist here in the Northwest Territories, and we are determined to do our work in a culturally respectful, fair, and equitable way for all residents. We will ensure that any commitments made through the participation in the FTP working group align with our existing work here in the Northwest Territories in this area.
I do acknowledge and recognize the good work done by this department, our Department of Health and Social Services, on the cultural competency. I would like to ask the Minister about the federal task force and just a question asking the Minister if there is a current status since the task force was formed or, if not, then would the Minister provide a current status to the House once that status is available?
It's my understanding that the FTP working group is intended to be a forward-looking body that will examine ways of embedding cultural safety and humility into the design and delivery of healthcare services throughout the country. They intend to share information about initiatives and promising practice under way across the country, which is one of the reasons we are sharing the work that we have done. It's also intended to identify opportunities for collaboration between provinces, territories, and other bodies.
To date, Mr. Speaker, a draft terms of reference has been developed by the working group, including identifying some guiding principles. This, once again, is a federal document and federal initiative. As a first step, jurisdictions will be reaching out to their Indigenous partners to see if the Indigenous governments are interested in participating in the working group, and that engagement will hopefully be done soon.
Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Can the Minister advise us if it's very clear to the practitioners that forced sterilization is not something that can and should be done in the NWT? Thank you.
Today, compared to when this activity was occurring, we have best practices and additional checks and balances in place to ensure that patients are given alternative options before referring a patient to sterilization procedures as part of pre-op. Today, it's also our best practice that patients are again asked if they fully understand the nature and the consequences of the procedures that they may be wishing to undertake, as part of ensuring the patient has provided informed and knowledgeable consent before the procedure is actually done. Additional supports can and could be offered, such as counselling, given that this procedure is permanent and irreversible in all situations. Yes, our practitioners know. Our practitioners understand the realities, and our procedures have changed radically since 1998, when that study was done by the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'm not going to get to ask the four separate Ministers all my questions. Questions and answers are going a little long today, so I will keep this brief. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation: what has been done to date to address the housing issues of the evacuees of the Hay River high-rise? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In response to the fire, the NWT Housing Corporation has developed a multi-stage plan to support residents that were impacted. That's done right across all departments. We knew it was something that needed to be addressed right away. All departments worked together to see how we can make an impact. On that note, I'm going to commend the Member in recognizing that the community did step up and that the fire department was onsite right away, and that nobody was harmed in any way as well, and they were all out safely.
Our latest update, the NWT Housing Corporation has housed seven individuals in an apartment complex. We've also housed four families in three-bedroom houses temporarily released from the federal government, and we have also renovated six units at the KFN, which are ready for occupation, and are in the process of renovating 10 or more which will be ready for occupation soon.
Mr. Speaker, just further to that, we will continue to update both the Hay River MLAs on what we are doing as the NWT Housing Corporation, and what we are doing as a government, working together, collaboratively, to address the situation.
I appreciate the update. That's basically the same update that I received back in April at the community meeting. There are still these 18 people who are homeless, essentially with unstable housing, and there are 26 who are temporarily housed. They could be the ones in the leased units from the federal government. Going forward, what's the plan? The Minister said there was a plan. Can you please elaborate on that, and tell us what he's going to do to make sure these people have stable housing?
Before the fire at the high-rise, we did meet with private industry. We met with the Town of Hay River to look at addressing some of the issues that are coming out of the community. As the Member knows, the available and suitable land is at a premium in Hay River, and we are trying to work with the municipality to address that, and we are going to continue to work with them in terms of developing a plan. We know that there are a lot of things that are coming down the pipe in terms of economic-wise. It was very unfortunate that the high-rise situation happened, and we'll continue to work with our stakeholders to look at addressing the housing needs in Hay River. As I mentioned, we will keep the Hay River MLAs up to date. We will continue to speak with our stakeholders, industry, as well as leadership in Hay River.
As I stated, 18 people are homeless. I know for a fact one of those is an infant. There could be other children, as well. I can't go back to Hay River and tell them that there have been talks. I need to tell them that there's a plan to put them in a home, and to give them somewhere safe. What can the Minister tell me that's happening to put these people in actual homes? I need a plan. When is there going to be a place on the ground that they can go and live?
A couple of things. Through the NWT Housing Corporation, we didn't have any housing clients in the high-rise. That's where we're doing the collaborative approach, working with all the departments to address the issue. At the same time, we are working with private industry. We're trying to work with the Municipality of Hay River. As you've heard in this House before, we do have the co-investment fund that we were able to carve out and put applications in. Those are some of the long-term solutions that we're looking at. It's not only the high-rise that is affected. We also had that senior planning study that I've mentioned in this House before that we are looking at a couple of municipalities, and Hay River is one of them that we need to address, and we'll continue to work to find a short-term and a long-term solution. I think, in the short term, we have addressed some of the families. Not all of them, but we do have to work together to find solutions.
Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister said there were no housing clients in the high-rise. Income assistance was paying the rent for about a third of the residents of the high-rise, which means that those people, for the most part, were on the housing waitlist. It's not like Housing doesn't have clients in there. They have people waiting to get into housing, so this is an issue. What can I tell them is going to happen in the very near term? What is the plan to house them in the very near term? I know there are long-term solutions. I know all about the rental issues in Hay River. What is the plan to get them in a house immediately? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I mentioned, we do know that there is a concern. Not a concern, but the available and suitable land and the lots that are available to construct new buildings is a concern, and we are working on that. What I'd say is that the government was working to try to address this, even before the fire began. Even before the fire had started, and the issue that we see ourselves before now, we were already in discussions with the Municipality of Hay River. I appreciate the fact that the K'atlodeeche First Nation has stepped up, and the work that we have done with the K'atlodeeche First Nations, as well. We are working on it, and it is one of the communities that we want to continue to find a solution, whether it's public housing or market housing needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier on I spoke about the costs of food in Nunakput, and my questions are for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, my first question is more of an update. Can the Minister report if the Government of the Northwest Territories is working with the federal government to make Nutrition North more successful at addressing food security in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Finance will rise and respond to the Member's questions. The GNWT has met with the federal government on Nutrition North Canada on both the ministerial and official levels on numerous occasions. Most recently, officials have been engaged in discussions around work to make the program more efficient and transparent. The NWT representative for the Nutrition North Advisory Board on this program is a nutritionist from the Beaufort Delta who is well-placed to provide perspective on the needs of Northerners.
It's good to see that the different levels of government are working on this together. My second question is: what strategies are we working on to address food insecurity in Nunakput, and can we regulate healthy-food prices the way we do with liquor and cannabis?
There are many initiatives across the GNWT that help address food insecurity. A few of these include, obviously, income assistance to those who require it and are eligible, including funds for food. This is part of a variety of programs that help offset the cost of living, like public housing and the cost of living credit. Through the northern wellness funding, many communities are delivering school-based meal programs, elders' lunches, meals on wheels, hosting collective kitchens for young families, and providing good-food boxes for families in need. Nutrition North Canada's nutrition education initiative builds skills and knowledge on healthy eating and making wise food choices from the stores and traditional food sources. Nutrition education is a collaborative effort between elders, CHR, dieticians, and other community workers.
I appreciate the response. Can the Minister report if the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway has reduced the prices of food in the community? Also, since the cost of petroleum products and the cost of transportation has risen in the Northwest Territories, I am wondering if the department is monitoring the cost of food in remote communities.
The Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway was a great project and was well-received. Being up in the Beau-Del at times, being on the highway, I see the number of people who are on it, the number of people who are going to Inuvik, actually, to do a lot of their shopping, and I am sure it has reduced their cost of living because they are picking up things in Inuvik. As far as the overall cost of living in the community itself, I do not have that information at my fingertips. However, I will commit to the Member that we will compile some information and share it with the Members. It's important to remember, though, that there are many factors that impact prices in the communities. I do say that, having seen the number of people who are coming in and taking advantage of the ability to leave the community at any time to go shopping in Inuvik, I think it's helped lower the cost of living, but, again, I have made a commitment to do some research and get some information back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure, also responsible for the energy file. It seems like a lot of politicians these days are promising to put their efforts and money into revitalizing the fossil fuel sector. Meanwhile, a news report yesterday indicates that green business is actually outgrowing the rest of the economy, attracting billions of dollars in investment. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister: what steps will the government take to grow a new, sustainable sector of the economy by exploiting the growing number of businesses and entrepreneurs bringing green, renewable energy technology to the table? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are already taking significant steps to leverage new federal funding, everyone in this House knows that, to support these new initiatives that we are laying out. We are making unprecedented investments to support energy initiatives across the Northwest Territories. This year, we will invest over $60 million in projects and initiatives intended to support secure, reliable, and sustainable energy in the Northwest Territories. All of this investment, we know, will support economic growth, particularly to the businesses and entrepreneurs around this green, renewable energy table. Also, key to all this, in discussions we had in the House today to our long-term economics sustainability in the Northwest Territories, is to bring clean and affordable energy to industry in the Northwest Territories, and that would be the Taltson energy project. As you see in many of our new projects that we lay out across the Northwest Territories through infrastructure, we have steadily increased our solar panels and our biomass.
Thank you to the Minister for reminding us of the considerable investment that is going to be being made in the North, and I really truly hope that it does get in the hands of entrepreneurs and small businesses. I have asked this before, and so I will ask it again: will the Minister commit the government to study the energy microgrid concept that has been similar to what SSi Energy is proposing in Fort Providence? It seems like it would be a very sound and great solution for small communities.
I would love to update the House on this particular question. We have met with SSi Micro and, actually, our staff have gone to the community of Fort Providence to understand the system that SSi actually has in place right now and to discuss the potential for integration of a microgrid into the technologies into the system. We are interested in learning a lot more about what SSi has to offer, about their proposal and the potential of their graphite battery, specifically what they have proposed to use as an energy recovery and disbursement system in their system. We will continue to work with them and see if this is a situation that SSi is proposing that could be worked in Fort Providence but maybe in other communities across the system.
Thank you to the Minister. I really appreciate that his department and his staff are undertaking endeavours to communicate with SSi Energy and the community of Fort Providence. We look forward to being posted on that in the future. The Minister talked earlier about continuing to vest in wind and solar, and so my question is: what ongoing support can the Minister offer to the number of solar energy companies starting up across the NWT? Can the Minister also convince his energy division and particularly Cabinet colleagues to increase the net metering allowance from 15 kilowatt an hour to 50 kilowatt an hour, like our friends in the Yukon are doing?
What I can tell the Member is that the government has over $330 million to invest in electricity infrastructure in the Northwest Territories going forward. That is going to result in more construction jobs, local jobs, and suppliers where it's possible. In addition, the GNWT is investing over $31 million in the Low Carbon Economy Fund that we announced here earlier this year, which will leverage over $70 million over the next three years. This will also support the local builders and contractors and suppliers who do energy retrofits and install renewable energy in the system. Fifty-percent rebates have been available through the Arctic Energy Alliance to residents and businesses in thermal-zone communities and provide an excellent incentive for new installations emerging in over 25 diesel communities.
To the point about raising the net metering, that is going to put a lot of pressure on the system and is something the Department of Finance and NCPC would have to have a serious look at. It would have serious implications on all residents across the system, and that is something that we are going to have be very careful about because, when we went out and talked to the people of the Northwest Territories, they made it very clear to us that we had to have a secure, affordable, and sustainable plan going forward. This could put more pressure on the system and make it more expensive for everybody.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for his reply. We can certainly leave the solar and net metering discussion for another day, but the NWT's reliance on diesel-power generation is one of our biggest challenges. We all know that. There is a growing sector of renewable diesel -- I will repeat that: renewable diesel -- which can replace fossil fuels without engine modifications and greatly reduce emissions. The City of Vancouver has been changing over their entire fleet to renewable diesel. Will the Minister commit the government to research renewable diesel as a possible option for the future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to update this House that we are already looking at this. We are investigating this potential of renewable diesel technologies. The one thing I can say is that there is one contractor supplying western Canada and confirmed that it has been deployed in one major city, which is probably the City of Vancouver.
We have concerns over this thing. When I talked to the deputy about this specific possibility, we were worried about the life cycle of this stuff and the storage capacity that we have in the communities and how long it will be good for. It is way more expensive than the price of diesel fuel right now. That goes back to the question of what the people of the Northwest Territories told us; they want a secure, affordable, sustainable energy plan going forward. With only one supplier in the country and it being more expensive, right now, at this point, it is probably not viable, but we will continue to monitor this thing. With further hopes and further developments, maybe this can become successful, and we will be able to implement it into our system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
