Masi, Mr. Speaker. I recall about two decades ago, people from the Dehcho communities decided and wanted to establish health boards so that they could have more local control of their health services within the region. That was two decades ago.
When people go to the health centre, they're seeking help. Most of the time, they want help in terms of critical care that they might need in emergency situations, or simply, diagnosis of their conditions. My questions are to the Minister of Health and Social Services: how are patients' experiences with healthcare services being monitored for quality control, and what is being done to improve patient experiences? Mahsi.
Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been talking about quality assurance and quality control within the Territorial Health Authority for a number of years now. This is something that needs to be done. We need to have mechanisms whereby we can hear what the residents are telling us, both good experiences and bad experiences. When they have a bad experience, we need to be able to look into that experience and actually come up with recommendations, how to improve and change.
I did listen very closely to the Member's statement earlier today when he was talking about some of the frustration that his residents were having, and it is troubling to hear, but it is very real that some people don't trust the healthcare system. Trust is hard to earn, but it's easy to destroy. In the Northwest Territories, we have many Indigenous residents who don't trust the healthcare system for multiple reasons, whether it's residential school or other long-term situations. There is a trust issue. I would encourage the Member, and I would encourage all MLAs to work with the residents, to encourage them to engage with our quality assurance processes.
We know that we're still growing in this area. We're making some changes to try and strengthen and make it a little more accessible. We're currently working on establishing an office of patient relations that will give patients help actually navigating their way through the system, including helping guide them to quality assurance. Please, please, all Members, residents, please utilize our quality assurance process. It's an awesome way for us to learn, to listen, and to find ways to improve.
At a regional level, we still have regional wellness councils, which is a body that is able to bring us advice on what they're hearing from their communities and bring it back to their communities. There is a board member of the regional wellness council who now sits on the chair to our Health and Social Services Authority. Now the region has a voice at a territorial table that they've never had before, and that is as a result of moving to a single authority.
There are some instances where patients or constituents of mine had to have family members drive them out of the community and visit other hospitals or health centres just to get a proper diagnosis. My question to the Minister is: what support is available to residents of the NWT if they must seek a second opinion outside of their community?
This is a good question, an it's important to note that every resident in the Northwest Territories, in fact, every resident of Canada, has a right to a second opinion if they're not happy with the information or the prognosis or the diagnosis that has been provided to them by their healthcare practitioner.
Obviously, in a smaller community, sometimes it can be more complicated because there may only be one or two community health nurses or NP's available, so they will have to come out of community. We don't provide medical travel support and those types of services for somebody who is seeking a second opinion. If they do go out on their own and seek a second opinion, for instance, if an individual from Fort Providence were to go to Hay River, visit a doctor there, and get a different diagnosis than the one that they had, we would be willing to cover that person's travel to and from that community using our medical travel rates. If the diagnosis comes back the same, obviously, we wouldn't be in the same position. If a new diagnosis comes, we're happy to cover that individual's expenses using our medical travel program.
My other question is: what progress has been made towards the living healthcare services in Indigenous languages?
As a health system and as a government, we have introduced many ways to ensure that our clients and patients are able to receive care in the most appropriate way, which obviously includes in their own language. Our preferred approach would be to have staff interpreters who speak the language of the population that we serve, so different languages in different regions. However, unfortunately, this isn't always possible.
The NWT Health and Social Services Authority has an Indigenous wellness unit that focuses on or ability to deliver care in many languages throughout the Northwest Territories, and we have Indigenous patient liaisons who are integral in our efforts to actually meet the needs that the Member is describing. In regional centres, we have access to patient liaisons, and also have clerk interpreter positions that are available to ensure that the patient has access to quality patient care. We struggle in some regions. We are effective in other regions. We're always looking for ways to improve the services we're providing here, and finding ways to work with communities to make sure that there are people available who can provide those services when our residents come in and want their services provided in their traditional languages.
Thank you. Final oral question. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Everyone is pretty well aware that there's a new health hospital here in Yellowknife, and it's been an interest of elders to continue the diets, and one of them is country foods. My question is: what arrangements are being made to ensure that patients have a choice of country food, especially elderly patients? Mahsi.
I did have an opportunity to speak about this exact issue earlier in this sitting. In the new Stanton, we do have the ability to prepare country foods. We've put in flash freezers and other tools that will actually help us prepare. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to go live with this new program at Stanton until July. Right now, we're working to help train up our contractors who provide food services, to make sure that they are aware of how to do this. They will be visiting places like the Yukon hospital that actually already does a really good job in this area, and we are looking forward to seeing traditional foods available in Stanton Territorial Hospital in July. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Speaker, I understand from the questions that I posed to the Minister on Tuesday that, under the current suite of forestry acts, ENR officers do not have any real powers to enforce fire bans in the hinterland, so unlike the powers that enforcement personnel have currently with regard to parks and let's say even within municipalities.
Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear. I understand the need that, when some folks are on the land, they may need fire for heat and they definitely may need fire to cook food. So, notwithstanding that, let's use the example of a large bonfire outside a park. Can the Minister tell me what sort of powers are contemplated for ENR and other law enforcement personnel in the Forest Act that is under development? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the proposed Forest Act, the powers that have been contemplated that the officers would have are the ability to stop people when they are burning, for example, putting out campfires or other burning taking place and ask them to put out the fire, or the officer would have the authority to put out the fire themselves. Officers would also have authority to charge people with an offence that might include a fine.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. The Minister mentioned that it might also include the ability issue a fine. Can the Minister outline what the thinking is on fines and consequences for an improper fire when there is a fire ban on or even when there is not a fire ban on?
I agree with the Member that there need to be consequences for bad behaviour, and those who do things like that need to be held accountable for it. Having said that, in the proposed Forest Act, regardless of whether it's a fire ban or not, it outlines that individuals can be fined up to $100,000, corporations up to $1 million; fines could be doubled if there is a repeat offence that takes place. It also suggests in the act that, for each day the offence continues, it can count as a separate offence. Courts have the latitude to increase the fines if they feel it is necessary.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. It certainly gives us some motivation to work extra hard on the Forest Act in the 19th Assembly for those who might return and for those who are new to the Assembly. Many of the forest fires we have are person-caused and, under the current acts, there are no provisions for a person who caused a forest fire to be held liable for their actions. Can the Minister tell this House whether such provisions are being considered in the new Forest Act in this regard?
I am glad the Member mentioned the 19th Assembly coming in. One of the pieces of advice that I passed on to the department is to try to have all of the work done before the 19th Assembly comes in, and then, once the 19th Assembly comes in, my advice to them would be to take something like this and deal with it right at the onset of the 19th Assembly. We spent a lot of time at the beginning of this Assembly on our 235-item mandate. Then we had the mid-term review. I do not think we really got much going until years three and four, so my advice to the incoming 19th would be to deal with a lot of these important issues right off the bat.
Having said that, again, it is important to note that the NWT does have one of the lowest rates of person-caused fire in the country. The proposed Forest Act ensures that, if anyone is found responsible for a forest fire, they could be held accountable with consequences that do include fines.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. During my time back home, I have had a couple of concerns brought to my attention, and I have worked with the Minister. I thank him and his department for working with me on that. My first question is: is there a policy to guide social service workers when a parent, foster parent, or concerned citizens alert authorities of a missing child under the care of the director of Child and Family Services? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, yes, there are some standards in place to guide staff in the event of a child or youth who goes missing. One of the standards that we have is based on serious incidents. This standard provides direction to staff to ensure that they take required actions to address a serious incident, that they contact the RCMP where required, that they seek medical attention for a child or youth where required, and provide verbal and written notification to the director.
Serious incidents do have a range that are identified within the standards from 1 to 4, and, as a note, if a child under five were to go missing or be away from their placement without authorization for any more than three hours, they would actually be considered a priority 1, so we would engage the standards immediately.
We also have some standards in place, Mr. Speaker, for when an individual is out of territory in a placement. This standard provides direction to staff on how to initiate an alert both within the Northwest Territories and outside the Northwest Territories, in the jurisdiction where a person is placed. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, in short, we do have standards in place to address exactly these situations.
Can the Minister advise us: how is the child's safety addressed when they are reported missing? I think the Minister kind of elaborated a little bit in the first question, but maybe get a little bit more elaboration on this one.
When a child is under the care and custody of the CFS system, the director is in a sense the parent of the child, the de facto parent, and the director does have the ability to provide some responsibilities in this area through child protection workers within the system.
The practice expectation when a child or a youth does go missing is that the child protection working is to take all measures required to locate the child. This includes, obviously, things like questioning last-known contacts of the child or youth; seeking out possible locations that the child or youth have visited or regularly visits; searching for a child or youth at those locations, both directly in person and in collaboration with other known acquaintances, foster parents, and the RCMP. So multiple individuals can be engaged in this.
Child protection services training actually includes training in these exact standards so that individuals know what their expectations are and know how to respond to this. We did just get audited. We have acknowledged that we need to do better in many of the areas, and we are enhancing training in many areas, including this area, to make sure that our staff know what they need to do when one of the children in care does go missing.
Can the Minister tell us what the department is doing to ensure social workers are aware of the standards and are using them to guide their practice in such situations?
The training I mentioned in my last response is currently being enhanced, and we are in the process of developing a more stringent training framework. We are expanding the length of the training from two months to three months, and we are designing new training processes that include a combination of in-class study, structured self-study, and supervision, ensuring that our staff are appropriately trained and that they are competent in the knowledge and the skills that they need prior to employment as child protection workers, so we are trying to do a lot of this work up front, before we actually appoint them as child protection workers.
Social workers in our system are not all child protection workers. Only those who have received designation and have certain specific training are, so we are trying to do more of that up front so that they have the skills to respond accordingly when those unfortunate situations do occur.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, and I appreciate the information the Minister has been able to share with us here today. My final question: will the Child and Family Services quality improvement plan that is effective soon support and align with these standards and the training? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Time is meshing together. I either made a statement on that today or yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was today. The bottom line is, the quality improvement plan is a living document. We're hoping to have the document go live, reckoning that it will continue to evolve over time, but yes, it does and will include these types of things as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. I took note of his response to you about the fire at the Hay River high-rise when you were in your regular position. In particular, that he had a multi-stage plan involving all the relevant departments to assist tenants to find new accommodation. So then I thought about the situation at Rockhill which, as you know, burned down on October 1st last year. While the Y was able to rehouse some families, there are a number of them now at risk of homelessness. My question is: does the Minister have, or is he developing, one of these multi-stage plans for Rockhill? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't say it's unfortunate, some of the things that have been happening throughout our municipalities and the Housing Corporation, but actually the government has taken a step up in addressing these issues, as well as some of our volunteer groups and NGOs. Really, in this case, the City of Yellowknife and the residents, that was a really quick response, and I know from day one when I did hear about the fire on the radio, I called up our present CEO to make sure that we were addressing the issue.
In this case, to the Member's questions, yes, we do have a multi-stage plan for the families and the households that are affected by the Rockhill apartment fire. After it did burn down, the GNWT social envelope agencies have worked with the YWCA to assess their operations, and develop options for a potential replacement.
The Housing Corporation is currently working with CMHC, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, to identify and acquire a building to replace the Rockhill apartments. Currently, we have identified a 32-unit apartment building as a suitable building, and it would meet the needs of the YWCA for resuming their operations, and we're also supporting the YWCA through a multi-year contribution agreement under the rapid rehousing program to address the immediate rental needs of their clients. As I had mentioned, Mr. Speaker, from day one, they've been working with us. We've been working with YWCA, our stakeholders, and cross the GNWT departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate that response from the Minister. My information is that, while a number of families have entered into leases with their landlords in a market setting, there are 14 families who can't get leases because of their income or arrears. My question is: are the solutions to this problem going to kick in in time to help these 14 families?
Yes, we are working with the YWCA to determine the best way that we can provide assistance for those who were affected by the fire. As I mentioned before, we have a rapid rehousing program that provides assistance to cover such things such as moving costs, deposits, and the rental and/or utility assistance necessary to allow individuals to move immediately out of homelessness and to stabilize a permanent housing solution. The program also provides long-term and short-term rental subsidies, as well as financial assistance to the households.
Thank you to the Minister for his response. The YWCA has been subsidizing rental costs for this group of 14 families from its own funds, but I'm told that these funds will run out at some point this year, meaning that those without leases will become homeless. How can the Minister ensure a smooth transition to the different solutions that he has outlined?
As I mentioned, we will continue to work with the YWCA to adjust the situations on a case-by-case basis. Our contribution agreement with the YWCA under the rapid rehousing program should address some of these household needs until a long-term solution to their needs has been established. We'll continue to have that open dialogue and communication with the YWCA.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I have two sets. First set, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. It was responsibility for oil and gas rights in the Northwest Territories.
In February 2015, Strategic Oil and Gas Ltd. stopped production in its Cameron Hills field in the Northwest Territories. Strategic Oil and Gas is now in creditor protection. Trading was halted in April 2019 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and some directors have resigned. What are the current holding of Strategic Oil and Gas in the Northwest Territories in terms of oil and gas rights, land use permits, water licences, and facilities, and:
has Strategic Oil and Gas submitted full financial security for all of the water licences, land use permits, and other rights for its holdings in the Northwest Territories;
what are the reclamation liabilities of Strategic Oil and Gas for its holdings in the Northwest Territories;
does a plan exist for closure and remediation of existing facilities and is financial security adequate for this work to be done; and
what is our government doing to prevent public liabilities and ensure that the interests of the Northwest Territories are protected with regard to the current state of Strategic Oil and Gas Ltd.?
The second set, Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, who serves as the lead on the Giant Mine Remediation Project for the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Measure 6 of the June 30, 2013, Report of Environmental Assessment required that the project team investigate long-term funding options for the perpetual care requirements at Giant Mine, including a trust fund. Stakeholders and the public are to be involved in discussions on funding options and a detailed report is to be completed within three years. The study remains unfinished and a critical review by the Giant Mine Oversight Board of the draft report was tabled in the House on May 23, 2019. What role has the Government of the NWT had in the development of the draft report and:
does the Minister consider that the draft long-term funding study meets the requirements of Measure 6 from the Giant Mine Environmental Assessment;
what action is the Minister taking to ensure that there is adequate consideration given to a trust fund and other models beyond annual appropriations, to fund perpetual care requirements at Giant Mine;
what actions is the Minister taking to ensure that this long-term funding study is completed in a timely fashion and there is an opportunity for the public to review and comment on the study; and
has the 2012 study by the Pembina Institute recommending a trust fund as the most appropriate mechanism for long-term funding of perpetual care at Giant Mine been taken into account, and what are the Minister's conclusions on the recommendations from the Pembina Institute report?
Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Written questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the following questions for the honourable Minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.
Please account for the total amount of fees in dollar amount paid to the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission by the private sector in the fiscal year 2017-2018;
Please provide a four-year average of fees in dollar amount paid to the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission by the private sector;
Please indicate the dollar amount of Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission compensation paid out to private sector employees in fiscal year 2017-2018; and
Please provide a four-year average in dollar amount of Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission compensation paid out to private sector employees.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in reply to the Commissioner's opening address. The Honourable Margaret M. Thom, Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, opened this Third Session of the 18th Legislative Assembly on October 17, 2017. Today, I ask for my honourable colleagues' patience while I reflect on some of the government priorities Commissioner Thom spoke to and talk about where I think we need to go from here.
Also, I would like to tell my colleagues in the House and members of the public who are listening in that I intend to run in the next territorial election. I'm hoping I will be able to return to the 19th Legislative Assembly and continue to work for the people of Nahendeh, who have put their trust in me for the last four years.
Mr. Speaker, anyone who knows me knows that I worked for many years in the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. My work in sport and recreation is what inspired me to seek office. I wanted to find a new way to help people living in the smaller communities.
Working as an MLA, it has been an eye-opening experience. I have learned that the government is a large, complex organization that spends $1.8 billion per year serving the people of the Northwest Territories. The NWT has a relatively small population, but the territorial government's operations are every bit as complicated as any provincial government.
We provide healthcare, social services, education, transportation, housing. We build infrastructure, generate employment, drive the economy, and protect the natural environment. We run the machinery of government by functioning as an employer, by processing financial transactions, managing risks, and providing IT support and legal services.
We participate in intergovernmental activities on important national and global matters. Meanwhile, at home, we recognize the inherent right of Indigenous people to govern themselves, and we work to make that happen. We build relationships with other northern governments, and the way we do business evolves.
The GNWT is not the same government it was when I joined the public service. It is more sophisticated and complex. It has come a long way. There are a lot of things that the GNWT has done over the past quarter-century. However, the larger it gets, the more conservative it seems to become. In the early days, it wasn't unusual for a regional superintendent to do what needed to be done to help someone fix a problem. Those days are gone, but we shouldn't lose their "can-do" spirit. We need to guard against rules and processes getting in the way of creativity, new ideas, and getting problems solved.
As I said, I think the government has done a lot of great things in the last 25 years. It has dealt with some pretty big changes, like division and devolution. How you measure the government's success, though, depends on your perception. My perception has always been geared to the people living in the smaller communities. My worry is that, as the GNWT grows, it runs the risk of becoming a big bureaucratic machine that has lost touch with the most vulnerable residents.
As an MLA, I see examples every day of a growing disconnect between the territorial government and the folks it serves. I am worried about it. We need to find a way to be a modern-world, big-business government but one that still serves the need of a population so small it wouldn't fill the stadium for a Toronto Raptors game on a Saturday night. We need to find a way to ensure that we remain a government that has not lost its heart or its ability to resolve the day-to-day worries of the people it serves.
Commissioner Thom talked about how the cost of living has a direct impact on Northerners' quality of life. These are people in communities like Fort Liard who have been struggling for decades with crippling property tax bills. These people have approached me for help, and I have seen their bills. It is enough to give a person a heart attack, and, believe me, some of these people are sick with worry. They have been told that they owe the GNWT insane amounts of money: $68,000, $127,000, $138,000. These are people of modest means. Some are elderly. Some will never pay these bills in their lifetime, and they worry about what that means for their children and their grandchildren.
These property tax arrears date back, in some cases, to the early 1990s, 30 years, and nothing's been done. Here's an example of the disconnect I'm talking about. I saw a GNWT briefing note that said these people are refusing to pay because they claim that, as Indigenous people, they have a right to occupy the land. That couldn't be further from the truth.
These are not people who are ignoring their responsibilities or taking political stands. They are trusting people who believed the leadership in their communities. They were told they were on band lands and that they didn't have to worry about the property tax bills they were getting. They were told it didn't apply to them, and they believed their leaders. In some cases, the federal government transferred Indian Affairs Branch lands to the Commissioner, triggering the GNWT taxation, and the people living on the lots weren't even told.
MLAs have raised this property tax arrears problem in the House over the years. Yet, it still persists. I've been told that one or two people got help from the GNWT to have the interest removed from these bills so that they are just paying the principal. For the rest of the affected residents, the problem goes on year after year. So does the worry.
I have talked to the Minister of Finance about this issue, and I am hopeful we can get it dealt with. I would like to ask him to make a commitment to put together an interdepartmental working group with people from Finance, Lands, and MACA to identify all affected residents and fix this problem for good. Continuing to send massive tax bills year after year does nothing but cause people distress and send a message that this government doesn't care.
Housing is a problem closely related to land occupancy. Commissioner Thom noted that "addressing the urgent need for affordable housing" is a priority for this government. The GNWT has done some good housing programs, and I feel the former Minister, Minister Cochrane, and the present Minister, Minister Moses, have done a good job leading the NWT Housing Corporation, but, again, there is more that could be done.
People are suffering in overcrowded conditions. We are not doing enough to address the issue. We have rentals, public housing, affordable housing, and market housing. Even with co-payments, there are long waiting lists for rental accommodations. Every time we are able to assist someone to move up the chain, we open up a space for somebody who is homeless to find a place to live.
What about tiny housing as an alternative to shelters for the homeless? I would rather see tiny, manageable housing units made available for those with housing crisis needs than hear about one more person freezing to death in a tent.
We need to look at creative ways to adapt and renovate existing housing in communities to meet the changing needs of residents. Is the GNWT looking at ways low-cost tiny housing could be used to supplement homeownership? This could especially benefit people in smaller communities, which lack the programs, such as rapid rehousing, semi-independent units and housing first that exist only in Yellowknife or the bigger centres. It could also offer an affordable homeownership option in communities that lack housing markets.
The Commissioner's opening remarks touched on GNWT's intent to address the shortage of market housing in tax-based communities, but I'm not sure if the government has achieved this at this time. I know the NWT Housing Corporation disposes of surplus housing units to get them off the government inventory and make them available at a reasonable price to people who want to own. If you look at the list on the Housing Corporation's website, though, right now there is nothing there.
We need to find ways to graduate people out of public housing and into home ownership. This is something that my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh raised in the House last week. He suggested that NWT Housing must do more to divest itself of public housing, which keeps people trapped in the social welfare net.
If a constituent has rent arrears, they become ineligible for moving into home ownership. Could the government look at ways to allow outstanding rental arrears to be rolled into the mortgage for a new homeowners? This might assist someone to get into a home which better suits their family's needs and encourages pride of ownership.
When the rules guiding program delivery wind up working against the people they're meant to benefit, there is something wrong. The NWT Housing Corporation must do more to identify how its own policies and processes are creating unintended barriers to housing access and fixing them.
Mr. Speaker, we have all heard the sayings, "home sweet home," "home is where the heart is," and "a person's home is their castle." There can be no question that a safe, warm, comfortable home is a basic need for anybody to survive and thrive in life. I would like to see the incoming government make a commitment to completely eradicate homelessness in the NWT in the foreseeable future.
Mr. Speaker, meaningful employment goes hand-in-hand with housing as a key component for the residents to live successful, meaningful lives. Such has been said in the House about the importance of northern jobs, especially in the smaller communities.
The GNWT has a significant impact on northern employment through the design and location of its programs and services. Unfortunately, the government tends to put jobs in the capital and in other bigger centres to save costs and take advantage of economies of scale.
While it may save the government money in the short term, it only seems that way. When people live in smaller communities can't find employment, they either have to leave their homes, families, and traditional lands or stay in place and struggle with the impacts of poverty.
Either way, the lack of jobs and education opportunities can lead to alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, family violence which turns, raises government's social program costs while destroying the fabric of the community's life.
It bothers me that we don't hear much about decentralization these days. Look at what former Minister John Pollard did during his time as Finance Minister. I had the opportunity to talk to him about decentralization and how it was done during his time. He started by asking senior staff to come up with a list of positions with the department could be moved out of the region and to smaller communities.
This was eventually rolled out as the New Directions decentralization initiative of the 12th Legislative Assembly, which championed the placement of positions in smaller communities, then trained up people willing to take on those jobs, which brought with them economic benefits to the communities.
I would like to see the government renew its commitment to put government jobs into smaller communities wherever possible, and I believe we should be tracking this progress and holding government accountable for it in the next Assembly.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the Department of Executive's single-window service centres, which have put government service officers in 22 small communities. This program has also provided the residents of those communities with a place to go when they need help accessing government programs and services. We need to see more innovative initiatives like this to decentralize GNWT jobs and the political will to make it happen.
The GNWT also has a big impact on jobs as an employer. According to the GNWT's Public Service Annual Report, the GNWT's overall workforce on March 31, 2018, was made up of just under 31 Indigenous Aboriginal employees, even though the general NWT population is roughly 50 percent Aboriginal.
I hear from my constituents that long-term Northerners, who want to work for the GNWT, are not getting interviews. Also, the Indigenous Gateway and Regional Recruitment programs are not getting people into vacant positions. The GNWT needs to do more to ensure that Affirmative Action is working. Last week, I heard the Finance Minister say "about 46 percent of our workforce outside the capital are P1 candidates, getting closer to the 50 percent." This is good to hear, but outside of Yellowknife, the Indigenous Aboriginal population is at least 60 percent. This is where we need to be. Government needs to make sure that the Affirmative Action policy, which is at least 30 years old, is brought up to date and meeting current goals.
The GNWT also needs to take a look at its hiring appeal process. This process allows certain applicants with appeal rights to challenge administrative errors in the hiring process, but they aren't given the information they need to confirm that a procedural error has been taken in place. Applicant cannot appeal a bad hiring decision by management, even if that decision appears biased. For those reasons, it is an appeal process in only name. Maybe it is time for the GNWT to consider putting a public service commission in place to ensure that GNWT hiring is being done fairly with a focus on putting NWT residents to work.
The GNWT also affects northern employment through its contracting policies. Even with the Business Incentive Policy and negotiated contracts, too often valuable contracts go to southern businesses. Every contract that goes south is a blow to northern businesses employing northern people. It is not just the direct loss of the contract that hurts, but it is the ripple effect.
There is a perfect example of this problem in Fort Liard where a BC contractor, working on Highway No. 7, brought in his own food, fuel, and employees. When this happens, wages are going south and northern businesses that supply groceries, fuel, clothing, and amenities are missing out.
Again, we hear of these problems over and over and nothing seems to change. In the 19th Legislative Assembly, I would like to see a standing committee with more proactive oversight over contracts, perhaps for negotiating contracts, contracts in Regular Member's constituencies, and contracts over a certain value, to ensure that the employment and economic spin-off stay in the NWT and to promote a better understanding of those times when they can't.
In her opening address, Commissioner Thom noted that "the high cost of energy is another burden on Northerners" and notes that the GNWT Energy Strategy would include renewable and alternative energy resources. Energy efficiency helps people lower their housing costs and helps government and businesses to bring down operations.
The government has done a great job of finding innovative ways to generate power. Look at the solar panels in the various communities and the wind turbine projects in the Inuvik region.
Unfortunately, it seems that if it is not a government idea, then it doesn't see any investment. Government could be doing more to work with and learn from innovative northern businesses, especially in the area energy efficiency. I have been advised that Fort Liard is sitting on a great opportunity to develop geothermal energy. Just think what would happen if the community could tap into this source of power. We could see lower power rates; a more environmentally-friendly heating source for GNWT and municipal buildings; cheaper, healthier food grown in geothermally heated greenhouses; and increased employment opportunities in sectors such as transportation and construction. I would like to see the GNWT partner with local businesses to get a geothermal pilot project up and running in Fort Liard, that builds on lessons learned in other areas such as Greenland and Iceland.
I would like to see the GNWT work in partnership with energy innovators in the private sector, people like Jeff Philipp of SSi Energy, a division of the NWT telecommunication company SSi Micro. Jeff's parents, who founded the Snowshoe Inn in Fort Providence, have more than 40 years of off-the-grid experience. Jeff has drawn on his experience to develop a made-in-the-North concept designed to address problems that contribute to high northern energy costs, that being the reliance of the small communities on aging diesel-fuelled generators and the lack of a common energy grid.
The SSi Energy Solution, a combined heat-and-power system, would capture waste heat through the production of power and reuse it to warm houses, water, and buildings. Jeff says that about two-thirds of fuel used in power generation is expelled as noise, friction, and heat. He said that capturing that energy could cut a community's fuel consumption anywhere from 50 to 60 percent. The captured heat would be stored in thermal batteries at a central location and redistributed through a network of underground, insulated pipes. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar could also be tied into the system. The GNWT needs more to get behind northern innovators like Jeff.
There can be no question that climate change is bringing drastic changes to the North. I am concerned about findings of the Auditor General's 2017 report that found ENR did not fulfill its leadership role or meet its commitments on climate change. The department did not develop a climate change adaptation strategy even though it committed to do so 10 years ago. This is very troubling.
One of the shortfalls I see is that when GNWT talks about the issue of climate change, the focus tends to be on the issues that affect our northernmost communities, such as shoreline erosion, impact on wildlife. Climate change is having a big impact on my riding, too. I heard about a situation in Fort Simpson where a piece of equipment sank into the ground at the airport. What caused this problem? The operator was trained and had been doing this task at the airport for years. The equipment was the same as it had ever been, same weight, in good working condition, and being used as it was designed. The only thing that had changed was the environment. Warmer weather and climate change are causing problems now that are only going to get worse in the future.
I can foresee big problems for our roads, airports, ferries, and other infrastructure. I want to give a shout out to Municipal and Community Affairs for the work that they have been doing to help communities prepare for climate change through their capital and asset management plan, which will help community governments identify ways to protect their infrastructure and bring in the new technology. Government needs to do even more to help communities deal with climate-change impacts. Each community needs to have an adaptation plan in place.
For years, I have seen shoreline erosion, and it's not getting any better. We need to come up with plans to prevent us from having to relocate impacted communities. In the next government, the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources will need to ensure that the department steps firmly into its leadership role in dealing with the climate change issue.
Mr. Speaker, one of the things I've learned in my time here is that government can always find money for initiatives it wants to support, no matter how often we are told the government's financial resources are limited.
At the beginning of the 18th Assembly, Regular Members took great issue with government's proposal to reduce the GNWT's budget by $150 million, which resulted in government reorganization, the loss of positions, and cuts to O and M funding, contract work and important programs such as multisport games.
While the standing committees haggled over program reductions, the GNWT was still able to go ahead with some big projects, such the Stanton Hospital ($750 million), the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link ($82 million), the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway ($100 million), the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project ($700 million) and the Tlicho all-season road ($412 million).
Many of these projects were done as public-private partnerships, with very little input from Regular Members on the decision to proceed with such massive investments. I look forward to reviewing future audits of these projects to see what lessons can be learned. Some of these projects have financial commitments lasting 30 years or longer. I believe that the approval of all 19 Members of the Legislative Assembly should be required for the government to enter into such huge commitments.
As important as these projects are to the territory's economy and future growth, there needs to be a better balance between infrastructure and social spending. Strategic spending on social programs and services may not result in big, shiny deliverables, but their worth can be measured in the health, happiness, and productivity of our communities and residents.
Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that many of the residents of the NWT struggle with addiction issues on a daily basis. Because there are no facilities in the NWT offering addictions treatment, NWT residents who seek help must travel outside of the territory for help.
The importance of aftercare support is crucial to recovering addicts trying to lead a heathy, substance-free lifestyle. Residents who have successfully completed treatment programs require a great deal of emotional, mental, and psychological support and encouragement upon returning to their home communities.
People returning from treatment are vulnerable to relapse. Without the support needed to help people overcome their addictions and make healthy lifestyle choices, it can be difficult for someone in recovery to stay on the path of healing.
Government should assist our residents in their healing journey by creating a mobile support team of culturally sensitive, aware, and trained professionals who can travel across the North to assist and encourage residents who have made the choice to embrace their personal healing journey. Each community visit could be one to two weeks in length to assist support teams to nurture a connection with the client and their family, and to foster a relationship with the community's leadership and residents.
We need better aftercare for those who are hospitalized too. For example, I was reading about a situation recently where a family had an aunt in Stanton hospital who was not doing well. They wanted to get her back to her home community so she could spend her last days there with family and friends. When they asked the department to bring their aunt back home, health authorities told the family that there was no room available in the long-term care unit.
The family has a home and was asking about why the government does not look at creating live-in caregivers as a way to help with our aging population. This would be a creative way to deal with the shortage of long-term care beds and would allow our elders to remain at home, where they are most comfortable. We also need to do something for the non-medical escorts who are not family members. These people give up their time freely to help others and are providing a service that the government would otherwise have to provide. These volunteers should be provided with a small monetary fee or per diem to compensate them in a modest way for their time and show we care about their commitment to our elders and sick.
We should also be looking at social worker positions for elders, to provide someone who can advocate for these vulnerable members of our population. Elder abuse is a sad reality for many of our seniors. Mistreatment occurs behind closed doors and often goes undetected. Many seniors are unable to advocate for themselves, and the majority need protection from their own family members.
In the next Assembly, I would like to see the Minister of Health and Social Services bring forth legislation that is structured to protect vulnerable, at-risk elders in a manner similar to how the Child and Family Services Act is intended to protect children. This legislation would encompass the scope of practice for elders' social workers and set out the protections for the client and the responsibilities of, and protections for, the social worker.
Currently, there is no such legislation available. As a result, the only way to deal with elder mistreatment is to report it to the RCMP. While there are some cases of elder abuse that should be dealt with through the criminal justice system, this system does not come into play until after a criminal act has happened. Having elders' social workers would enable these professionals to look at the systemic, cultural, and family dynamics contributing to the abuse and to work within this context to develop a safety plan to protect our elders and potentially prevent mistreatment before it happens.
This position would be a regional position with all resources and supports available to assist at-risk elders in the smaller, more isolated communities. This would allow social workers for elders to advocate on a regional level, working collectively with all community and regional organizations and accessing out-of-territory support programs as and when required.
The elders' social worker would need to have extensive training regarding cultural sensitivity and awareness, in terms of the residential school legacy and the current social issues that this legacy has presented to the people of the North. The elders' social worker would work very closely with families; however, the focus would be the elder and their needs. Elders are important and valued members of our communities. We need to be doing everything we can to protect and nurture them and ensure that their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs are met.
We also need to ensure that the supports are in place for children and youth who are at risk because they are being raised in homes where there is substance abuse and violence. I was deeply troubled by the findings of the second audit of Child and Family Services done by the Office of the Auditor General in 2018, which found that things are worse that when the original audit was done in 2014. I believe that Minister Abernethy has worked hard as Minister of Health and Social Services, but the work of the department was too focused on replicating audit findings and not enough on making the lives of our children better who are in the system. We need to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect these children before there is a disastrous failure that results in the loss of a child's life.
We need to ensure that there is adequate funding for early childhood education so that our youngest members of society get the best possible start in life, and we need to be careful that our youth don't fall through the cracks when they are too old to access programs and funding for children and too young to access those resources as adults. It worries me to hear so many stories of students in the NWT who are trying to get an education while couch-surfing at the homes of friends and relatives.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I spent a large part of my career as a public servant working for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. I will continue to support the work of the department if I return to the 19th Assembly. I believe that many of our children get huge social, physical, and emotional benefits from participating in sport and recreational activities.
Municipal and Community Affairs, through Sport North, supports a lot of great programs for youth, including the Rising Star program, which enables young athletes exhibiting potential in their sport of choice to get additional training through a camp format, and the High Performance Athlete Grant, which helps gifted athletes who are down south with the costs of training and competing at national or international level.
Unfortunately, however, we have many athletes who stay at home and train and represent the NWT with little or no support from the GNWT. For these children, funding only comes if and when the athletes work to raise it or their parents fight to get it. We need to ensure that all children who want to play sports, regardless of the sport they choose or their level of expertise, have the opportunity to participate, especially in small communities where organized activities help kids stay out of trouble and on the right track.
To ensure that the territorial government is responsive to the needs of northern youth and is listening to our young people, I would like to see the GNWT put a Youth Council Secretariat in place so that the government has its young people in mind with every action it takes.
As I said at the start, my focus has always been on the people in the community in my riding. I worry about their ability to access government programs and services. I mentioned the GSOs in the single-window service centres as an example of innovative thinking that makes the GNWT more responsive to the people it serves.
I also want to mention the work done by the 18th Assembly to establish an Ombud for the Northwest Territories. The new Ombud has a mandate to assist people who need help with solving problems with government. I am looking forward to seeing this office open to fulfil its mandate. I would also like to acknowledge the Legislative Assembly's Office of the Clerk who located the position outside of the capital, in Hay River.
While I support these changes, the fact is that most of the people in small communities, the municipal office is the first place they go when they need help from government. Our municipal government provides front-line programs and services in the communities. They make decisions on the local level. Through their administration, they provide water and sewer services, emergency services, economic development, and sport and recreation programs, and they do all this with inadequate funding.
In its mandate, the GNWT made a commitment to develop a strategy to close the funding gap, so that communities would have the funding that they need to meet core needs. This is one of the mandate item that the government has failed to deliver. Members have asked repeatedly for confirmation of the total amount of the funding shortfall on an annual basis and a strategy to close that gap, and we have yet to see it. If I return for another term, I will be pushing hard for this commitment to be met. We cannot leave our front-line municipal governments without adequate funding to deliver municipal programs and services.
I want to conclude my reply to the Commissioner's opening address with a few observations about the northern system of governance. I, for one, believe in consensus government system. I believe it works for Northerners, but I also think there is room for improvement. I started out by saying that I have seen the territorial government grow and evolve over the last quarter century. When I first joined the GNWT, the territorial government directly delivered a lot of programs and services to the people of the NWT. Slowly, this has changed.
More authority has been taken on by municipal level by community governments and Indigenous governments have made progress through the settlement of lands, resources, and self-government agreements. As the territorial government has evolved, it has become more complex. It has become less involved in the delivery of some the programs and services and more adept at planning and research, but the pendulum has swung too far.
What I see now is a government that has a tendency to get caught up in an endless cycle of studying a problem but never getting around to fixing it. The GNWT has to balance this desire to study, analyze, and define with the needs to take action. Government needs to stop talking and live it. I want to see this next government held accountable not for the promises it makes, not for the studies it does, but for the action it takes to respond to the concerns of each of its citizens.
Some people see party politics as the next step in the evolution of the territorial government. I don't think that a party system will make the GNWT more mature than it is already. In fact, I think that we will wind up trading the flaws that are inherited in our own consensus style of system for a new and different set of flaws that come with party-based systems. I would rather see us work to improve the made-in-the-North system of governance we already have in place.
I would like to see Ministers who are willing to engage with all MLAs on the day-to-day decision-making of government. I would like to see a greater willingness to seek out views of the MLAs before decisions are made so that all 19 Members can feel they have input in the direction of government. I would like to see the role of the standing committees strengthened because I believe that we do better when more people have a hand in developing that work.
I believe that all if this can be done but only with a strong commitment from Cabinet and the Premier to work collaboratively. I have seen examples where genuine commitment to work in collaboration has resulted a better product. It is not always an efficient to work that way, but in the end, the result is better. I want what is better for the people of the Northwest Territories, and I look forward to my continued work as MLA for the people of Nahendeh. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
