[Translation] The students that are going to school, let's try to help them as much as we can, and that is what you are trying to do, which I am thankful for. When students go to college, we want them to return into our community and have jobs available for them. [Translation ends]
The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, he and I think a lot alike, which is great. I would like to ask my last question. He may not have the stats today, but I would like to get that information from him: how many students did we hire last summer in their fields of studies, either graduates or in existing programs? That information will be valuable for the Members across the floor here to work with a Minister at the appropriate time.
I believe we hired around 300 summer students in the GNWT, but I am not sure how many are in their actual field of study. I think the Department of Justice hired all the law students from the Northwest Territories last year, actually, though. You know, we are making some progress, and I look forward to making more, but, you know, these are all good points, and I will continue to advance this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, the planned transformation of the polytechnic university must be made public to the people of the NWT, especially to the residents of Fort Smith, where the headquarters is now situated. Morale and stability of jobs must be protected. My question to the Minister is: will your department be accountable and transparent and consult with the ongoing concerns of the community of Fort Smith?
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague for bringing this forward. I completely understand the concerns. We had a foundational review, and the third party who did the review of the College suggested moving the headquarters to Yellowknife, and so I understand why there was this concern coming out of Fort Smith.
You know, Fort Smith is the headquarters, as they say. It is the home to the corporate services of Aurora College. I believe there are 40 jobs in corporate services. There has never been a plan to move that out of Fort Smith. There is not a plan now to move it out of Fort Smith. There has never even been a discussion about moving that out of Fort Smith, so I want to give the Member that assurance.
In terms of the engagement she talked about, one of the first things I did, again in the first meeting I had with the Aurora College transition team, was talk about the level of engagement that we have. I said that, if you want to be successful in this transition, the staff has to buy in at Aurora College, you know, the staff in Fort Smith. I made that point very clear, and so, going forward, we are on the verge of creating some working groups within the College, so that a staff will be fully engaged in developing and implementing plans going forward. There is going to be a three-year strategic plan that Aurora College is developing.
Right now, there is an online survey that any member of the public can fill out, and that is open until January, I believe, 10 of 2020. We are going to do a regional needs assessment that will include engagement with Indigenous governments and communities across the territory.
The other thing I said in my first meeting was that, you know, this Assembly committed to implementing the United Nations' declaration on the rights of Indigenous People, and I am not going to get ahead of ourselves in the mandate, but it is clear that we need to have more engagement with Indigenous governments. I wanted to make sure, and I told my department that we need to have the right kind of engagement with Indigenous governments. The department is going to reach out to the Indigenous governments and define what that engagement is going to look like, and that includes Salt River, and that includes the Metis in Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure that engagement is one of my top priorities and not just for the sake of saying, "We did it," and checking a box. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Microphone turned off] ...assurance to commit enrollment in all of the courses is not frozen in any way or form, business continues as usual at Aurora College headquarters must be maintained.
No question?
No question. I want to make sure that the business is [Microphone turned off] that there is…
Member, please wait for your light to come on.
Okay. Sorry. Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure that the commitment to enrollment in all courses continues as usual. I want to make sure that Aurora College, at the Aurora College headquarters -- because some of the courses have not had any student intake, and, therefore, I want to ensure that the business continues as usual and the enrollment is not frozen in any way, shape, or form.
I think we all know, in 2016, the intake for the social work diploma program as well as the teacher education program was suspended, and those programs are currently undergoing program reviews. These aren't just regular program reviews like the college would normally do. These are academic program reviews that are part of a new framework that are up to national standards. They are, let's see, the Ministerial Statement on Quality Assurance of Degree Education in Canada, released by the Council of Ministers of Education, is what we are conforming to. The college, as it was, has been around for 50 years. It should have been, you know, the jewel of the North in terms of education but for a number of reasons, the academic standards and the quality were allowed to slip.
What we are doing right now is we are implementing reviews to ensure that that doesn't happen again. We are implementing reviews to make sure that we create solid programs that serve the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories, and we are putting the structures in place to ensure that we don't get to that place again where we need to suspend those programs.
That is what is going on right now, so I am not going to say that we are reinstituting the Social Work and the Teacher Education Programs this year or next year, because those are being reviewed. The goal of this is to create a polytechnic university in the North that will serve the needs of Northerners and give Northerners the best possible education. That is the goal, and that is how we are going to base our decisions on what programs to deliver.
I think I would appreciate a commitment from the Minister of Education to visit the community of Fort Smith and Aurora College early in the new year to assure the residents of Fort Smith that proper consultation on the plan of transformation to the polytech university is discussed.
As the Minister of Education, I plan to travel to lots of different schools, and, of course, I plan to travel to the college. I am not sure what the schedule is for the new year. It has been relatively busy. It is hard to find a free moment. At some point in the new year, at some point, I'm sure, in the first part of next year, I will be travelling to Fort Smith, and I will be having discussions with staff.
I am always open to sitting down with the Member, as well, and having conversations. The Members are the voices of their communities, and I want to hear from the Member about what she has to say. I get emails all the time from concerned citizens, as well, and I read those and consider that information. My door is always open.
Once we have the proper standing committees, as well, I am more than happy to give a presentation or have the department give a technical briefing to the standing committee. I wanted to put that out there, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the honourable Premier. As I mentioned in my statement, Ministers in the last two Assemblies received mandate letters from the Premier. In fact, the Premier herself would have received her own for her different portfolios. My first question is: how did having a mandate letter help or hinder her? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The provision of the mandate letters that were provided to me as a Minister in the 18th Legislative Assembly helped to reinforce the priorities and the mandate commitments that were made by all Assembly Members during the 18th Assembly. They kept me focused on the needs, but they did not limit me. I must make that clear. They did not limit me in what my powers were. They gave me a guideline. They said, "You must do these," but I also appreciate that I had the freedom to move the departments as I felt was appropriate, based on the needs of people.
My followup question is: does the Premier, then, consider the letters to be valuable enough that she will provide mandate letters to her Ministers, and, if so, when can this Assembly expect to see them?
Absolutely. I think that the mandate letters are necessary. They provide a guideline for what I expect from Ministers. They also provide a tool that can be used by the Premier to judge if the Ministers and the departments are complying with the mandates for the Legislative Assembly.
I will continue that process. I had said that before. I will have my own. I know that the mandate will be developed by all of us in this Assembly, taking ownership as Cabinet for the final document, but I have said time and time again during when I was elected and before I was elected that one of the components that I will have is that they work closely with all Members and all stakeholders. That is key to me. We have talked many times about the need to work better, and we are committed as a Cabinet to working better.
Thank you to the Premier for that. My next question was partly anticipated by her last answer. In addition to talking to Ministers about their tasks, what kind of direction will the Premier provide about working with Regular MLAs and, in particular, strengthening the consensus part of consensus government?
Any Member who is sitting in this House today who did not hear very clearly during the candidates' debate who were all vying to become either Premier or Ministers, it was very clearly heard that MLAs were not happy that they did not have a say. The public, I believe, was not happy that we did not work as closely as we had to. Again, that will be in my mandate letter of expectation from Ministers.
Not everything will be in a mandate letter; it is impossible to do that, but I personally will be holding Ministers and departments to account when they do not provide standing committees and Regular Members as much information as possible, recognizing that sometimes decisions have to be made in a hurry. Our commitment is that this government is to work as closely and respectfully as possible with the Regular Members.
Thank you, honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Premier for that answer. My final two questions are whether there will be any input from Regular Members into the mandate letters and when the mandate letters are expected to be complete. Thank you.
I'm conscious of time. We began the process of developing the mandate from the list of priorities approximately a month ago. We are still in the draft stage. We are presenting to standing committee again, I believe, on the 14th, and that will be a process. We have committed to tabling our mandate in the next sitting in February. We will abide by that.
My fear is that providing the mandate letters after that will take another two or three months, and so what I am proposing is that Regular Members who have an interest in having some feedback into the mandate letters, aside from the mandate commitments because those will be defined, but if they think that there are areas, then I am more than willing to accept their feedback. They can send them to me. They can walk into my office. I will not commit that I will meet every one of them because that is a decision that has to be made, but I am open to hearing their feedback. In fact, I am soliciting their feedback, is what I am doing at this point.
There are also other chances for Regular Members to have feedback. The mandate letters is one area. The mandate process that we are going through is one area, but we also have main estimates that will be coming up, capital budgets, business plans. During that process, Cabinet Members will be providing to standing committees their projections, their wishes, and standing committee will have time in that to actually give feedback to Ministers, as well, and then, of course, challenging on the floor and Committee of the Whole. The mandate letters, the mandate commitments, are not the only opportunity for Members to have feedback.
I have heard clearly that Members will be holding us to task. Their job is to hold us to task and keep us accountable, so I expect that to come forward throughout this Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, for many years, we have discussed the modernization of the Public Service Act. With over 5,000 public servants providing essential programs and services to nearly 45,000 Northerners, it is our responsibility to ensure our public service is competent, efficient, skilled, results-oriented, managed in a transparent manner, and supported to maximize their effectiveness.
A modern Public Service Act would allow us to provide clearer staffing processes, build a framework for successful union-employer relations, strengthen and celebrate teamwork, and implement a fair process for the safe disclosure of wrongdoing. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm that the Government of the Northwest Territories intends to update the Public Service Act during this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a matter that is of significant importance to me, as well. I am pleased to have this question from the Member. The need to modernize the Public Service Act is really overwhelming, the last substantive review, of course, being back in 1988.
With that, I am pleased to be able to say that it is my intention to bring a bill forward to amend the Public Service Act early in 2020. A significant amount of work was actually already completed on this during the previous Assembly, back in 2017. I have already been briefed on that work, and I have already requested that the department work without delay to bring this matter to a point where we can have it dealt with within the current Assembly.
We are conducting some final pieces of consultation with some of the key stakeholders who played a role in that initial work from two years ago, and it is again my intention to have a legislative proposal to standing committee for consideration in the February 2020 session. After reviewing and responding to any questions standing committee may have, of course, the bill would then be drafted for Cabinet approval, with my hope that it will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly in due course.
As part of the legislative review process, what public bodies will the GNWT engage as they modernize the Public Service Act? How will constructive participation be assured? Thank you.
Again, I appreciate the question in that ensuring that we engage the stakeholders, in particular the unions, Union of Norther Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association, is critical. Both of those organizations, as key stakeholders, were significantly involved two years ago, during the initial consultations, and it is critical that they be involved again before this matter can actually progress in any real way. Again, making sure that they are involved and that the relationship with those unions is renewed between the government and the unions is of critical importance to me and to this government. It is important that we strengthen that relationship.
I am pleased to say that both the UNW and the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association have been provided already with reading materials about our intention to proceed with proposed updates to the Public Service Act and that their feedback will be taken into consideration, of course, as we progress to have amendments done on this act. Currently, the Department of Finance is doing that engagement, and that kind of engagement is what will make this a success, ultimately.
Another critical stakeholder, Mr. Speaker, is, of course, the public servants. Department of Finance, back in 2017, held focus groups in person in Fort Smith, in Inuvik, and in Yellowknife, with the assistance of a facilitator, as well as collecting feedback broadly online and through other forums. The public employees were also encouraged to provide that feedback anonymously in the online tool.
I would also note that we are conscious that the Northwest Territories Power Corporation also needs to be engaged and have their feedback taken into account as they were in 2017 and as they would need to be in the renewal of that process.
All of the employees, the unions, and the general public, of course, will have an opportunity to be engaged throughout any consultation progress that would be led by the standing committee as this matter proceeds, again, hopefully, in early 2020. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. During an ENR presentation last month to the Priorities and Planning Committee, there was mention of a caribou management plan. What was amiss was the Bison Management Plan. I would like to recognize that the community of Fort Providence is on the doorstep to the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. My question to the ENR Minister is: I am interested to know if there is an updated Bison Management Plan and if the community of Fort Providence is aware of such. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mackenzie Bison Management Plan was finalized in 2018 to provide guidance on the management of the herd. The plan was developed collaboratively by the Mackenzie Bison Working Group, which included representatives from GNWT, Indigenous governments, and other key stakeholders.
In regards to community of Fort Providence, I have similar issues in Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte. Bison are known to come into the communities of Fort Providence and cause conflict in the community along the highway. ENR works collaboratively with the communities to respond to bison in a number of ways, taking steps to avoid attracting bison into the community, highway, and airstrip; herding bison out of the community if they come in and are causing injuries; and ultimately removing persistent bison that cannot be herded out of town. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is kind of ironic that I chose this topic today as I went into the local restaurant here and they were serving bison stew. I had myself a hearty bowl of bison stew. I guess what I am trying to get at is that we really miss having that stuff as part of a food staple in our community. The residents of Fort Providence had previously been issued bison tags to harvest bison for food. Since the anthrax outbreaks a while back, all that has ceased. I am just wondering: what is the update on the issuance of bison tags to the community of Fort Providence?
Under the Mackenzie Bison Management Plan, the community can harvest up to 1 percent of the population for cultural, ceremonial, and safety concerns through a permit issued by ENR. ENR has received a request from the First Nations and the Metis Council for a permit to harvest four and two bison, respectively. We are working with Indigenous governments right now to see how we can help them.
My final question to the Minister is: how often are the bison tested to ensure a disease-free bison herd within the sanctuary, and when was the last testing?
I haven't been briefed on that depth of it right yet, but I am willing to work with the Member. We will set up a briefing with him with the department so he can get that information moving forward, the same as if committee wishes to have further information.
I think Minister Simpson talked about it: it is trying to work together. We are willing to do as many technical briefings as we can to engage the other side and the public to make sure we are informed and we make wise decisions. I will make that offer to the Member to set up a meeting.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact that the final report for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women was released on June 3, 2019, which both the Premier, who was then the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, and I had attended this event, can the Premier advise if there is any progress to the national action plan to address the 231 Calls for Justice from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report that the NWT has agreed to, as part of my understanding.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Normally, questions on this topic would go to the current Minister responsible for the Status of Women. However, in discussion with it, because I was the previous Minister responsible for the Status of Women, it is appropriate that it would come to me.
There were commitments made in the 18th Legislative Assembly on behalf of Cabinet. We had committed to being part of the national action plan that would be done by the federal government, of course waiting if they got elected again, which they have been. We did a high-level review of the report, and we identified not specific questions, but more of a thematic kind of approach to the inquiry itself, to the release of the report. That was tabled in the House in August last year.
My commitment is carrying it forward. We do have a new federal government. I have brought up the government to Minister Carolyn Bennett when I met with her two weeks ago. Our current Minister for Status of Women has just taken part in the federal-provincial-territorial meeting two weeks ago. That was in Victoria. We are committed to carrying forward this work.
Many of us in this House are Indigenous women. We know the pain. We know the suffering. We hope that not all of us are impacted by missing and murdered, but women in general are being hurt on a daily basis. We have heard that. Indigenous women have been neglected by society; I know that. This government commits to moving forward with this file, to doing whatever we can within our power to address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and, of course, the needs of the LGBTQ2S population.
I am happy to hear that. Can the Premier advise if there is a plan or any progress on an NWT action plan to address the 231 calls for justice from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report?
During the end of the last Assembly, we did develop an interdepartmental working group to address this issue. It was put on hold through the election because we had to be respectful of the incoming Legislative Assembly. Very happily, I am now the Premier of this 19th Legislative Assembly, so we will definitely be picking up the work. We will be reinstating the interdepartmental working group to look at every recommendation in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report that was filed. Like I said before, we are committed to working with the federal government and across jurisdictions to address this issue. It is not acceptable, Mr. Speaker, and we are committed to doing our part.
