I am not 100 percent sure of the question. If it is just to ask why an American company has ended up on site, it is my understanding that the way the contract was worded, it was about employment of Tlicho citizens, not of that specific company. However, I could clarify that for the Member and return with a written answer if he would like.
We are talking about two areas: the hiring and, also, business opportunity. This is a business opportunity for Tlicho companies, local companies, but they missed their opportunity.
I will move on to a third question. I am assuming, as with any other government contract, that the process will follow to favour northern hires, northern businesses. What was the process that allowed a non-Tlicho, not just a non-NWT, but rather an American firm to service the Tlicho All-Season Road project, especially when they are operating in Monfwi borders?
I would agree with the Member that we have all had lots of discussions around ensuring that northern businesses are used on northern contracts. I can't speak to the specifics of knowing, in this particular contract, details, but it is my understanding from the department that this has all been within the contract that was set forward and negotiated between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Tlicho as well as the third party. It is my understanding that that was all decided upon together as a group. I am concerned to hear of businesses that are coming from not only southern Canada but from the US and taking work. It is definitely something I spoke to during my campaign. All I can do is commit to the Member that we will look at this and learn lessons from this and move forward.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I still can't believe, in this day and age, that we are allowing an American firm operating on our traditional land. It is very difficult to accept. I would like to proceed with the next question. Is the project meeting the commitments to use the minimum participation rate of northern and Indigenous participation? Who is monitoring this? Masi.
It is my understanding from the department that, yes, they are meeting the requirements of the contract for northern and Tlicho engagement or employment. However, I will commit to the Member, if he would like to have a further discussion with the department, we can bring departmental staff, and we can have a conversation about the monitoring that is happening to assure the Member that we are committed to engaging and working with northern companies and northern employees. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral question. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are related to the NWT Housing Corporation program delivery to the communities and directed to the housing Minister. Can the Minister ensure district program advisors are visiting the communities on a more frequent basis to advise of the housing programs and services that are available to the people? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Member, for your statement. Mr. Speaker, I will commit to having my programs' advisors who visit the community offices going forward. We do have a significant amount of programs and services that we do deliver as the Housing Corporation. Right now, we are going forward, and we are looking at advertisements. Then we are able to meet the needs of the Northwest Territories through our program delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Member, for your question.
Mahsi to the Minister for that answer. We have had program advisors visit the community recently, before the holidays, but they weren't taking down specific information on people who approached them for their program delivery. That wasn't being followed through. Can the Minister ensure district program advisors are available to assist potential clients with the onerous applications process?
Thank you, Member, for your statement. I am quite surprised to hear that the programs' advisors are not seeing the applications thoroughly and that they are not meeting the satisfaction of the clients coming to the programs' advisors. I will ensure to the Member that, when the district officers come into the community, that we do end up with a status report. I want to know what those community visits were like. I want to know how many applications were received and if they were completed or else if there was some information that we are missing. I will ensure that the programs' advisors are following up and that we are accountable as the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Thank you, Member, for your comments.
In my Member statement, I alluded to the fact that the LHOs had program advisors previously. Can the Minister advise as to when we may see program advisors continue back into our communities?
Thank you, Member, for your question. Going forward, I have realized that we have increased the population within our communities, and program delivery in our increased public housing units means that there is a need for more positions within our communities. I will be looking into this question because it is a concern to me that we do have a number of units on the ground, but the number of employees that we have currently, we need to review that. Going forward, I will follow up with the Member with the changes that we will be making throughout the community offices, the local housing authority.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Minister for stating that she will look into the position. Every year, we are always having problems with seniors and other people not being able to access a lot of the programs. There is no advertising in the communities or on the radio, and we are always having the staff of the LHOs directing clients to the Hay River office because we don't have anyone in our community to help with those. Because it's important for the seniors; they are always missing the end dates, or it's too late in the winter for servicing furnaces, and whatever else is required, so it's important to have those staff people on the ground in their communities who can help, maybe go door-to-door to really assist people. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. I didn't hear a question, but if the Minister wants to respond.
Thank you, Member, for your comment. Going forward, I am looking at the program services that we offer at the local housing authority and the district offices. I guess it is kind of disturbing to hear that all of the programs are not being met and that we're not getting out to the clients who require the services that the Housing Corporation has to offer. I have instructed my department, the district offices, to be meeting with the local housing authorities monthly and going forward and looking at that, and wanting to meet the needs of the community membership; looking at the seniors, as well, and the programs; and looking at the dates that they are missing.
I would like the Member to provide me with names of the clients, and I will have my department follow up with that as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Member, for your question.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister tell this House what the current policy and practice is for ultrasounds at Stanton Territorial Hospital with regard to family members being present during the procedure? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, family members and support persons are being allowed into the ultrasound room, unless there is a specific medical reason for which this would not be appropriate. Stanton has committed to continue to monitor the situation to ensure that this approach is being applied consistently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that, because I have a constituent who confirmed to me as recently as December that was not the case, so I look forward to the Minister carrying out the new practice. In July 2019, the practice of allowing family members was changed so that family members could not be in the same room as a patient who was getting an ultrasound, so why was that practice changed in July of 2019?
The change was based on updated Sonography Canada Professional Practice Guidelines and feedback from the diagnostic imaging staff. This approach is evolving to become the standard practice in Canada and, at the time it was implemented, it was viewed by the diagnostic imaging department to be an internal procedural change. It is recognized, however, that this was short-sighted and did not necessarily anticipate the viewpoint and concerns of the public. As such, Stanton has committed to properly engage with practitioners, patients, and community stakeholders to discuss the intent of the practice change and impact that it may have.
Ultrasounds are medical exams that require full attention of the sonographers. Additional people in the room can make the exam more challenging. The intention was to allow the sonographer to complete the medical portion of the exam first, before inviting the patient's family into the room to show them and provide them with a photo of the baby.
I want to thank the Minister for that explanation. Look, it's great that our staff are -- and I know that they work very hard at Stanton Hospital, but clearly, when a policy like this is decided internally, it's probably not in the best interests of the patients. I have reviewed the Sonography Canada Professional Practice Guidelines; in fact, I quoted from them in my Member's statement. They were released in September of 2018, and there was nothing in there about northern healthcare or any specific guidance to exclude family members during an ultrasound. Would the Minister confirm that the guidelines that I just referenced, and she has referenced, do not prevent family members from being present during an ultrasound?
Sonography Canada Professional Practice Guidelines are considered a best practice source of information to inform and to guide the development and/or revision of the NTSSA policies and procedures with respect to the provisions of ultrasound in Stanton and throughout the NTSSA.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Clearly, the practice of excluding family members during an ultrasound is contrary to Best Health, Best Care, for a Better Future; that's the vision of the strategic plan we have in place for the NWT health and social services system, and the concept of cultural safety. There is nothing in the guidelines that prevent family members from being there, so what is the Minister going to do in terms of developing a policy for chaperones for patients undergoing an ultrasound in the NWT, and how soon will we see that in place? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Stanton's diagnostic imaging department will be working to engage and communicate this change to external stakeholders, such as practitioners, patients, and community stakeholders, such as the Centering Pregnancy Program, to ensure that all points of view are captured. This engagement in communication is expected to be completed in spring 2020, and feedback obtained will be taken into consideration when developing policy that allows the sonographer to complete the obstetrical ultrasound in a manner that allows them to provide the best medical results and patient care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This question is directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I spoke a little bit about budget surpluses in my Member's statement, and my question is: in the spirit of getting our district education authorities more budget autonomy, will the Minister commit to let any DEA surpluses in our riding to roll over this year? Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member bringing this up. It's good to get this type of information out to the public. I know that, when I was a Regular Member, and even now as a Minister, there seems to be difficulty communicating with the people on the ground, with the boards, about the roles and responsibilities and the rights of education authorities.
The policy that the Member is referencing was enacted to ensure that money that is provided by this Assembly for education is spent on education, and it allows for surplus carryover that is either 7 percent of audited revenue or $250,000, whichever is greater. If this amount is exceeded, the education body has to put forward a plan on how they are going to reduce that, and that plan comes to me.
I want to let the Minister know that I am very flexible in how I am going to administer this. If there is a real need for an education authority to set aside money in order to do something like purchase school buses, then I will have that conversation. They can write to myself, write to the department, and we can begin that process. We don't really claw money back. There has never been a situation where ECE has decided we are going to take money back. Every plan has been approved so far. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don't know if there is any foreshadowing here, but did I just get a promotion to Minister? No? I just want to make sure. Thank you to the Minister for his response. I just want to make sure that there is more communication as well, and to have more meetings with our DEAs, just to make sure there is the open line communication, to make sure that I don't have to come back and ask these questions, and to work as a team.
My next question: would the Minister be open to working with our DEAs to grant their wishes and find ways to keep their surpluses?
I thank my colleague. That's why I try and say "colleague" all the time because we're all equal here. There are no promotions. We are all here to represent the public. I am happy to work with the education authorities to find ways to ensure that they can use their funds to deliver education in the best possible way. We also have to look at the fact that the funding from ECE is provided to the education council, and the education council is the one that then distributes it to the education authorities.
There is another level here that we have to look at, and perhaps the way that it's distributed by the education council leaves some authorities with more funding than others. It is not so black and white. Like I said, I am happy to have those conversations and to the Member's points, or to my colleague's points, I am trying to do a better job of communicating directly with the DEAs.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, and before I get started with my questions, I just want the Minister to know that I have read the "Doing Our Part" initial response to the final report of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Can the Minister advise us if she has read the calls for justice? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like the Member to know that it has been printed, it is on my desk, and I will start reading it. Thank you.
I thank the Minister for being honest. Can the Minister tell us what steps the GNWT is taking to fully implement the calls for justice outlined in this Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report?
An interdepartmental Missing and Murdered Indigenous working group was set up to coordinate the GNWT's response to calls for justice. This working group is chaired by the special advisor to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, and it includes appointed representatives from departments such as Justice, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment, as well as the Housing Corporation. Other departments are invited to attend to the meetings as required. This working group will be doing an in-depth review and analyze the calls for justice. A time frame has not been established for the completion of this review, but it is anticipated that it will require detailed discussions.
Has the Minister had a chance to directly speak to those who are responsible for the national action plan since being elected to ensure appropriate, sustainable, long-term funding is available to the GNWT to fully implement these calls for justice, and if not, will the Minister commit to this government and all Ministers to lobby Canada for their federal counterparts to ensure long-term sustainable funding is provided to ensure full implementation for calls to justice?
I have attended the provincial-federal-territorial status of women, and in the meetings, we talked about having commitment to look forward, going through the review.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of this new issue, with the government being a minority government, I am afraid that if we don't get moving on this issue sooner than later, that if there is a chance that the next government, if our minority federal government changes, we may not have good strength and movement on this. I would like the Minister to commit that she would push harder and get more familiar with this so that we can get commitments from our federal partners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Absolutely. That is my intent, and the Member has brought it up in the House several times, and also made it her commitment, and that is something that I will commit to looking into. Thank you.
