Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Ministers' statements. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has been tasked with transforming Aurora College into a polytechnic university. This work, which will span the 18th, 19th, and 20th Legislative Assemblies, is no small task, but I am here to tell you that we are well on our way. The transformation consists of over 200 projects and 2,000 individual tasks. In order to be successful, we need to make the right changes, in the right order, at the right time.
To help keep things on track, the transformation is divided into three phases. Phase 1 is focused on strengthening the foundation of the existing college and preparing for transformation by ensuring we understand the detailed steps ahead of us. This is the phase we are currently in. Much of the work has already been completed in this area, much is under way, and there are some exciting and important projects that will be completed before the year is out.
This work will ensure that the college is ready to enter phase 2, which is where the real transformational change will begin to occur. This will require wide-ranging changes to the organizational structure of the college, a return to board governance, and changes to the Aurora College Act to ensure that governance is truly at arm's length. These changes will allow us to meet and exceed the standards that the college needs to live up to in order to complete the transformation and become recognized as a polytechnic university. This final transformation will occur in phase 3.
Transparency is the key to maintaining confidence and building trust, so, in the coming weeks, I will deliver three Minister's statements describing each of the phases in detail so that we can celebrate the successes we have already had, describe the next steps, and let everyone know how college staff, Members of the Legislative Assembly, Indigenous governments, and the public will be able to contribute to the decisions that are made moving forward. We cannot do this alone, Mr. Speaker, and we are not going to try to.
To keep the public better informed, we will be launching a new interactive web page and a quarterly report to track progress and celebrate our successes. I will share these reporting tools with my colleagues and the public as they are released.
Mr. Speaker, the transformation to a polytechnic university is a critical step in the economic and social development of the territory. We are not just creating an institution; we are helping create the future of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to highlight and celebrate the recipients of the 8th Annual Arctic Inspiration Prize, Northern Compass and The Dehcho: River Journeys. The 8th Annual Arctic Inspiration Prize Awards Ceremony was held in Ottawa, Ontario, on February 5th. At the ceremony, Northern Compass received the grand prize of $1 million, and The Dehcho: River Journeys project received $370,000.
The Arctic Inspiration Prize recognizes and promotes the extraordinary contribution made in the gathering of Arctic knowledge in the design to celebrate and bring further awareness to organizations and their plans to implement this knowledge to real-world applications, for the benefit of the Canadian Arctic and the Arctic peoples. I had the honour of presenting to Northern Compass with their $1-million prize in Ottawa last week, and would like to share with you an overview of their award winning program:
Northern Compass is a skilled team of educators, students, and community members from across the North.
The team includes representation from a program that has been supported by the GNWT over the years, the Northern Youth Abroad program.
Northern Compass provides northern youth with tailored support and tools that will allow them to overcome the barriers that they may face when transitioning from high school to post-secondary education. They aim to:
"Dramatically increase achievement amongst Northerners pursuing their education and career goals after high school, enabling them to become full participants in their communities and beyond."
The project motivates youth to graduation from high school and for them to make informed decisions about their future. It also provides support and increased access to training and programs that allow northern youth to pursue and achieve their goals.
Thank you to their nominator, the honourable David Joanasie, Minister of Education, Minister of Culture and Heritage, Minister of Languages, Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
I would like to congratulate the team leaders, Jim Snider, Karen Aglukark, Lois Philipp, Rebecca Bisson, who have put in so much time providing accessibility and the relevant resources with information on funding, housing, budgets, and other areas related to the northern students' success.
The Dehcho: River Journeys project was also a recipient of an Arctic Inspiration Award. This project did:
Travel on the Mackenzie River, from the Deh Cho to the Delta, and bridged the past and the present, offering a multi-media experience that explores how the past 100 years have been transformed on that river.
Students have collaborated on two short films, one based on materials and the other based on modern-day journeys on the river with the present-day elders. The elders will describe and explain the changes that they have seen during this lifetime.
Throughout the project, the development of the interactive and educational online experience will allow students to view the films and then use their new-found knowledge to resolve real-life environmental issues of the Mackenzie River and the watershed today.
Thank you to their nominator, Dr. Frank Tester, professor at University of British Columbia School of Social Work. Team Members include Dr. Gordon Christie, Alison de Pelham, Brian Jaffray, Terry Jaffray, Martina Norwegian, Brenda Parlee, Daniel Seguin, and Sharon Snowshoe. Thank you for your work on this project, and congratulations on your achievement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, education legacy in Fort Smith has always been a topic that has been dear to my heart. When Yellowknife was named the capital of the NWT in 1967, Fort Smith was designated the education centre of the NWT. Fort Smith's education legacy is very prominent, and we are so proud to be leading the role in this field. Many of our former leaders, including Premiers, Ministers, former and current Members of Parliament, mayors, chiefs, and others have all gone through Fort Smith to advance their education. I say this because I want to remind people of the tangible value that Fort Smith education has contributed to the development of the NWT. People tend to forget that Fort Smith has been the focal point for education for many years in this territory.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Auditor General's Report on Early Childhood to Grade 12 Education in the Northwest Territories, which was tabled last week. While there were a number of troubling aspects identified in that report, I am confident that the gaps identified will be addressed by the members of the district education authority, the local education authority, and by senior management and staff in the community of Fort Smith. In order to address the education gaps in this report, proper funding must be allocated to the local and district education authorities.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight the important work that is done at the level of the district education authority and all staff at our elementary and high schools in Fort Smith. Every single person who works within these institutions contributes in some way to the development of our children, of our future citizens and leaders. Whether it's people at the janitorial level or at the superintendent level, they all play a role in our children's development, and I want to thank them for their service, including all teachers from junior kindergarten to grade 12. Thank you for introducing Aboriginal languages and cultural-based programming with best practices to enhance the education system at all levels in Fort Smith.
Moreover, Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge and appreciate the strong academic background that all the staff at Aurora College Thebacha campus hold. We have a very well-educated group of instructors who teach in all areas at our campus, and I would like to thank them for choosing Fort Smith as their preferred venue to teach. I want them to know that our community values their knowledge, and I certainly hope that the education system as a whole for the NWT will also value their knowledge.
As Aurora College transfers into a polytech university, it is vital that we recognize the strong academic background of the staff at Aurora College Thebacha campus. Our academics and staff at Aurora College must be supported and celebrated. [Microphone turned off]
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, the staff must have a say in the development of the future transformation of the polytechnic university. Their experience, hard work, and dedication to post-secondary education must be recognized.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I want to say that, going forward into this 19th Assembly, my goal is to see the entire board of Aurora College be reinstated and to be at arm's length from the Government of the Northwest Territories. I want to see a northern-based polytech university with the highest of national standards be developed. Yes, the headquarters should remain in Fort Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2014, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs conducted a municipal formula funding review. The purpose was to update community governments and funding models, to ensure fair and transparent funding. This has revealed a significant gap between the needs of municipalities and the funding that they are provided.
The Minister of the day of Municipal and Community Affairs, the honourable Alfred Moses, advised the 18th Assembly that the gap was approximately $39 million. In 2016, in the mandate, the GNWT committed to developing a strategy to close the funding gap over the next nine years. The Standing Committee of Operations expressed concern about the accumulated impact of this funding shortfall on communities on a year-by-year basis. Committee repeatedly asked for the annual shortfall, but to no avail. Committee asked for the gap to be updated annually to see what progress was being made to reduce it. Committee pushed the Minister for a strategy to close the gap.
To report the funding gap, it was quietly tabled in the last sitting day of the 18th Assembly, making it impossible for the 18th Assembly standing committee to review the department's work. I have had a chance to read the report. The findings, Mr. Speaker, are shocking. The report says, "The total annual funding deficit for community governments is approximately $24.5 million." This takes into account the $29 million provided annually through MACA's public infrastructure policy and $16 million provided annually through the federal government's Gas Tax Agreement. This is a lot worse than a $40-million deficit over the nine years, and I am encouraging my colleagues on the government operations to review this report in detail.
Mr. Speaker, community governments are the heart and soul of our communities. This work affects the lives of every resident in the Northwest Territories. The GNWT has to stop offloading the responsibility onto the community governments and recognize how it is vital that we have to be working with them and fund them properly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to discuss oral health care in the NWT, especially for communities outside the capital. In my community, we have a dental clinic that serves not only Inuvik, but the Beaufort-Delta. That is not enough. I would like to refer to an oral health action plan released by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, ITK, in 2013. I quote from the executive summary: "The 2008-2009 Inuit oral health survey highlighted the need for urgent and comprehensive measures to overcome the unacceptably high rate of oral disease that is two to three times that of the rest of Canada."
Mr. Speaker, in the NWT, there is an Oral Health Action Plan that was created, and it is a three-year action plan from 2018 to 2021. The Minister at the time wrote in the Minister's message in that action plan: "We know that good oral health is an essential element of our overall health. We know that healthy mouths in children are crucial for adequate nutrition, growth, language development, school performance, and social well-being. Yet, dental caries is the most common chronic infectious disease of childhood and places a substantial burden on our population."
Mr. Speaker, in the same document, in the introduction of the action plan, it states that oral health is an important element of our general health. Oral health is an important element of our general health. Healthy mouths and teeth in children promote healthy growth, nutrition, speech/language development, good school performance, and social well-being. Sadly, chronic pain and tooth loss from untreated oral disease can impair a child's ability to eat, speak, sleep, and learn. In adults, oral disease has been linked to an array of chronic and systemic diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, and pneumonia.
We know all this, but yet we are still failing in providing equitable dental services to our communities. Instead of prevention, we continue to arrange medical travel for surgery for essential dental work in our children. Mr. Speaker, dental therapists used to be able to work in the communities to do this work, but, since the closing of the last dental therapist school on November 2011 in Canada, there are few left.
Mr. Speaker, we can't un-know what we know. What is this government going to do about it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tourism has been a bright light in the NWT economy, experiencing growth other sectors can only dream of. The number of people who are visiting the NWT and the amount of money they spend here are significant. I'm going to review a few numbers from Industry, Tourism and Investment. In 2018-2019, we had just over 120,000 visitors come to the NWT, and together they spent $210 million. Of that total, we had about 42,000 aurora visitors, and together they spent $67.7 million dollars. These are large numbers. Almost 16 percent of visitors last year came from China, a 19-fold increase in six years. Some aurora tour operators reported having their best December ever and looked forward to record visitor numbers in the new year. Then the coronavirus struck, and the Chinese government shut down group travel to reduce the spread of the virus.
Where does that leave the aurora tourism industry in the NWT? Media reported at the end of January that the company Aurora Holiday had more than 200 cancellations for hotels, rental cars, and day tours following the Chinese government's decision. These cancellations represented half of their bookings through the busy winter period. That is just one of many licensed tourism operators. Those numbers are for direct spending. There will be impacts for indirect and induced spending, as well. It seems likely that small businesses, especially those based in Yellowknife, will take a hit on the $67.7 million spent by aurora visitors last year.
As someone who lives and works in Yellowknife, I notice a difference. There are fewer groups touring here at the Legislative Assembly. There are fewer groups walking in downtown and walking down the hill to Old Town. It is clear to me that, once the coronavirus crisis is resolved, NWT tourism will have some rebuilding to do, re-establishing markets, reassuring Chinese visitors they are welcome, and assisting tourism small businesses to rebuild. I want to see this as a priority investment by government, given the importance of tourism to our economy. I will have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. A number of agreements were signed to formally establish Thaidene Nene as a national park and protected area under GNWT legislation in August 2019. This was a monumental achievement in terms of building a conservation economy, and was very important for the community of Lutselk'e that spent decades negotiating this area. While our government attended the signing ceremony, there was no news release, and not even a Minister's statement. Quite frankly, the GNWT had to be dragged into the arrangement and resisted it at almost every step. This, despite the visitor, operations, and heritage centre that will be built in Lutselk'e, creating initial direct employment estimated at 18 positions, including eight full-time jobs. Canada will invest $40 million toward infrastructure in the national park reserve operations in the first 12 years, and 3.4 million annually for operations thereafter. Canada has even committed to invest $7.9 million toward the establishment and operation of the GNWT portion of Thaidene Nene. The GNWT has only committed to spend $290,000 annually for the management of its portion of the protected area.
I was on the Environment and Natural Resources website recently and could not find an actual public registry as required under the Protected Areas Act. That's where I had hoped to find up-to-date information on the progress toward full establishment and implementation of Thaidene Nene. There is no public registry, and the information about Thaidene Nene does not appear to have been updated since last summer. I could find a regulation setting out the boundaries of the GNWT protected area that is a portion of Thaidene Nene, but no regulation for an establishment agreement and nothing under the Wildlife Act to establish the conservation area that is going to be part of Thaidene Nene, as well.
I will have questions later today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources about this government's commitments to building a conservation economy and fulfilling its obligations with regard to Thaidene Nene and the Protected Areas Act as a whole. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to talk about elders aging in place with dignity. I know I sound a little bit like a broken record, but I'm going to keep on with this. I spoke about this issue last night and last week, but I want to take this opportunity to touch on the issue of mobility problems not being addressed for elders.
One of our 22 mandate items is to enable seniors to age in place with dignity. The treatment I have seen from this government toward our elders is unacceptable and undignified. I sincerely hope that all of our government departments start treating elders to a much higher standard than how they have been treated so far. I know we, as a government, can do better for them. When I say that, I am not just addressing any one department. I am saying it to the government as a whole.
Mr. Speaker, I was raised to hold our elders to a very high standard. They are our knowledge keepers, our trusted advisors, so they deserve utmost respect and top-quality treatment for whatever their needs may be.
My intent with this Member's statement is not to put any blame onto any particular department, but rather try and point out and root out the pervading, systemic treatment that elders have been receiving over the years by our government. I am sensing a strong sentiment from our department that this is the way things have always been done, so therefore, we must accept it and move on. There has got to be a better way of doing business.
However, Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that I refuse to simply accept in the long term, so just consider this image for one moment. I have an elder who is wheelchair-bound, and each and every time he or she wants to enter or exit their own home, they have to have assistance to move up and down their stairs, just to get some fresh air or to go visit, and they have to be picked up and physically carried in a wheelchair.
I wanted you to think about that for a moment. Just think of if your family member or friend had experienced that day in and day out. In my humble opinion, Mr. Speaker, this is highly undignified, and it should be remedied immediately.
Mr. Speaker, in cases like these, we should be prioritizing the immediate needs of our constituents so they, at least, can enter and exit their home without any burden or worry. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Continuing on, if we truly support independent living for all elders, then let's show it. Let's start making our elders' homes more accessible for things like wheelchairs, for the walk to the bathroom, to make it more friendly to use and easy to use. If there is bureaucratic red tape for preventing this from moving forward, well, it's time to start cutting some of the red tape and allow the elders to receive the best service available to meet their needs. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT employs over 5,000 capable, hard-working Northerners who provide programs and services to over 44,000 residents. I believe the majority of public servants are passionate about the work they do and want to be as effective as possible. It's therefore concerning to hear of frustrations that come from working within the GNWT's siloed structure. The constraints of these silos are preventing the public service from making the most of what it has to offer.
Matrix organizations are workplaces that cut through silos, incorporating diverse talents and perspectives to solve tough problems. They are created when urgent problems require all hands on deck. Matrix organizations work both laterally and up and down; people are empowered to make things happen. Functional expertise and administrative accountability are serving the same ends. Leadership arises from all levels, and everyone has a role in success.
Changing our workplace culture to empower creative teams is hard, but the GNWT is making gains that we need to celebrate. The integrated case management team is a proactive matrix team run by Justice; Health and Social Services; housing; and Education, Culture and Employment. The program provides wraparound support to some of our most vulnerable. It acknowledges that not all people start from the same place and not every person requires the same supports. Over the course of its pilot term, integrated case management received 426 program referrals. This program employs pathfinders who connect Yellowknifers to a network of supports, building their capacity and confidence to access government.
Cross-functional, integrated teams can be more flexible, more creative, and more effective. Most importantly, they learn from both their successes and their failures, but they need room to fail fast and move forward faster. Our social and environmental problems are unique. Cookie-cutter solutions won't work. Much of what we need to do has little precedent. Integrated matrix teams need to be mandated and given the latitude to succeed.
Mr. Speaker, there are challenges associated with moving from a siloed to a matrix style of organization. Ministerial authority, as established in legislation, can be rigid, and legislation and policies will be required to support a matrix structure. I am pleased to see the progress the GNWT has been making. The deputy ministerial committee structure sets up cross-departmental working groups to ensure that GNWT departments are not working at cross-purposes with one another. In the last Assembly, the ATIPP Act was amended to permit the collection and disclosure of information to deliver common or integrated programs and services. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I am not clear on is whether these initiatives are happy accidents, or whether they represent a commitment by the GNWT to move to a more matrix-style organization. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement today is on fuel tank farms. I believe they sprouted up in the early years, possibly in the 60's. There were private tank farms, and there were government-run tank farms. I believe, at that time, there were possibly no rigid regulations as to the set-up and the installation of the tank farms, nor ongoing inspections.
I understand that no tank farms, whether they be GNWT or private, are grandfathered from the early years. In most instances, there are known fuel spills or leakages from the tanks, and those are damaging the environment in those areas, especially the private ones that are run by private businesses, because I understand that we don't have inspectors going onto those lands. I believe we are regulating tank farm installations. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to build on the statement given by my colleague from Kam Lake. There have been many successes of the integrated case management approach, many individual successes, but, ultimately, those pathfinders are trying to run a person-centred method of helping people in a system-centred institution.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the writing is on the wall with the upcoming evaluation of the integrated case management project. What will happen is that unit will have discovered many barriers to systemic change; there will have been many successes for people with complex needs; yet, they are not empowered to bring about the regulatory, the policy, and the legislative changes required. That is our job in this House.
I don't believe that these solutions are that complex. They require front-line workers making a "yes" the default answer. They require our front-line workers having flexibility to interpret policies that, when a person with complex needs is in front of them, they can allow the policy to work for that person. They require our departments to talk to each other and create case files for individuals with complex needs. They require our departments to email each other on the front lines.
Right now, when we want to make policy changes, we have to go up, all the way up the chain and then all the back down, and what actually should have been an easy policy shift that happened when the complex-needs individual was in front of them takes months. Mr. Speaker, we need to make housing and income support talk to each other better. We need to extend the time period that a person can be on income assistance so that they're not struggling with monthly reporting and fear of eviction and complex health needs all at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that our integrated case management unit has discovered many of the systemic problems in this GNWT. I believe that they have the solutions. The question now is: are they going to be empowered to bring about the systemic change and break down the silos in our government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Justice on integrated case management.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure if he's here right now, but, earlier in our session, my constituent and well-known photographer Pat Kane was in the gallery. I would like to welcome him to the Legislative Assembly. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, my questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. The report that the 18th Assembly did, I'm wondering if the Minister read the report. As the former Minister says, the MACA Minister, "I want to acknowledge that we are unable to definitively answer when and how the funding gap will be closed," in regard to the local community governments because of shortfalls there and people and communities are struggling. Does the Minister have any comments to this, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I realize that you can feel the funding gap very strongly at the community levels. Coming from a smaller community, I realize that, a lot of the government funding that we provide at that community level, you can feel the cutbacks. It's drastic.
Going forward, we are looking at solutions to try to work within our department to access federal funding. I don't want to elaborate on it too much, because we are in discussions about this and how we are going to be working to fulfill this, and we do have our budgets and our mandates that are just barely new. Discussions are happening within the department, and I want to follow up with the Member by email or I'll be speaking to him, because it's a very sensitive topic, and I just want to make sure that, once our department has reviewed what we have, I am displaying it for the whole of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MACA's own business plan has the acknowledgement that, "If the department remains unable to provide adequate core funding to community governments, the consequences could include the inability of community government to adequately deliver core services and maintain capital assets."
Can I have the Member repeat his question?
MACA's own business plan has acknowledged that, "If the department remains unable to provide adequate core funding to community governments, the consequences could include the inability of community government to adequately deliver core services and maintain capital assets." Is this government prepared to take the risk in having a tainted water scandal or catastrophic event result in chronic municipal underfunding of the community governments?
