The program is ongoing right now. The program as it is, as it is constituted right now, runs to the end of this fiscal year. I am sure the Member is aware we are about to go into a process of considering budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. Integrated case management will be considered as part of that process, along with everything else.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions about matrix organizations are for the Honourable Premier. My first question is: has Cabinet made a deliberate decision to move toward a matrix-style organization structure for the GNWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Cabinet hasn't made a conscious decision that says we are going to have a matrix-style of organization structure as such. We have discussed the issues of the integrated service delivery. One of the guiding principles that we actually tabled in the House here on December 10, 2019, says that we will evaluate, develop, and deliver programs and services using an integrated, client-focused, and solution-focused approach. People should not have to go to six different agencies, different departments, to actually get services. It is not okay. Sometimes the stories that people have to share are horrible, and it is not okay to have to keep bringing them up all the time. We recognize that.
I don't want to take credit for what we have done. I know that, in the 18th Legislative Assembly, this was a priority, as well. I can't say about the 17th. I wasn't part of that one. In the 18th, I know that we had a number of different departments that had working groups that worked across departments. We had deputy ministers' groups that took different issues. Our own committee of Cabinet had different committees that looked at all different Ministers with an integrated approach. That is being carried forward into this government. Again, we don't have anything that is structured, that is written down, that is organizational at this point. We are challenging our departments, and we are just forming. All Ministers will be taking part in overseeing what is going on in departments. Thank you.
Would the Premier be able to speak to any planning under way right now for any other types of initiatives in the style of the integrated case management program?
As I stated earlier, at this time, we are just kind of new into the area. We do recognize the importance of working together. Again, I will use an example that was used here tonight on how departments do already work together. We had a Minister stand up and say that Municipal and Community Affairs and ENR are working together on waste management. That does show how departments are, and we recognize they are, interconnected, that you can't do things in silos. We are trying to work better toward making sure that all the aspects are covered.
I appreciate that response. Has the GNWT undertaken any type of global research or analysis to determine how other programs or services could be delivered in the collaborative style of the integrated case management, or are initiatives of this nature left to individual departments to propose and to plan and to then go out and try to set up those initiatives together?
Again, another example of how we work together, and working together on the other side. The previous questions were about integrated case management. It kind of falls in, appropriately, to this question again. When we were doing the integrated case management, there was a lot of research done on it. The previous government, again, started this. They looked at models such as the New Brunswick framework on the delivery of integrated services for children and youth, as well as models in New Zealand. There are important lessons to be learned from other jurisdictions. Best practice says you don't always keep reinventing the wheel. You look at the wheel that is there and make sure it doesn't need any repairs. That is being done.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Premier be willing to commit to doing a study of the GNWT to see what programs we can bring together to allow us to better serve our clients across the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
As I just stated in the last question, we have done quite a bit of research cross-jurisdictionally for our integrated service delivery. We can do research for the sake of research; we can do studies for the sake of studies and plans for the sake of plans. However, we have done this research. We have the program running. It is just been evaluated now. I would suggest, honourably, that we hold back for a minute from doing more research and see what the evaluations come up with first. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Aurora tourism is a major component of the NWT tourism industry, and Chinese tourists accounted for about 20 percent of all the tourists who came to the NWT last year. Last month, the Chinese government suspended group tours because of the risk of spreading the corona virus. My question is: does the Minister have any information on the impact of the coronavirus shutdown on tourism? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do know that there will be impacts as a result of the coronavirus. However, at this time, we don't have those numbers in front of us, and we don't feel like we will really have the full picture until likely around the fall of this year, when we can look at the numbers for the season and see where we are at. I would like to remind that, while we do have a lot of Chinese visitors and they do play an important role in our tourism sector, we do have people coming from other locations around the world. While this will impact our tourism sectors and we will feel the impact, we still feel we will have a robust, vibrant tourism season. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Without data, I am not sure how the Minister can assure us that tourism will be vibrant and that there will be impacts. My specific question on this is: what kind of data is collected on where aurora tourism dollars are spent, say, by community and on what kinds of products?
Fair enough. I may be a little bit optimistic in using the word "vibrant," and I acknowledge that. I would like to hope that we will continue to see a good season. However, I do acknowledge what the Member is saying in that there is no way I could predict that at this time. Again, I also cannot fully answer what metrics will be collected. Obviously, we will be looking at things like direct impacts to airfare, cancellations on airlines; we will be looking at asking the hotels, et cetera, to provide numbers for their types of cancellations, and such; so I assume that there will be a fairly robust data collection. I am committed to sharing that with the Member when I get that information going forward.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. I would like the Minister to go beyond assuming that there will be robust data collection and order robust data collection. Further, how can the government improve the timeliness of the reporting? Fall is a long, long time from now to assist tourism marketing and planning efforts.
Let me just clarify my point, then. While I said that I did not feel like we would have a great or a full understanding of the entire impacts until the fall, I am sure that we will be apprising the public and the Members -- we will be; I will commit to that -- prior to the fall. As we start to collect the data and we can analyze it and look, we will commit to updating the Members as we progress through that data analysis, and I will commit to it being a robust data collection. As an engineer, I love data, so I will commit to that to the Member.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's commitment on that. The point about early and diverse data collection is to assist tourism marketing and planning efforts, which are obviously essential to shoring up our industry. My final question is: what efforts will the Minister make to re-establish Chinese markets, to assure Chinese visitors they are welcome, and to assist small businesses that may be impacted by the cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Environment and -- sorry, Industry, Tourism and Investment. Sorry.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have enough on my plate without ENR, so, yes, thank you .
---Laughter
It is my understanding that Northwest Territories Tourism, they are a destination marketing organization, they are actually at this point continuing to market to China, as not the entire country of China has been impacted by this. So it is our plan to continue with marketing toward China and Chinese tourists. As well, we will work with the Chinese tourism counterparts to ensure that we can communicate with them that we want them to come to the Northwest Territories, that we are still committed to them as a marketplace for our tourism products, and that we will work closely with them and help to facilitate the exchange of information between the two countries. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. In September 2017, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation released a three-year action plan with the title "Towards Level Ground: Addressing Persistent Core Need in the Northwest Territories." This plan responded to a 2016 motion supported by Regular Members that called for a comprehensive and fully costed plan to reduce housing problems identified in the 2014 Community Survey. Can the Minister please provide a report on the actions taken during the first two years of the action plan (2017-2018 and 2018-2019), including how many households the Housing Corporation assisted and:
a breakdown of the type of assistance by action and/or initiative as detailed on page 11 of the action plan;
a breakdown of money spent on each of these actions and/or initiatives by fiscal year;
a projection of assistance by action or initiative as detailed on page 11 of the action plan along with a breakdown of money spent in each one for the current fiscal year; and,
a projection of how federal money under the National Housing Strategy will assist in meeting these measures in the current fiscal year.
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1 to December 31, 2019)." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the motion that I gave notice of previously to allow us to take next week off, to allow Members to return to their constituencies.
I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on February 13, 2020, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, February 25, 2020;
AND FURTHER, that, any time prior to February 25, 2020, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Johnson. The motion is in order and is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
All right. I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Norn.
Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. I would like to move that the chair rise and report progress.
There is a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? The motion is carried.
---Carried
I will now rise and report progress.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report progress and, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. The motion is in order. Do we have a seconder? Member for Great Slave. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
Carried
Orders of the day for Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at 1:30 p.m.:
Prayer
Ministers' Statements
Members' Statements
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Returns to Oral Questions
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to Commissioner's Address
Petitions
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Motions
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
First Reading of Bills
Second Reading of Bills
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
-
Tabled Document 12-19(2), 2019-2023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories
-
Tabled Document 17-19(2), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2019-2020
Report of Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Madam Clerk. This House stands adjourned until Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at 1:30 p.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 2:54 p.m.
