Member for Nunakput, please seek unanimous consent to conclude your statement. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. It would also demonstrate that the GNWT is not using arrears as a means to punish the ones who have not paid their rent, but rather that the GNWT is doing everything in its power to encourage responsible tenancy.
Mr. Speaker, I am encouraging the Minister to seriously consider this proposal. It will give people in public housing a way to move forward and maybe even towards the goal of eventual home ownership. I have been encouraged by this Minister's willingness to work with Members on this side of the House. I'm sure she will recognize the merit of the idea, and I do want to say that I feel strongly about this and will make a motion in this House to direct the work, if necessary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to speak a little bit about small businesses and self-employment in the NWT and the state of our economy, and our unemployment rates. Last week, on March 6, 2020 the NWT Bureau of Statistics released a report on the labour force activity in the NWT. As of February 2020, the employment rate in the NWT is 63.5 percent and appears to be trending downwards. This is concerning to me.
I feel that, as a government, we need to ask three main questions when we observe a statistic like this. First, what are we doing in each of our government departments to help keep employment numbers up? Secondly, what are we doing to assist business and industry to help them retain and train their employees? Last, what are we doing to help the public gain meaningful business and employment opportunities?
Mr. Speaker, in my reply to the budget address last week I mentioned that business, particularly small business, will be the key to getting us through this financial and economic stagnation or decline we are currently going through. To put it in bush terms, I feel like we are slowly moving through the slough water financially, right now, and I feel there are definitely a lot of things we can change and improve on.
If one wanted to start a small business, they would need to be aware that there are many resources out there to help them realize their dreams. For example, the BDIC is a great resource to help start-up businesses to grow and be sustainable. There are loans for financing and training available for those who wish to go out there on their own and start a new business.
Mr. Speaker, there are also options out there for those who wish to be self-employed. Our economy needs more tradespeople out there in the workforce. We need to see more plumbers, electricians, mechanics, cooks, hair-dressers, etc. These trades I mentioned are transferable skills and can be used anywhere in the world, and they are crucial to our economy and we would be helpless without them. I want to applaud all these tradespeople and I am hoping that our government will do what they can to keep people in these trades in the territories.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like the see the people of the North know that there are resources out there to help them to be employed through not-so-traditional methods. We want to give people hope and for them to know that many successful businesses all started with one simple idea. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. I am tongue-twisted today.
---Unanimous consent granted
As I was saying, we want to give people hope to help them know that there are a lot of businesses out there that were successful in the past, and they all started with one idea. With that, I would like to ask some questions to the Minister of ECE. I would have liked to ask the Minister of ITI, but she's not here today. Marsi cho.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. For years, now, the GNWT Public Accounts published the names of NWT students who have received remission of their student loans. The schedule contains the individual students' names and the amount of each remission. Since the review of the 2014-2015 public accounts, the Standing Committee on Government Operations has recommended that the Department of Finance stop this practice. This information used to be published in a Schedule of Bad Debt Write-offs, Forgiveness and Student Loan Remissions.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner questioned this disclosure of personal information in correspondence with the Department of Finance that was tabled in the last Assembly and said: "Is it necessary for the program and/or for public accountability for students to be required to give up their financial privacy to take advantage of a program designed, by its very terms, to accommodate the forgiveness of debt in certain circumstances?"
Finance undertook an internal privacy impact assessment that did not seek outside views or assistance. The Information and Privacy Commissioner was not consulted, despite committee's requests. Finance separated student loan remissions into its own schedule beginning in 2018 but continues to publish individual names and amounts. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment now requires students to agree to have their identities and loan remission amounts published as a condition of getting such loan remissions; hardly free, prior, or informed consent, Mr. Speaker.
I sought advice from the Legislative Assembly's law clerk on this matter. The clerk found that there is no legal basis to continue to disclose the identities of students getting loan remissions and the corresponding individual amounts. I believe strongly that the Department of Finance is subjecting NWT students to an inappropriate level of disclosure that is inconsistent with standards applied elsewhere in government. I intend to continue to press Cabinet to modify this practice as soon as possible. Mr. Speaker, I do want to recognize that there is a new collaborative spirit and approach from the current Cabinet, and I have been pleased to work with them on this issue. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is about some important work done near the end of the last Assembly and which I hope will continue. I'm talking about third-party reporting of sexual assaults and third-party oversight of sexual assault files. Mr. Speaker, here in the NWT, we have high rates of sexual assault, especially for Indigenous women, and low rates for reporting that crime. Statistics Canada found that only one in 20 sexual assaults are reported to the police. The reasons for not reporting are diverse, ranging from shame and guilt to the perception that sexual assault is not a crime. In order to increase rates of reporting, some jurisdictions have set up third-party reporting, where someone who has experienced sexual assault can go to a non-profit organization, for example, and make a report rather than go directly to police.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice brought a group of people together to discuss this issue over two days last June. They came from all regions of the NWT and from non-profits, victim services, health authorities, the RCMP, and the GNWT. According to the What We Heard report, the group anticipated there would be a high volume of sexual assault survivors who would use this third-party reporting service if it was implemented. They saw the major benefit as giving survivors a barrier-free opportunity to tell their stories and feel heard. This change may also help to improve service delivery to survivors. They identified the major challenge as whether NWT non-profits with paid staff have the capacity to take on this responsibility. It may be possible to train staff in existing organizations to provide this service when protocols are agreed for collecting and passing on the information.
Mr. Speaker, the other issue discussed was third-party oversight of the RCMP files. The point of this initiative is to increase public confidence in the way police respond to sexual assault complaints, by reviewing their files. The review team could make recommendations about conducting more interviews or ask questions. The RCMP has already completed the privacy and security work required to make this kind of advocacy feasible, and review teams are in place in Ontario. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful that the Department of Justice has completed this step, and I hope to see it implemented without any delay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to speak about carbon offsets. Firstly, a carbon offset is a credit for greenhouse gas reductions achieved by one party, that can be purchased and used to compensate the emissions of another party. Mr. Speaker, there are a variety of carbon-offset schemes, and some have proved to work better than others. Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak about not just simply buying carbon offsets but the possibility of selling them and using what is an increasingly larger and larger market with billions of dollars to access and fund projects in the North.
The Northwest Territories is extremely well suited to access carbon offsets and to purchase them, for the same reason, Mr. Speaker. Getting all of our communities off diesel is not an easy task. It will require significant investment in infrastructure. The whole point of carbon offsets is to allow energy organizations and communities to find funding for projects that would not otherwise be feasible. As governments around the world start to wake up to the reality of climate change, we are seeing an increase in the purchasing of carbon offsets. More and more companies are being faced with regulatory requirements to lower their carbon or greenhouse gas emissions. I hope, Mr. Speaker, we can get the air regulations in place during the life of this Assembly and make that the case here. I see carbon offsets as a pivotal tool in growing our renewable sector in the North, as well as a safeguard for a number of our protected areas and our boreal forest. We've seen the Department of Environment and Natural Resources begin to access federal money for replanting.
There is plenty of opportunity for the Northwest Territories to become a leader in selling carbon offsets. We've seen these used in the Amazon rainforest. I see no reason why they can't be used in the boreal forest, Mr. Speaker. There is significant amount of money on the table to be invested in carbon offsetting, and, with more and more projects meeting the qualifications for certification, I believe it is prudent for our government to take advantage of that market and to assist our constituents in doing the same. We have seen the federal government begin to take these steps. I don't want to leave that money on the table. I want the Northwest Territories to be a leader in carbon offsets. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes questioned the health Minister about repatriating NWT residents with disabilities currently living in southern residential placements. These are long-term care arrangements that displace persons with disabilities. More than two-thirds of these men, women, and children are living with cognitive disabilities. Over the last seven years, the cost of southern placements has increased by 77 percent, to $30 million per year. Over this sitting, we have heard Members speak about how Indigenous persons represent 99 percent of children in foster-care, upwards of 85 percent of the inmates in correctional centres, and 90 percent of our homeless population. Mr. Speaker, the sad fact is that 90 percent of residents in southern residential placements are Indigenous. Recognizing the negative impacts caused by removing people from their families, culture, communities, and lands, we must not support the continued dislocation of Indigenous people out of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, continuing the removal of NWT residents living with disabilities reinforces and legitimizes systems of care that perpetuate the dislocation of Indigenous people from the territory under the guise of care. It does not allow for the integration of these people into our communities, which is a benefit to our society. In some instances, families have reported being too fearful to seek help for the care of a loved one living with a disability for fear of losing that family member. Southern travel from our remote communities is expensive and means that some families suffer permanent segregation.
If we continue to increase spending on out-of-territory residential southern placements as we have in recent years, program spending could reach $50 million per year by the next Assembly. This isn't only about the government's bottom line or even about human connection; this is about rights, Mr. Speaker. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People Article 9 states that Indigenous people have the right to belong to an Indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the community or nation concerned. No discrimination of any kind may arise from the exercise of such a right.
Mr. Speaker, this Assembly has committed to implementing UNDRIP. One way to do this is to minimize the use of southern placements to those cases where no other alternative is possible and to instead develop approaches that invest in territorial supports, community care networks and training, and made-in-the-North care models that support keeping our Indigenous residents with disabilities at home while increasing northern caregiver employment opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Just going back to my Member's statement on self-employment and trades, I have questions for the Minister of ECE. My question is: what programs are available in the NWT for those interested in the trades vocation? Marsi cho.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If someone wants to get into trades, there are a lot of ways to do it, of course. We offer trades courses at Aurora College here. There is more emphasis being put on the trades at the high school level. Our career development, it's a different name. The officials from ECE go into the schools and talk to the students, and tell them about other career opportunities. They are having those conversations with students now, saying that trades is a career that you can get into. That type of work needs to happen more and more. I know, for a long time, trades was sort of a secondary consideration, but the fact is it's good work.
Over the past couple number of years, the labour numbers in the NWT have gone down, but the number of self-employed people has actually gone up, has increased by 500, and trade is a perfect way to become self-employed. There's always work if you are a tradesperson. There are a number of programs. I won't go through them all right now. I'll let the Member ask some more questions because I might just answer them all if I keep going on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I'm glad that his department is going into schools and promoting trades. That is something we need to start earlier with the kids. My next question is: what is the department doing to promote trades and self-employment initiatives in the NWT as a whole?
One of the things that ECE is committing to doing is creating a blue seal certification program for journeymen or journeypersons. This is something that exists in other jurisdictions, and what it is is the technical aspect of being a journeyperson plus a business component. This is something that requires that the people who get the certification have those business skills. It's an additional thing that people can strive for. There is also the ECE self-employment program, in which the department will work with clients to help support their business idea. There is funding for courses to attend training, for books, for tools, for travel. ECE will help facilitate meetings with BDIC as the Member mentioned earlier, and they can help come up with a business plan. If someone is committed to starting their own business, whether it be trades or anything else, there are programs that are available. I can provide more detailed information to the Member, as well.
Just to give a little context on this one here, I used to work for Diavik and for the community's department, and we used to go to places like Wekweeti and Whati and stuff. I remember going to school. We were trying to explain trades to very young grades, and we couldn't get through to them. Finally, I said, "You know, I think I have a good example." I told a grade 6 term, "You know how, in Star Wars, there's Jedi's? You don't just become a Jedi overnight. You have to become a Padawan first. You have to train under somebody, and then you become one. That's how trades works."
I guess, on that note, I want to know what the Minister is doing to promote trades in our schools, in grade school?
. As I mentioned earlier, we have the career and education advisors. What they do is they have those conversations with students, starting at grade 7, so it's not quite as early as the Member is speaking about, but they start letting kids know about their options early on so that those students can then make sure they're taking the right courses to get where they need to be. We also have the SNAP program, which is something that's available all over the territory, although it does take some partnerships; it's not something you can just roll out. There are a number of things like that, and, like I said, we just need to do a better job, and I'm working on this myself, in promoting the trades. Trades are great occupations. I don't really like to have a boss, necessarily, and, if you have a trade, you can be your own boss. Always, that work is always needed. You can work in a big company. You can work on your own. You can work in a small community. You can work anywhere. Trades are great opportunities, and we really need to get that word out there and make sure that we are guiding the students who want to go down that path down that path.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. I spoke frequently in the last Assembly about the benefits of involving third parties in sexual assault reporting and oversight of police sexual assault investigations. I believe that these initiatives will allow us to provide better services to survivors and to get a better idea of barriers to reporting and resolving cases. My question for the Minister is whether she supports moving forward on implementing these changes in the NWT. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has already alerted me previously to the fact that there is a report produced on this matter in June and that NGOs and stakeholders met at that time. Since then, Mr. Speaker, there's been some update, which is that the RCMP continue to engage with the proposed review committee and that, meanwhile, the GNWT Department of Justice is also putting forward a second meeting of the same stakeholders to review progress with respect to having the NGO group come together. So I say all that, Mr. Speaker, because the degree of support or program develop that will result will depend very much on what happens at these subsequent meetings, when we hear back from these same stakeholders, to determine exactly how they want to see this program unfold and that that will then better inform my ability to stand up in the House and explain the nature of the program as it goes forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. What we are proposing here for the Northwest Territories isn't new. It's not even new in Canada. There is third-party reporting in place in the Yukon. There is third-party oversight of police files available in Ontario. It is my understanding that the RCMP has already done the preliminary work to make this happen. Given that landscape is already fairly well formed, what are the barriers to implementing these changes in the Northwest Territories?
There are two different things that are at issue. First, with respect to third-party reporting, that certainly would provide another avenue of reporting, another way in which victims can come forward, and arguably in a way that would provide some flexibility and alternatives when people may not be in a position, for whatever reason, to attend the RCMP. That said, the model that is being looked at at present involves non-governmental organizations or victim service providers who are not necessarily GNWT employees, so, of course, we need to ensure that those individuals or those organizations have the capacity to deliver the training and capacity to then deliver any kind of services in order to perform the function of third-party reporting. I certainly don't want to underestimate what that might entail or assume that those agencies would have the ability to take that on. We would want to ensure that either they have that capacity or that we are able to support them in developing that capacity.
With respect to the third-party oversight, at that point, the Member points out that this is happening in other jurisdictions. However, wanting to work with our RCMP partners to ensure that, when this is happening or if there's going to be third-party oversight, that that is done in a way that is respectful of their operational processes.
I appreciate the Minister is being cautious, but the fact is that the stakeholders who were at the special meeting in June of last year were uniformly in favour of these initiatives, recognizing that there were some issues to be sorted out. What I'd like a sense of from the Minister is how long it's going to take to work through the considerations that she has named in order to put these services in place.
I understand that the next round of stakeholder engagement is actually scheduled to take place in April of this year, so only just next month. At that point, there will be a review of what work has been done so far, what programs have been undertaken to this point. At that point, if in fact the various NGOs and stakeholders, victim services providers, and organizations are able to say that they can roll out and move forward, I would anticipate that there won't be a stop put in place, but the Department of Justice would be there to support their provision of those services. We do need to hear back from them, being partners in these programs. As I say, I expect that that's going to take place next month.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. I just want to point out what a glacial pace this is moving at. I've spoken about it for, say, three years, and the consultation happened in June, and the follow-up is happening in April, so I really am concerned about when this is actually going to happen. I wonder if it makes sense for the government to put out an RFP for a service provider and work specifically with the respondents to that RFP in order to launch the service, rather than doing more consultation and then moving on to an RFP at some other point?
I had been hoping that I could simply say that I would commit to get back to the Member with the results from April. I am more hesitant to say that I'm going to put out an RFP based on the fact that I don't know what the reports of the pilot will say. That said, as I've said, the GNWT doesn't want to hold this back. If the stakeholders are in support and they are able to undertake the project and to continue it forward, the GNWT is not going to stop third-party reporting from moving forward under those circumstances. I think the best that I could perhaps do for today is to say that if, in fact, the reporting comes back and the pilots come back as being positive and that there is capacity to move this forward, then, at that point, the matter will move forward and it will move forward in a fashion that is timely, keeping in mind that we have June session where, if I haven't issued an RFP or if the department hasn't issued an RFP, then, by that stage, I would expect the Member to be asking me questions again, and hopefully it would be much easier to commit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I previously asked questions on carbon offsets to the Minister of ENR and, in time, I will ask them to the Minister of Infrastructure to make sure that any green energy projects can access what is an ever-increasing pool of funding, but I guess, since it's money-related, I will ask the Minister of Finance today: can the issue of carbon offsets be provided to the relevant climate change committee and a policy document be produced?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, in contrast to some of my previous responses, I'll just say yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate that answer. The importance here is that carbon offset pools are increasingly becoming a more and more common, larger pool of money to tap into. The federal government is looking at setting up a credit scheme nation-wide, and I don't want the Northwest Territories to be left behind. One of my concerns with this is that it's not really built into our energy strategy or our climate change strategy, so I want to make sure that we look into this properly. Can the Minister work with her counterparts in Infrastructure and ENR and make sure there are some clearer points of accountability for who is responsible, ultimately, for the many aspects of carbon offsets?
I think I have all-around good news on this one. There are two different questions coming out of the Member's question just now. The first was with respect to the carbon offset program that is being developed by the federal government, and I am pleased to tell the House that, indeed, Department of Finance officials are already working with their federal counterparts on this so that we certainly will not be left out, and we want to ensure that we have an appropriate place at that table.
Then, second, with respect to having a clear point of accountability, this is, again, good news. Climate change is a project that is receiving collaboration from a real whole-of-government approach. Many departments are involved, and that is a positive thing. It's bringing together the many different facets of this issue. I acknowledge the Member's point and the challenge he is having asking questions of Cabinet, and so I would certainly commit to ensuring that there is a clear point of accountability that can answer to all of these different facets, or that I can direct to Member to which aspect of the collaboration will respond to questions. I will make sure that that is communicated.
I appreciate that answer, and I recognize that this is a new area, but I think carbon offsets and carbon trading are only going to get bigger and they are only going to become a greater source of revenue for the Northwest Territories and green projects. I'm happy to hear that we are working with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada to make sure we have input into that carbon credit scheme that's being developed nation-wide, so I guess my question to the Minister of Finance is: can we direct the staff who are doing that to make sure that the priorities of the North, and perhaps a carve-out for northern credits and our unique situation, are reflected and we advocate for that in that policy?
As I said, the Department of Finance is already active on this file. They are already engaged at the federal level, and the point of engagement at the federal level is always to ensure that the people of the Northwest Territories and the needs of the Northwest Territories are being fully considered. I am confident that that will happen. I am confident that that will happen in the follow-up to this conversation here in the House, and I am quite confident that, indeed, if carbon offsets are a direction that the federal government moves to, we will be, as I've said, engaged and involved and we will not let ourselves fall behind on the issue.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
