Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I just checked the coronavirus special webpage on the Department of Health and Social Services website, and the last update there is yesterday at 9:08 a.m. That's more than 24 hours that it's been without an update. Can the Minister tell us what the plans are to actually update this webpage? Look, our residents, they want timely information. We want to make sure that we instil a sense of public confidence and that we have regular updates. What are the plans to update this webpage? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just reached out to my department and I have been recently informed that the website hasn't been updated since yesterday, and we are working on that and we will have something ASAP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that. Can the Minister tell us, though, what is going to be the regular schedule for updates? Is it going to be once a day? Is it going to be more than once a day? If the situation starts to change, what will be the schedule for updating the webpage and getting timely information out to our residents?
We don't have a schedule now, but the website will be updated as required. So, if there is pertinent information that needs to be put out there, we will have it updated, but we will work on a schedule.
I want to thank the Minister for that. Can I just make a suggestion that the schedule itself actually be posted to the website, so our residents know when it's going to be regularly updated and whether it's once a day? I hope it's a little more often than that. Look, I was looking at a Johns Hopkins University website that shows coronavirus around the world. It's updated regularly, live. I want to get a commitment out of the Minister that the schedule for updating is actually going to be put onto the website itself so that our residents know what the frequency of the updates is going to be.
I think that's an excellent idea from the Member, and that is something we will have a look at, to make sure that the residents of the Northwest Territories know when things will be updated to the website.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I hope that she more than just looks at it; that she actually directs her staff to do this. I would like to know from the Minister whether there are any changes from the last posting to the website, which shows zero cases of coronavirus in the Northwest Territories and 54 persons being tested. Is there an update that the Minister can provide us right now? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
As of now, there is no update. We still have no cases in the Northwest Territories, positive, from our results of any coronavirus here in the Northwest Territories. I would also like to let the Members know that we will have a briefing with our Chief Medical Health Officer after we're done session today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Mr. Speaker, I did have questions for the Premier, so if you could put me back on the list. Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Finance regarding the coronavirus. My first question is: have all departments completed response plans?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, all departments have been acting on emergency preparedness now for some time, and there are response plans being developed by every department. Business plans are being looked at by every department to plan for the contingencies, and I believe the next meeting of all deputy ministers, in fact, is this Monday to determine whether or not they need to run any special scenarios in anticipation of the change in situation. I hope that answers the Member's question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the coronavirus gets to a more serious stage and we have confirmed cases, can the Minister of human resources speak to steps that will be taken in regard to remote work, to make sure that continuity of government occurs and those who can work from home, because they're in isolation, are able to?
Yes. This is a whole-of-government approach that is being taken right now. All of the departments are involved, multiple Ministers are involved, multiple deputy heads are involved, and I certainly can assure the Member and the public that various scenarios have been run, starting firstly with the health Department and their staff, but also including all the other staff and the essential services that are provided throughout the communities. They're considering the fact that we have to fly people into communities to provide those services. Everything from power and housing, straight down to corrections, all departments are aware of these important situations. They are planning for current situations, but also should there, in fact, be a need to change and to amplify what's being done, that is being looked at by human resources, as I say, in part, but also by all of the other departments in lead and also the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs who are engaged at the community level and who are taking a lead in terms of emergency preparedness.
I want to just emphasize that I believe the most important thing is that the Chief Public Health Officer is the key lead here, and we should clearly be following the best advice of medical professionals. I was hoping that the Minister of Finance could speak to steps that are taken to ensure that our government is not hosting large events and any of the steps based on the advice of the Chief Public Health Officer to limit the, kind of, contact and transmission throughout the GNWT, because our staff do travel often.
Yes, our Chief Public Health Officer does have significant authority and has been very much involved with Cabinet and with all of the government in terms of identifying potential events to which she would want to exercise her authority to cancel an event, and she is doing so in a way that is responsive and continuously responsive as the situation has unfolded with COVID.
Notices have gone out to communities. Notices have gone out to Indigenous governments in order to bring their information in to the public health officer and to the GNWT so that all of these different parts can be working together. Notices continue to flow between levels of government and will continue to do so in response to the public health authority, who continues to meet with the Chief Public Health Officer. I certainly can say that, as I think has been the message here this morning, there is a lot happening, but all of those parts are communicating, and there's a lot happening in the background and a lot of information that is flowing between all of these different levels of government from our Chief Public Health Officer, who has remained very much engaged at this level, but also on the national level.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Minister of Health. Can the Minister confirm; just a second here. I'll back up a step. In the South Slave, and in, I guess, the territory, we continue to have air traffic and vehicle traffic coming in and going. Is there a plan in place to address and monitor this situation during this virus issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our department, we are working with what we have. We will enhance messaging. We are all very busy, all of our departments, and I take this opportunity to just commend the staff and the department for all of the hard work that they have been doing. Yes, our department is looking at some of the traffic control and what does that mean. Again, we have our Chief Medical Officer here with us this afternoon to explain what's going on in terms of flights and travelling and how does that impact the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Earlier, the Minister of ECE said he didn't have the authority to direct some matters. I am asking, I guess, myself and the people in the NWT, we're looking to this government to take leadership in developing the plans to keep people safe, remove fear, and make sure that any untrue information is taken out of the equation. Can the Minister of Health confirm the chain of command within her department or the government as we deal with COVID-19?
Our Chief Public Health Officer has her own jurisdiction, and there is nothing that the Minister can override. She makes the final call on all decisions when it comes to anything that affects the residents of the Northwest Territories.
She has the authority on anything; it's pretty well anything to do with health, but we have other issues, like flights coming and going. We have traffic on the road. There are other areas that we have control over, as well. Is that correct?
At this point in time, that would be the decision of the Department of Infrastructure. If the department of health declares a health emergency or if, through the Emergency Measures Act, a state of emergency is declared, both of those processes do allow for extraordinary measures to do such activities as close the highways or to protect public health and safety. As the Member is aware, COVID-19 is being monitored on a daily basis, and any decisions to close air or highways would be done in full consultation with the impacted Government of the Northwest Territories departments.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
It's been a long week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Out in Kam Lake, we have a lot of businesses that are asking a lot of questions about the coronavirus and how this may impact their businesses. I am wondering if the Minister of Finance can speak to whether or not the government plans to help support businesses that may feel hardship during this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Department of Finance began running models on potential impacts of the coronavirus already some time ago. We continue to update those models as the situation progresses, and we are also, of course, in contact with our partners in the federal government. The federal government has already announced funding coming through to all provinces and territories to support the incurring of expenses, but also to support the impacts, such as impacts to small businesses and to individuals.
In short, a simple answer is yes. We are well aware that there is going to be potential impacts on small businesses and sole proprietors, as well as individual employees of those businesses. I don't have the plans to roll out right now, but just simply to assure that looking into that has been happening already for some time, and we will continue to do that as things develop. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In regard to communicating that information, once it is available, to business owners, how does the Department of Finance plan to get that information out?
It's already been a commitment that has been made on my behalf as the Minister of Finance to do a much better job of communicating and sharing information. There are, of course, multiple channels, whether it's a website, whether it's email blasts, whether it's media releases. Certainly, if there are going to be, or when there may be, announcements that support small businesses and industry across the Northwest Territories, I am going to make sure that we marshal all of those opportunities and that we communicate effectively, clearly, and promptly to the people and the businesses in the Northwest Territories.
In regard to the $1 billion that the federal government has committed in order to support provinces and territories through expenses incurred by the coronavirus, would those funds come to the GNWT first, and then be distributed from the government to people on the ground?
It's difficult to make commitments on the part of money that is coming from a different government, but I can say that my understanding at this point is that the full panoply of options coming out of the federal government will come in different avenues. There are likely to be some direct supports to our health sector, and then, also, other supports that are going to go through the business sector. To the extent that they come through the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Government of the Northwest Territories is going to ensure that we are acting promptly and swiftly to make sure that we are supporting those who need support during this time.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I have to juggle around with my questions here. [Translation] At this time, I would like to ask a question regarding the interpreters. I wanted to ask one of the Ministers regarding the interpreters. [Translation ends]
I would like to ask questions on the language interpreters' training. I did ask that question a while back ago; now I want to follow up again. Mr. Speaker, I'd just like to know, point blank, who is responsible for providing language interpreter training here in the Northwest Territories. Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister responsible for the Official Languages Act, I can say that our department, ECE, I don't believe we are legislatively required to provide language interpretation training, but we have taken it upon ourselves to work towards that goal. Right now, there is a lack of Indigenous language speakers in the territory, as the Member knows. It makes it difficult to train interpreters when there are not enough people who speak the language to pick from. There are a number of things happening right now. A lot of those are helping us work towards training enough language speakers so that we can begin to better train language interpreters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Translation] When we are speaking in our language, without the interpreters, if we don't use our language, we will lose our language. I would like to ask the Minister at this time [Translation ends] [microphone turned off] ...partnerships in the past over the years, even through the Language Bureau back in 1990s, what is the responsibility of Indigenous governments or organizations on the language interpreter training? I understand that there are set allocated funds to these groups. Are there set targets on an annual basis, five-year, 10-year plan, to produce these qualified interpreters from the region?
I don't believe there are target numbers. It's a difficult area to create those sort of metrics for. There is money that flows through ECE directly to Indigenous governments, and they are free to do what they wish with it. They use it for language training, all sorts of different events. We don't have control over what targets they might set. We do have our action plan to help revitalize languages. In that, we lay out a number of steps we want to take to help get to that point.
The Minister alluded to an action plan. Obviously, I would like to see that plan of action from ECE, more specifically on interpreter training that is available to us. On another note, I talk about short-term, long-term goals of this ECE department with respect to working with the Indigenous governments' organizations. Question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: I understand that there is a five-year language plan. What is the status on this plan?
I can get back to the Member with more specifics on that. I actually have the second half of my languages briefing scheduled for next week. I know that we are partway through that plan. It was only a few years ago that the department really put together this division and created this NWT Indigenous languages framework and action plan because we recognized the need for concrete action. There are languages that, within 10 years, could just be not spoken anymore unless we take some serious action.
There are a number of things that have been done. We have scholarships for students who wish to learn languages. We have a mentor-apprentice program to help partner people together with fluent speakers to help them gain fluency. We are looking at additional programs that we might be able to develop. We have a partnership with the University of Victoria, which has a long history and a lot of experience in developing language programs, to help us get to that next step, as well. We support language programs in communities. I know in Inuvik, there is the Gwich'in immersion program. There are immersion programs in Fort Providence. There are immersion programs in the Tlicho area. There are multiple things going on around the territory.
This is one part of the department. There are some people who say that culture should be its own department; Language and culture should be its own department because it is very important. I want to assure the Member that it is an area I am focusing on. I think it's vital to the success of the territory as a whole. Language is the foundation of culture. I am fully committed to doing whatever we can to help revitalize it.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I am glad the Minister is recognizing the importance of language and cultural preservation. It should be. I fully support a stand-alone department. My final question, basically, is: we do have interpreters here in our booths, as you know, with so many years of experience. Most of them are on the verge of retirement. I would like to know if there is a plan in place, either now or if the department is working on one, that can be provided to me. In the next five years, next 10 years, how is that going to look? We have valuable services here. They are going to be retiring sooner than later. We need to be ready for that for the community. Is there a plan in place, or is the department working on that, as well? Masi.
