Debates of March 16, 2020 (day 20)

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have current statistics on where, exactly, the tourism industry is within the Northwest Territories; however, it doesn't take very much research to look outside our doors and see that the numbers are going down. There are two things that are happening. One, the numbers are going down, and the public is concerned that we still have tourists on our streets. I'd like to first of all say that all tourists have been asked to self-isolate when they come into Canada. We have brought up the concerns to the federal government in talking about international travel. It's really hard to self-isolate when people come into the NWT for one or two days. It is something that we're working on with the federal government and it will impact the tourism sector within the Northwest Territories and throughout Canada, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I appreciate that response. The ITI Minister previously committed to more robust data collection about impacts. That's important, but it doesn't seem like the highest priority right now. My question is: what can the Premier do to support tourism operators who have had to cancel tours and lay off staff through this spring and summer?

We are concerned about our economy. We're concerned about all businesses in the NWT, including the tourism industry. Right now, at this time, like I said, we're waiting for the federal government. They are in charge of travel airlines. We are asking for them to actually confirm how they will ensure that our residents are safe with the amount of tourists, which does imply that we're asking them to support not having travellers come to the Northwest Territories internationally, as well.

It's already impacting. We've already got letters from the tourist industry. We've got letters from airlines. We've got letters from the business communities already. The economy is going to hurt. What I can say is that we have brought those concerns to the federal government. Concerns have been voiced from every jurisdiction across Canada. Our federal government is looking for changes; they're looking at programs such as making adjustments to the EI that might be able to help people. At this time, all I can say is the federal government is aware of our concerns. They know that we're looking for some kind of economic stimulus, some kind of economic benefit for us, and they have promised to get back to us and they've promised to take the considerations of the whole territories into consideration.

I appreciate that answer. I see that the onus is really on the federal government to come up with some kind of contingency fund to assist not only tourism operators but also sectors of the economy that are currently hurting. What kind of responsibility does the GNWT have in this circumstance other than connecting with the federal government to come up with those contingency plans?

For businesses that are a little bit worried or need some extra assistance, they can contact our Department of ITI for assistance. We do have the Business Development Program that might be able to assist them in some long-term plans. We're looking at bumping up; we're working. Right now, the priority is on health and safety. I have to put that. Right now, we're scrambling to figure out how we're going to take care of our residents, our long-term care, our most vulnerable in society. At the same time, we're looking at the economic detriments, so we're looking at increase, probably, in Income Support, people on Income Support. Again, we're advocating to the federal government for EI. We're looking at tools and resources that will be able to help our industry. It's a day-to-day battle that we're facing right now, an hour-to-hour battle. Our officials, all of our Ministers, myself, we're all getting updated regularly every single day. Things are changing every day. All I can say is the federal government does know our needs and we're trying to work as best we can with our limited resources.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Premier for that. I appreciate that the focus is on health and safety, but I think that there are people and businesses who are stressed about their livelihood because, the businesses they own or the businesses they work for, they don't necessarily have generous sick times or contingency plans to keep people going while they have to be off work for circumstances that are beyond their control. I would really urge the Premier to task the ITI staff with a recovery plan, to use those federal resources when they come through, to see if there is anything that can be repurposed in our budget that would help people to continue with their livelihoods. What I'm concerned about is that we will have the health crisis, and then we'll go into an economic crisis because of the health crisis. Can the Minister assure me that that kind of planning will take place? Thank you,

The Member is correct. Once the health crisis is done, whether we end up with a huge incidence of a number of residents with COVID-19 or not, this is going to impact our businesses in the Northwest Territories. It's not only the tourism business; it's all businesses that we are worried about at this point. We are working diligently within our departments and across jurisdictions with the federal government to come up with an economic plan. At this point, though, it would be irresponsible for us to just start bailing out one or two businesses, because my instinct is telling me that more businesses will be impacted by this, so we need to make sure that we plan fully and that we have a comprehensive plan as we move forward. That is my commitment, that we're on this now and, as soon as we have some more information, we will be sharing that with the public and the business community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. What has been done about daycares and day homes? Should they close, and what is the recommendation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, our Chief Public Health Officer is busy. We're reaching out to the child development centres and to the elders' facilities. The Chief Public Health Officer is not currently advising closure of day homes or daycares. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Another question I have is: has someone reached out to the jamboree committees in the region about going ahead with their jamborees? If so, what was the recommendation, and if not, are they going to?

Our Chief Public Health Officer has reached out to events coming up, and we do recommend that, for the next three months, all mass gatherings consider rescheduling or postponing.

I am just following up again. Is there a plan in place for essential healthcare staff? With the recommendation of schools being closed, is there a plan in place to have somewhere for these children to be if their parents are mandated in to work?

As we sit in session, our Chief Public Health Officer is reaching out. There will be some announcements that will be made today that will impact everybody; parents, families, departments, everyone. We are currently working on a plan to reach out to the public.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just would like the Minister to ensure that this information is on our local radio stations and commit that paper copies are being made available to those communities and to elders and to anyone who needs them who doesn't have access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Communication is very important, especially at this time. Our department is reaching out to work with translators as a response to the Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh on the weekend. We are looking at recognizing the official languages to ensure that all Northerners have the most up-to-date information. We are working with translators to record public service announcements on COVID-19 that we have played on CKLB, CBC Radio, and other community radio stations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions, I think, will be for the Premier. The Prime Minister of Canada stated that no one should have to worry about paying rent, buying groceries, or finding childcare. I recommend that should also include not going without electricity in our northern communities, whether it's for five minutes, 10 minutes, or the day, during this time, and I would hope that the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation would stand up and take a stand on that. Also, we shouldn't be evicting people from their houses.

The Prime Minister also stated that the federal government is preparing a significant fiscal stimulus package in the coming days to help Canadians and businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak. The question I have is: when will the Premier know what types of additional resources the federal government will make available to the NWT to address financial issues that small businesses will face due to COVID-19? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Finance has a call with the federal Finance Minister this afternoon, actually, to find out that information. We do know that the federal government has put aside a billion dollars already for health issues that there may be with COVID-19. However, our portion of that monies is just under $600,000, if I remember correctly, and I have already said that that is not enough. We're dealing with the health issues, what he's looking at giving us now, and when the economy comes, my instinct is telling me that my first words will be, "That is not enough." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This government has a number of projects that will ultimately be impacted by COVID-19. These projects may be delayed for a number of reasons that include shortage of workers due to self-isolation, shortage of supplies from southern Canada, and other related reasons. Can the Premier or the Minister of Finance confirm how various departments will help small businesses address current government projects that may experience delays due to COVID-19?

I have already given direction to all of our departments to look at how we can support all of our residents in the Northwest Territories, including our business partners. ITI and Infrastructure are looking at how we can do the procurement, make sure that people are paid timely during this crisis, et cetera. All departments are looking at the influx of additional costs that are going to come. People who are going to be laid off of work will be impacting our systems, so income support is on that. We have asked for every department to now do tabletop exercises to see how they will react if people get sick and we have a public outcry for services.

Again, we don't know until the federal government comes down and allocates what the economic support will be to the Northwest Territories. We do know that there will be a downturn in our economy. We know that there is a downturn in the economy happening across Canada, so we are trying to plan not only about the financial rest tuition of businesses; we are also trying to plan currently about how we keep our supply chain open. Those are questions that we're asking now. Again, looking at the economic stimulus, after the fact is a little bit premature when, right now, we're worried about the health of people and making sure that our groceries get into the Northwest Territories.

We know that the departments have tools and legislation and policy that can assist small businesses. We don't have to go to the federal government; we don't need anything from them right now. What is this government doing with the tools that each department currently has to lessen the impact COVID-19 will have on small businesses?

Those are some of the discussions we are having right now. That is why we have given direction for the departments to do the tabletop exercises. Like I said, we are looking at procurement practices, bill payments. We will also be looking at things like loans, et cetera, how we can make those easier for people.

Again, the federal government is also doing that work. They are looking at it. There have been no promises yet, is my understanding; however, they are looking at things. Can they pump money into business development agencies? Can they take money away from mortgages? Can they look at loans? Can they look at EI? All of those factors are being looked at by the federal government, and every jurisdiction across Canada is looking at how we can assist not only our residents but our businesses, and we are all working in partnership as we go forward. Daily conversations are happening, so that hopefully we are all in the same place, because we are all experiencing the same impacts by this to different degrees.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wasn't sure what to ask on this last question, but listening to the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, I am pretty dismayed at his answer with respect to the limiters, because it is a small thing, but it means it is such a big thing.

I have a feeling that, if we are going to be, you know, nit-picking on that, we are going to be doing the same thing with evictions and housing, and both of those things have to be put aside, at least for the next few months. I would like to ask the Premier if she would commit to having a frank discussion with the Minister and with Cabinet to address these two issues? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cabinet will be meeting every day throughout this duration. I should let everyone know that now, because we need to keep on top of this, so I can commit, Mr. Speaker, that we will have conversations on the evictions, on the power rates, on the supply chains, all the impacts that will come to the residents of the Northwest Territories. I am not going to commit on what the solution will be. What I commit to is that we will have those discussions and we will be looking at the least impact possible relating to COVID-19. We cannot just shut down every collection, every business happening in the Northwest Territories, or every bill out of speculation, but we will be having those discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. We have a lot of university students who are still in NWT residence who are currently living outside the Northwest Territories to attend post-secondary. I am wondering how the Minister of education and his department are communicating with students whose schools may have closed and gone to online courses and who want to come home? How are they communicating their options with them? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an ever-evolving situation. When I was looking at the news on Friday, it was changing right before my eyes. A few schools were closing their doors, but most were moving online, as the Member said, so classes aren't necessarily cancelled. Courses have moved online.

A lot of universities are also keeping their facilities, their resources open, like libraries, and so students might make the choice to stay down and finish their semester there because they need access to those types of resources. That being said, some who have the ability to complete their entire courses online might want to come back home. We haven't communicated that to them yet, seeing as how this happened over the weekend and everyone has been working full-out, but we will have that communication with them. Students who want to return home early, depending on the status of their post-secondary education, we will work with them to provide their travel home funds at an earlier date so they can get home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the case where students are expected or end up coming home, because this is progressing quickly and we don't know where we are going to be at the end of the week, if students do end up coming home early, will the department of education be looking at what they can do for students in the event that students end up with an incomplete for the year but are still on the line for student loans?

Like I said, it is still pretty early here, but if students make the decision to come home and complete their courses online, I would imagine they would be expected to complete their courses online; but, like I said, it is an evolving situation and perhaps there are going to be situations where the online delivery doesn't quite work as well as it was expected, considering that some schools are throwing this together over the weekend. A mass of universities are trying to pull this off over the weekend. I am open to doing what we can to ensure people aren't adversely affected by this pandemic, but I can't make any guarantees at this point, given that things are still new and we have so little information.

I appreciated the question from my colleague from Inuvik Twin Lakes in regard to daycares and day homes to the Minister of Health and Social Services, and I understand that it is the responsibility of the Chief Medical Health Officer to close day homes, but I received a concerned phone call yesterday from a constituent whose day home provider in a private residence was coming back from travel and not anticipating self-isolating in her home. In that case, how is the Department of Education, Culture and Employment communicating what it means to self-isolate and who is responsible for self-isolating to day home providers?

The communication about self-isolating and about the precautions that need to be taken has been happening, I believe, since January, was the first time that the department reached out, and I will ensure that those continue to happen. Similar to the schools, I don't have the authority to close day homes, as it is being done in other jurisdictions, but if there is a serious health concern, the Chief Public Health Officer likely has the ability to close that. If people do have concerns about what is going on, they should be bringing those forward.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In regard to the Premier's comments earlier today in regard to closing schools until after Easter, does that mean that the end of the school year for NWT students will move and will be prolonged a little bit more into the summer to make up that time? Thank you.

What the Premier said was that I consulted with the Chief Public Health Officer and received advice to close NWT schools until after Easter. That is advice. I don't have the authority to close those schools.

I have a meeting today with the chairs of the DEAs and the DECs, and they are the ones with that authority. Our recommendation will be to follow the advice of the chief medical officer, which is to close schools until after Easter. What that means, we are not sure yet. We will see where we are at that point and then re-evaluate, but there are a number of options on what can happen.

In the South Slave, they haven't had spring break yet. Perhaps they just don't have a spring break and they finish early. There are things like what happened in Alberta, where they cancelled school until basically next September, so it is still too early to know what is going on, but I can tell the Members of this House that it is my desire to continue educating children even in light of the physical closures of schools. I don't want to just abandon this school year. I want to ensure that our grads, people who can graduate, are able to graduate, and I want to ensure that we don't allow our students to fall further behind by just giving up on their education for the rest of this year.

What that looks like, I am not sure. The staff in the department have been working with the NWT Teachers' Association, have been working with the superintendents and the school boards to try and figure out how we can continue delivering education in light of these closures. That is where we are right now, and this recommendation came in a few hours ago, so the plans are still in the process of being made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Just listening to some of the questions out there; I want to thank my colleagues from Kam Lake and Inuvik Twin Lakes for asking the questions. I was scratching out questions as I went along, here, but I did have one main question for the Premier: will the Premier advise if we will be distributing care packages for elders and those with mobility restrictions? What I mean by "care packages" is basically just dry goods, food, and supplies for elders, because it looks like this might be lasting a little longer than it should be. Marsi cho.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, we are not contemplating care packages for elders. We have zero confirmed cases in the Northwest Territories. If everyone does what the chief medical officer is asking, that they self-isolate if they have travelled internationally, if they are using good hygiene, if they are washing their hands, don't go to visit your elders, probably, in the long-term care facilities if you're sick, might be good advice. At this point, like I say, we have no incidences. We're not at that point that we're actually starting to panic. Those are discussions that will be coming across the table in the next week or two, though. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.