Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question is related to my Member's statement though on the border check point. For the number of occupants who cross the border, I am certain we could quarantine all of them for 14 days, but that would have stretched the amount of available rooms in the nearby hotels, and the nearest hotels are in Hay River. Can the Premier provide information as to the data collected from the vehicle occupants at the check points? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any person who enters the Northwest Territories and lands at either an airport or on a highway at the check points, the first thing you are asked for is a piece of identification to prove if you are a resident of the Northwest Territories. If you are not a resident of the Northwest Territories, then you are asked to provide a letter from an employer or a proof that you are an essential worker. If you are an essential worker, then we will allow you through because, if you are in the territories for more than 36 hours, you need to have a self-isolation plan. If you are driving up, like our supply-chain truckers coming, the assumption is they will come to probably Yellowknife, drop off their load, and be back at the border within 36 hours, and so therefore they do not need that. Those are the exceptions for essential workers.
If there is a person from outside the territories who is not an essential worker and not a resident, they automatically have to return, and that is dependent on airlines. There was an incident of a person going into the northern communities, and we did put them up in an isolation unit for the one night until the airline could get back. People who are residents of the Northwest Territories, besides identification, they need to have an isolation plan. If they do not have one, we do give them 24 hours' notice to get one in place. We follow up on that. At the end of every day, a list of every name that came through is compiled and provided to isolation centres, and, if they are checking into the four regional centres, then we do follow up with them. That is the information.
The amount of crossings by private vehicles is very alarming, considering the Northwest Territories does have a public health emergency and a declared state of emergency during this pandemic. There are news reports of Alberta residents and alleged drug dealers gaining entry into the NWT. Perhaps this is an indication of our lax check point procedures. Does the border check point ask for the identification of all the occupants of private vehicles and transports?
Yes, my understanding is that definitely everyone is asked for their identification. It does not matter if you are driving or riding. However, there is an issue with some things. People are coming up and, from what I have heard, it's not only across the highways or in our airplanes; it's coming from water. Those are things that we are looking at, as well. The bad thing about COVID-19 is what's happening. The good thing about COVID-19 is we are having more checks at the borders, and so we are more conscious of illegal trades that are happening at our borders.
Mahsi for that. It's been about two months since closing our border and providing a check point to screen people and recommend self-isolation. In this time, check point procedures should have paid particular attention to all occupants in the vehicles and tested them for the coronavirus. Every day that I enter this building, I am temperature tested for signs of the fever, and I haven't even crossed the border. Will the Minister commit to providing more stringent controls and enforcement officers to check points in light of this pandemic?
At this point, I have not heard that having extra staffing at the border controls was an issue. We did know that, with the fire season, some of our public health officers had to go back to their positions in departments. We are actively looking for other recruitments in that area. I would love to be able to say that every person who came across, if we just took their temperature, they would be okay, and they could come in. My worry with doing that, in honesty, Mr. Speaker, is that sometimes people are asymptomatic. Not everybody will have a temperature. If we start taking that temperature, does that give people the false security that we are okay? That is my biggest worry for this whole summer, is people think that we are in this bubble. We are not in a bubble, Mr. Speaker. We do have gaps in our border, so my worry is about the caution and making sure that people take this seriously.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
