Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. The wildfire season this year is off to a slow start thanks to cooler temperatures in May, right across the territory. It has only been in the last week or so that things are finally starting to warm up. Hot weather is predicted through June and July, with temperatures well above normal. These are prime conditions for wildfires.
As of this week, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has responded to one wildfire in the Northwest Territories. This fire is suspected to be human-caused and is under investigation. Mr. Speaker, it is critical that residents use extreme caution with campfires while out on the land. This is especially important early in the season, when the land is often dry. People planning to do spring brush or grass burning must get a burn permit and make sure they have water and tools on hand to put it out.
Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 presents some unique challenges this fire season. Staff at Environment and Natural Resources have been preparing for months, learning from other parts of the country whose fire season begins weeks or months before ours, and have established best practices to keep our fire crews and communities safe.
Large fires require a large response, Mr. Speaker, many people working closely together, eating and sleeping in close quarters. Physical distancing is not possible on your way to a fire, whether you are travelling by aircraft or by vehicle. Setting up pumps and pulling hoses around a fire needs teamwork and people working alongside one another.
That is why we have put in place new health and safety measures for our wildfire operations this year. Fitness testing and training and camp protocols have been modified to limit group sizes; new briefing formats keep face-to-face interactions to a minimum; and surfaces are more frequently cleaned and sanitized. We are also monitoring the health of our fire crews and staff on a daily basis.
Mr. Speaker, wildfires also produce a lot of smoke, which can be hard on residents with existing health conditions. In a worst-case scenario, wildfires can require community evacuations. Physical distancing would be extremely challenging while evacuating large numbers of people, and add additional stress on the communities, residents, and emergency responders.
This is why we have adjusted our wildfire response strategies this year to take into account the additional challenges of COVID-19. To limit the risks to our fire crews and communities, we will aim to catch fires earlier. We will also be more aggressive in how we fight fires to keep them as small as possible. As I mentioned, large fires require a large response, and we want to keep the number of crews on a fire to a minimum and try to avoid bringing in crews from outside the NWT. Under certain conditions, we may also need to put in place fire bans to reduce human-caused fires and consider restricting burning when the fire danger is moderate or higher.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize fire as an important and necessary part of the forest ecosystem. Historically, Environment and Natural Resources responds to less than half of the wildfires on the landscape in any given season. Each fire that is actioned increases the risk of fire in future years. This is because forest fuels build up to a point where controlling new fires becomes more challenging and can result in greater human, financial, and ecological impacts. While more fires will be actioned in 2020, not every fire will be fought.
Environment and Natural Resources has reviewed the additional COVID-related measures for the 2020 season with the Chief Public Health Officer and the Departments of Municipal and Community Affairs and Health and Social Services, which are in support of the plan. Environment and Natural Resources will continue to work collaboratively throughout the season to ensure a coordinated effort.
Mr. Speaker, it is so important, perhaps now more than ever, that each one of us does our part to prevent wildfire. This year, Environment and Natural Resources launched a new contest to encourage residents to FireSmart their properties while maintaining physical distance from others. I encourage Northwest Territories residents to take part. Clearing brush, raking leaves, even cutting your lawn, can help keep your home safe.
Finally, I would just like to remind everyone to be careful on the land. Do not let your campfire become a wildfire. By reducing the number of fires in the Northwest Territories this summer, we can all help keep our fire crews and our communities stay safe and healthy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. April and May are a time in my region and my community that everybody is out on the land, going out ratting, spring hunting. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of our residents have taken it upon themselves and have been encouraged to take their families out on the land. Many in my community have been out and headed out onto the Mackenzie Delta to seek refuge and safety to help stop the spread early on in the COVID-19. There has been some financial support to get more families out for supplies. People have built some new cabins along the Delta, and some have been there since even before my time.
Over the last couple of days, I have been hearing and seeing residents in my community watching the water levels, worrying about their cabins. Water levels in the Beaufort-Delta are the highest levels recorded in the past 17 years that Environment Canada has on record; it was up to 16.5 metres. Last time, in 2006, it was 16.35 metres. Many residents in my community have been forced to leave their cabins. Some had water rising in the middle of the night and had to plan to get out the next day by helicopter as a result of the water rising.
Mr. Speaker, in some cases, people have had to leave a lot of their personal belongings and have suffered great loss to their cabins, their personal property. Today I will have questions for the Minister of MACA on the resources available to our communities who are suffering as a result of the high water levels in the Beaufort-Delta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the issue of capital spending in the NWT, specifically for Fort Smith. I would like to see a new territorial fire centre for the NWT to replace the existing fire centre in Fort Smith. As we all know, the NWT fire centre has the important role of being the first responders to any territorial forest fires. Not only does the fire centre operate across the NWT, but the fire centre also has signed agreements to assist with large forest fires across Canada, as well as internationally.
Geographically, the South Slave region is the northern-most part of the Boreal forest, making this area the most vulnerable to large wildfires. While all NWT communities can be affected by forest fires, most of communities within this area are also surrounded by miles of Boreal forest, which has the potential to create problems within the communities, especially when it involves emergency evacuations.
The NWT fire centre must be state-of-the-art and contain the highest degree of technology and equipment, including fibre optics. The fire centre needs to have modern technologies to assist any communities who require assistance with wildfires. The new facility will also require a large warehouse to contain all the essential equipment that is needed to export personnel responding to wildfires.
Mr. Speaker, it is essential that our NWT fire centre be on par with national fire centres across the country. The territorial fire centre not only serves all of the NWT but has agreements about assisting national and international fire centres when needed. In return, the NWT fire centre also relies on national and international firefighters to assist here at home when wildfires turn out of control, threatening our communities and resources.
The fire centre has the essential role of containing and maintaining the locations of wildfires, firefighters, and national and international exports. Mr. Speaker, for those very significant reasons, we must ensure that we continue to provide both Northerners and southerners with the most up-to-date technologies and equipment in regard to fire centres. I will have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Microphone turned off].
[Translation] Mr. Speaker, there has been success in the regions. I would like to say they have had on-the-land addictions programming in the past. One such program was held in Gameti at Faber Lake in the '90s. An elder ran the program for inmates, with a focus on both counselling and teaching survival skills.
Mr. Speaker, another project that was very successful was in the Sahtu region in the early 2000s. It was also operated by an elderly couple, with a focus on traditional skills and lifestyle. They did a lot of helping and healing. We know, in that sense, that they would be able to help and to motivate our people by teaching our ways of life. [Translation ends]
[Microphone turned off] ...operated by our respected elders, our teachers, our counsellors, and our mentors. Our elders are considered traditional doctors, specialists, and professionals out on the land. They are able to provide advice, life experiences, and continuous support. They have been successful in the past, Mr. Speaker, and can fill the gap that this government has been unable to fill, specifically aftercare programming. I will have questions for the Minister of Health at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker. Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the previous sitting, I discussed Marine Transportation Services, or MTS, as it is referred to. It is time to review the management and operations of MTS. It has been three years since the asset purchase, and we have stuck our head in the sand and let it operate as is. MTS was purchased to ensure uninterrupted freight services to the communities along the Mackenzie River and the coast. It quickly morphed into something more that includes providing services such as vessel repair and private charters.
Mr. Speaker, it is time this government identify what we are trying to achieve with MTS. I would like to see an up-to-date business plan confirming business structure options for MTS and planned areas of service it offers to third parties. I need to know how the current relationship this government has with ORSI will impact the future of MTS.
ORSI appears to have unfettered discretion in how it operates MTS based on a contract that I have not seen. How many extensions have been made to the contract, and have there been any concessions made by either side? I would like the contract to be made available, if not to myself, then to the Standing Committee on Economic Development. We have to understand where we are headed. As it affects Hay River and the communities it serves, it is of importance to me, other MLAs, and the residents of the NWT.
In a subsequent Member's statement, I stated that ORSI is currently supplying MTS with marine management and other personnel. Constituents continue to raise concerns with hiring practices, contracting practices, purchasing practices, and to date, it appears minimal improvement has been made to address those concerns. Furthermore, we may now see negotiations between the union and ORSI take place in the very near future. What impact will those negotiations have on this government and delivery of goods and services to the communities?
My overall concern continues to be oversight, or lack of it, that this government has with respect to the management relationship between MTS and ORSI. These concerns have been unaddressed for too long, and we need answers now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Member's Statement on
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our GNWT staff and the Chief Public Health Officer for all their work and sacrifices during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Our residents have also endured a lot and deserve our thanks for their patience and calm during these unprecedented times. On May 12, Emerging Wisely was released by the Chief Public Health Officer. It is the phased approach to easing of restrictions for the NWT. I have some personal experience with risk assessment, having developed a plan for the small NGO I worked with before becoming an MLA. I support the rigorous, systematic, and comprehensive approach taken with our plan and certainly appreciate the amount of time that went into its development. I also support the conservative and staged approach that it takes. It is very complex and has the level of detail that I would expect to see. Thank you again to all of those who put what I imagine to have been countless hours into this detailed and well-thought-out plan.
Plain language materials and information in all the official languages will be critical to the public understanding and accepting the plan. I am still waiting for the communication plan, Mr. Speaker. The graphics and material on the Department of Health website are helpful. We also need these or similar materials in all our official languages. My greatest concern is the reliance on Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission for reviews and/or inspections to develop risk assessments and mitigation measures. I want to make sure that the Commission has adequate capacity to do the amount of work that is headed its way. We don't want a lack of capacity to cause delays in businesses, facilities, NGOs, programs, and services from opening. I will have questions later today for the Minister Responsible for the Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Member's Statement on
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all have a collective responsibility to do more to make sure our Indigenous languages thrive. This is not an easy task. Young speakers under 25 are much are more likely to gain fluency than those aged 25 to 45, due to a result of intergenerational shame from residential schools and other complicated factors. We have lost a few generations of speakers. I believe there is much more we need to do. There needs to be more oversight in the programs we are delivering. I believe many of the single-class programs we are offering right now are simply failing. We need immersion programs for our Indigenous languages, Mr. Speaker, particularly continuous and reliable land-based immersion programs, which will lead to language transference. No one ever learned French from a single class. In fact, no one really learned any subject from a single class. You have to have immersion as an option.
Now is the time for this work because this is our last generation of people whose first language is an Indigenous language. I am not convinced that we are winning this battle. We have no time to delay this work. If we deliberate and fail now, that is it. There go five millennia of knowledge, or 13 or 65 millennium. Succession plans need to be in place for Indigenous peoples to be the territorial authorities over their languages. Mr. Speaker, we have many amazing language holders who have been teaching for over 20 years, but, if they are not producing more language speakers than we are losing, then this is a losing battle.
The first step along this battle is to make sure we have the proper data in place. I am not talking about the census data, and I am not talking about the work that is been started in schools. We need to be tracking every single year for every single language, whether we are producing more speakers than we are losing. Absent us doing that, Mr. Speaker, we will all see Indigenous languages go extinct in our lifetime. Then perhaps these interpreter booths around us and the translation work we do will just be a reminder of our collective failure. I will not be part of seeing any Indigenous languages go extinct, and the first step along this is making sure we are clearly and honestly measuring how much of a problem this is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT's decision to close schools for the remainder of the school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, I am in full support of. I am very happy they made that decision. I am concerned about the impact of our students' success, though. Almost overnight, students were sent home. The expectation that the parents will take the role of the teacher has left many parents, also working full-time jobs, feeling overwhelmed. I am not worried so much about the households where parents were able to shepherd their kids through the crisis at that time to keep them learning and doing their weekly schoolwork. I am worried about the families who were already having troubles before COVID-19.
Unfortunately, too many households in the Northwest Territories are affected with problems of poverty, addiction, violence. For many students, the school offers respite from the difficulties at home. Now these kids are expected to learn at home. Even the households that parents can cope with the schooling have no Internet access or computers or planning skills for the students to succeed. Of course, there have been some successes, too. I want to acknowledge especially and thank the Beaufort-Delta District Education Council and my DEAs in Nunakput fro making sure that food vouchers were given and making sure kids were fed and ready to learn.
With the release of Emerging Wisely, it looked like the GNWT was ready to immediately resume the school year. Mr. Speaker, I am relieved that that is not the case. Schools need to prepare their classes to resume in the fall, but they are past early days in this crisis. It's now time to start planning on how to resume our classes in the fall and to make sure our academic year is not a write-off. I want to see our kids moving to the next grade when the school year resumes, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the GNWT is going to move the NWT economy toward recovery, it must commit to a fundamental change in how it relates to and supports northern business. Last August, the 18th Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment tabled a report identifying what is keeping northern businesses out of government procurement through four themes and two recommendations.
Mr. Speaker, the report first identified a need for consistency, clarity, and transparency in the procurement process. Northern businesses need to understand what the government wants and know where to access that information. The second theme identifies the need to attract northern businesses more effectively. Committee found that multiple local businesses felt disadvantaged competing for government contracts because the invitations to tender reflected a limited understanding of the unique situation of northern businesses and that there is a disconnect between the intent of the policy and reality on the ground. The committee suggested that the GNWT include northern hire requirements and contracts, ensure businesses know about opportunities under $25,000, divide large projects into smaller ones, and adopt solutions to increase competitiveness of northern businesses, for example, requiring southern firms to have joint venture agreements with northern businesses.
The third theme is related to communications. The GNWT needs to better understand NWT business capacities. I have spoken with northern businesses passed over for work after being told they did not have the capacity to execute the contract, only to be hired in turn by the southern business chosen by the GNWT. The GNWT needs a fundamental change in its dealings with northern businesses. Government must stop acting as the gatekeeper and start being the facilitator of our future. The fourth theme is support-related. We need to ensure the government is supporting the growth and success of northern business through mechanisms that support prompt payment and continued professional development for those who work within GNWT procurement, to make sure they fully understand procurement policies, how to apply them, and the importance of working to solve the northern procurement debate.
Mr. Speaker, the report recommended that the GNWT establish a procurement advisory panel and a comprehensive review of all procurement policies, with a view to modernizing the procurement process to the benefit of all northern businesses. I look forward to hearing from the Minister of Infrastructure on how we can improve the GNWT's procurement process and support our local businesses as we work together to rebuild the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to talk about the cost of the speed of home Internet and home Internet rates in the NWT, and how we're all connected during this pandemic. One thing I've noticed during this crisis, and I've mentioned this before, is that many of our territory's long-standing issues, such as lack of housing, lack of access to healthcare, and also lack of access to high-speed Internet, have all been amplified issues for people across the NWT.
Internet need in particular has been more pronounced than usual, especially because everyone has been required to stay home for a couple of months on end. There are some positives. I was really happy to see, from our government, there was a mover from this side of the House to assist some of our students, so I was really happy to see that. Last night, when we were sitting in Committee of the Whole, and it really made me think about this today, we talked about meeting via teleconference for session or committee meetings, that I couldn't do that if I was sitting in a place like Lutselk'e. We need to work on this and ensure that we do see that all our small communities are connected and up to par from what we see in other parts of the world. For that work, to get to that point, we're going to need some will from industry and our government to see that happen.
I want to bring to people's attention in this House, Mr. Speaker, that there was a capital plan that will see a fibre optic link go from Taltson through Simpson Islands up north. Through that plan, Lutselk'e was bypassed, so that's an issue. Right now, I'll state that, arguably, Lutselk'e has the worst cell phone and Internet connectivity in the North. If you are working for, say, a business or the band in Lutselk'e, you'd have so much trouble downloading a document. If you're trying to communicate with one of us, even myself, it's really, really, hard, so we need to work on that.
With that, I will talk a little bit about some Internet packages that we have around the world. I'll ask the House here, Mr. Speaker, for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I'll be brief. The average Internet connection speed around the world, one of the fastest in the world is Taiwan, so that's pretty fast. The Canadian average is 30 megabytes per second. Comparatively, just to give a glimpse of what it's like in the North, in Alberta, their fibre 300-plus package is 300 megabytes per second, and that's unlimited. One of the kind of mid-range packages for Northwestel, their 50 package, is 50 megabytes per second, and that's not unlimited, so you're only allowed 200 gigabytes. So, if we get more unlimited packages in the North, that would be really good to see, and bring us up to par for the rest of the country and the rest of the world. Marsi cho. I'll have some questions for the Minister of Finance later.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, today. What are the steps the government is taking to ensure that there is no child left behind in the up and coming school year, during this pandemic response? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a big question. There are 10 different education bodies and 49 different schools in 33 different communities, so a lot of different steps have been taken. As the Member noted, school was closed in mid-March, and the decision to close it for the remainder of the school year was made, I believe, on about March 26th. The reason for that is because the authorities and myself felt that, if you waited every two weeks to see if we would reopen, we wouldn't be putting the effort into delivering distance learning, and so the decision was made to close the schools for the remainder of the school year and put our efforts into preparing ways to educate students when they're at home or when they're out on the land.
Depending on where you were in the territory, there have been different methods taken. There was an assessment done in every community on how well different types of education would work, how many students had access to the Internet, how many students had access to computers. If those were low numbers, then that school would primarily be using a paper-based distance education. There have been lots of those done. There were no layoffs in the schools. All of the support assistants remained working, all of the teachers remained working, they continued to provide food programs. Many, many things have happened, and I could stand up here all day and talk about it, but the point is that an amazing effort was put in to ensure there was a continuity of education.
Now, has that worked as well as having in-person classes? Absolutely not. There is no way it could. Parents don't have time to teach when they are working full-time from home. Students need to be in school, there are no two ways about it. While much has been done, I will say that it's no replacement for in-person classes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I really want to highlight again from my Member's statement that our local DEAs in the Beaufort-Delta did an awesome job, and still are doing an awesome job, on a paper base, giving weekly homework for the students. I'm just wondering: is there any possibility with the local DEAs to assist the students who are home and not conducive to learning in regard to computers and stuff like that?
I'm not sure if the Member is speaking about students who don't have access to computers. In those cases, students have relationships with their teachers and, right down to the level of teacher and student, there was outreach. Teacher have done their best to connect with every student and ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn. In a number of locations in the Deh Cho, and I believe up in the Beaufort-Delta, as well, there were initiatives to distribute computers, Chromebooks. There were other jurisdictions where they were lending out their equipment. In communities where students might not have Internet, the schools would extend their Wi-Fi out into the parking lot so people could come and use the Wi-Fi, so every effort has been made in that sense during this school year. As much as could be done has been done.
I'll mention that I was on a call this morning with 17 education ministers from around the world, and we were all facing similar issues. In the United Kingdom, in Singapore, in Germany, all of these places have the same issues, and so we have done as well, I would say, as most other jurisdictions. We're also competing for supplies, as well. While we wanted laptops and Chromebooks, so did everyone else. So there were a lot of pressures on us, on the education system, but everyone really gave it their all and have been working full-out since the closures.
Yes, good job on the teachers phoning every second or third day to the students in my household. What is our government offering for counselling for supports for students who require immediate help?
Just like all the teachers and support assistants are still working, so are all the counsellors. Every school counsellor in the territory is still working, and they have continued their relationships with students. So, students who they were meeting with on a regular basis, as soon as the schools closed, they reached out to those students and continued those relationships. ECE and the education authorities did our best to let all students know that those counsellors were still available to speak with any student, so it's just not the ones who already have relationships. They're still available, and they're still available to speak with counsellors.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What's the TA's and the school's plan to start getting ready for the opening of the school year to prepare their classes and schools for opening in September? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As soon as the Chief Public Health Officer released Emerging Wisely as well as the backgrounder document related to schools in which she made the recommendation to reopen schools, the department and the education bodies and the NWT Teachers' Association have been meeting on a daily basis, working to plan for next school year. Now that we know the requirements, we can start the plan. What ECE has done is, they've created a framework so that we have some continuity across the territory, we have a common framework to go by. Schools are now creating plans to open schools and abide by the orders of the Chief Public Health Officer. We're looking at doing some bigger schools and some smaller schools, medium sized schools, just a range, and then submitting those to the Chief Public Health Officer, getting feedback, and then that will help us plan for the rest of the school. This work is well underway. There's a bit of a reprieve. Right when the schools closed, everyone was working full out. Things sort of calmed down a bit, and they're going full out again, and people are putting in a lot of time to make sure that students will be safe when they return to school in September. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I'm talking about the floods in my region. Can the Minister of MACA provide me with any resources available for residents in the NWT dealing with floods? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are actually a couple of disaster relief programs that people in all regions can apply for in the Northwest Territories. One is through Municipal and Community Affairs. It's a Disaster Assistance Policy. It more works with things, infrastructure, roads, et cetera, deals with private properties, but it's about primary properties with that one. The other one that we deal with is the harvester disaster compensation program, and that's through ENR, Environment and Natural Resources, and it provides support to NWT harvesters when they suffer loss or damage to their assets, to help them with their harvesting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm glad that our Madam Premier is the Minister of MACA as well because then I can ask her if she can commit to ensuring these resources are advertised and readily available to the people living in the Beaufort Delta right now dealing with the floods that are currently happening.
Absolutely. The GNWT is known for not being the best communicator, but this Assembly is trying to do better, so I will make sure that Municipal and Community Affairs reaches out to the community governments, to the communities, let them know what services are available. I do know that the Minister of ENR has also got regional representatives in the area that can provide information to harvesters, as well.
With this flood this year being the highest, in 2006 I remember we lost a lot of cabins. I think back to when I was a child, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and having to be moved from my bed, out the window, into a boat, because our cabin was flooding. This does happen, but it doesn't happen as often as we have seen it lately, and the water seems to be rising. With climate change causing the changes in the Arctic and the Delta so drastically, more than anywhere else in the country, is the government looking at ways to assist our region to help the harvesters to be able to prevent their cabins and the damages to their properties in the future, if there is money that we can look at as a government to help move them, raise them, all those types of things?
