If they do fall within the Disaster Assistance Policy, if they qualify for that, then there would be funds provided for that. I'm not too sure about the harvester disaster compensation program. I'm assuming that they would if there are assets that would be reimbursed. I know that one of the northern communities, Tuktoyaktuk, was actually looking at prevention. Those are a little bit harder to get. The federal government tends to just give money for the disasters when they happen. It is something that we need to keep bringing awareness of to the federal government. Climate change is affecting the North more than any other communities in Canada, and so it's important that we continue to raise that to the federal government, to look for proactive money versus just reactive money.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to add to that, just looking if there's a commitment, we as a government tend to deal after the fact in a lot of circumstances, and we're more so not always focusing on preventative, if we can as a government work to prevent some of our climate change problems. Can I get a commitment that this is something that we will try to do in the life of this government? Thank you.
I can't make a commitment that we will address climate change in this government. This is a longstanding issue. However, it would be inappropriate for any government, any Legislative Assembly, to not try to address climate change as we go forward, from now until the end of time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. As I alluded to in my Member's statement about the on-the-land treatment program, so I do have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, the first question I have is: how many treatment facilities has the GNWT operated and subsequently shut down over the past 25 years? Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has a contract right now with four treatment facilities in the South to provide addiction treatments to Northwest Territories residents. They include the Poundmaker's Lodge, which is located in St. Alberta, Alberta; there is the Fresh Start Recovery Centre, which is located in Calgary, Alberta; the Aventa Treatment Centre for Women, which is also in Calgary, Alberta; and the Edgewood Treatment Centre, which is in Nanaimo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the Minister can provide the detailed breakdown over the past 25 years, that would be great. The second question I have is: how much does the Minister's department spend annually to send Northerners out of the territory for residential addiction treatment programming? Mr. Speaker, the Minister has referred to four treatment program down south, treatment centres. How much do we spend on an annual basis?
On an annual basis for facility-based treatment, addiction treatment in 2016-2017, we spent $2.2 million and change; 2017-2018, $2.7 million and change; and 2018-2019, we spent $3 million and change. Within those, we have a number of clients who have completed their treatments. It averages about 170 clients a year.
I'd like to thank the Minister for providing that information. As you've heard, it is climbing up every year, almost $500,000 every year, that money. Obviously, it is a worthwhile initiative, but at the same time it should be happening in our region, as well. I would like to touch on the next two questions pertaining to that. The third question I have is: what plans does the Minister have to finally establish a truly successful residential treatment centre here in the territory, involving on-the-land treatment approaches and an integrated system or community-based follow-up and support program?
On an annual basis, we spend about $2 million to support Indigenous governments to be able to deliver on-the-land-based aftercare programs and community-based mental health and addictions programs. Let me just give you an example of some of the successes we have with the on-the-land programs. We have the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation's Project Jewel, which is an on-the-land camp; plus, it is addictions and aftercare. There is also the Tlicho Government, who has a men's camp. Salt River First Nations in the past had a mobile addiction treatment program in partnership with Poundmaker's. Those are just several examples of some successful programs that have happened in the Northwest Territories as a result of providing on-the-land funding to Indigenous groups.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. It's great to invest $2 million, but that's for the whole territory. As you can imagine, there are 33 communities and various regions we have to deal with. When you do a calculation, just on the $200,000 per group, that's not enough. We're spending $2 or $3 million sending money elsewhere, out of the territory. It should be invested in the Northwest Territories. My final question, Mr. Speaker, is: in the past, we had Nechi training through Poundmaker's in the Tlicho region back in the early 1990s, and we've had upwards of 26 qualified counsellors graduate out of this program. It has been very successful training with the experts from Poundmaker's, the Nechi training, utilizing their expertise. I'm just wondering, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister is willing to approach the re-establishing of this kind of on-the-land treatment program in our region similar to what we've done with the Nechi training back in the 1990s in the Tlicho region, which produced a lot of qualified counsellors. Is she receptive to that? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Just to clarify, the Department of Health and Social Services provided $17,463,000, and this includes on-the-land programming, facility-based addiction treatment programs, community-based counselling programs, youth addictions programs, withdrawal management models, addictions aftercare, actions in support of addressing homelessness and addictions, and prevention and promotion activities. So, I mean, we all sat here last week as I was going through my department's budget and I just wanted to clarify that we do provide more than just $2 million to any type of program. We actually spend a lot of money on it and, you know, if there are programs or initiatives out there that are successful, absolutely, that is something our department will look at. We are currently in the process of doing an RFP for out-of-territory services, so this is something the department can have a look at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of ENR explain the last time that the NWT Fire Centre has received any major updates to its operations facility? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For that detail, I'll have to get back to the Member, because that involves a lot of work with the department to get that information. I'll make that commitment to reach out to the department and get that information for her. Thank you.
Can the Minister explain when the last time an evaluation was conducted to determine whether the Government of the Northwest Territories is providing our firefighters with the best resources available for addressing wildfires?
Every year, our department works with our firefighters to get there, but I think maybe the Member is talking about the facility itself. With the facility itself, there was a planning study done and a design in place, and a new facility has been identified, where the land is going to be, so there are drawings and there is a plan in place right now.
Can the Department of ENR confirm whether the NWT does, in fact, have the latest technologies and equipment that is needed in addressing the wildfire safety of all of our communities and resources?
We do have the equipment that we need right now. Can we get the most modern technology? That would be great, but right now the existing material that we have and the equipment that we have, and our staff is amazing, they're recognized internationally and nationally and they do get asked to be out there. So, right now, we do have the equipment we need right now. Could we have more? Yes. It would be great if we had the most modern, but, right now, we have the existing equipment that we need for them to do their job.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, I know that ENR staff are amazing. Does the Department of ENR consider it a priority to update and upgrade the current Territorial Fire Centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member will be very happy to hear that, yes, we agree it is important. What we're doing is we're looking to find the funding, because we have a whole bunch of priorities in this government of the Northwest Territories and there are a lot of competing needs within our infrastructure needs, but we are working outside the government, as well, to see if we can find that funding to help get this facility upgraded to its needed state that the Member has been advocating for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our NWT Aboriginal Framework states that the alarming reality is that all of our Aboriginal languages are in decline, and, furthermore, our Action Plan 2018-2022 commits to updating the language indicators collected in the NWT Bureau of Statistics community survey. I have looked at multiple sources, and the only language indicators and clear data I could find is census data, so my question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: what data do we have that tracks Indigenous languages? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member referenced the data described by the Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with Education, Culture and Employment. That is compiled every five years and it's by community, and it shows the number of speakers in each community. The 2019 survey results will be out in the summer of 2020, and those results have some more fine-tuned data, including interest in language. So we can find out how many people are learning the language or want to learn the language, and we can move forward that way. There are also efforts to collect language data from education authorities.
The Member earlier painted a pretty bleak picture of what's going on with Indigenous languages in the territory, and I have to say that I hope the committee takes up my offer of a briefing on what's being done with this, because in large part, and thanks to the Member for Monfwi who is sitting next to him, there has been a big shift in what we do in the territory in terms of language. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has really focussed efforts and is doing its best to turn the tide, because things are in decline, but there are efforts to move things forward. So it's a brighter picture than the Member painted, but it's still a serious concern. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I really look forward to seeing those results this summer. I believe the issue here is that, every five years, we get the data compiled, and there's no doubt that the languages are in decline. Absent them not being in decline, I don't know how we can paint anything but a bleak picture, Mr. Speaker. I believe we need much more comprehensive data year after year. Can I be informed how many new fluent speakers we are producing each year versus losing? Can I get a data statistic that shows me the net number of speakers we have in this territory?
The Bureau of Statistics has information about the number of speakers. We don't have the information about which speakers have passed versus who has just recently acquired a language, but as I mentioned, work is under way to get better data, and hopefully, the Member will be pleased with what the future holds in terms of that.
My concern here is that, every time a language speaker passes, if they are not passing on that language, then we are losing this battle. I know there is work being done. I know ECE is trying, but I think absent having the number of speakers we are losing and the number of speakers we are gaining in the yearly data, then I don't believe we actually have a fair picture of what is occurring. Will the Minister commit to getting data that shows the amount of speakers we are losing and the amount of new fluent speakers we are creating each year?
In the data that we have, you can break it down by age. You see the number of people in each age group who speak a language. Clearly, the percentage of speakers in the older group, 75 plus, for example, is much, much higher than in the younger groups. We have that data in a sense. I think that what the Member is looking for might be a little too administratively burdensome to find, but we have a general sense.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't think it is too burdensome for us to be able to track every time we lose a language speaker, and I don't think it's too burdensome to track every time we gain a language speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess I will ask this question one more way. Can the Minister commit to tracking how many fluent language speakers we have presently, and every time we lose one, that that is tracked somewhere and presented in the data? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm not a statistician, but I'd think there would be a lot of effort expended to do that that would be better spent teaching languages. The Member wants to know every time someone becomes fluent. Well, hopefully, we're not going to be able to track that because it's going to be so many people. You go around to different communities, and they're doing different things. In certain places, they have early childhood where it's immersion. I don't think we're giving those children tests on a regular basis to determine, "Are you fluent, or are you not fluent?" It's not a simple black-and-white thing. There might be people who don't want to share their language or share that information with the government. You know what I mean? I don't want to knock on people's doors and say, "Do you speak an Indigenous language?" It's not so cut-and-dry, Mr. Speaker.
The bottom line, however, though, is that we have a division in Education, Culture and Employment that is committed to revitalizing and strengthening Indigenous languages, and there are a number of initiatives across the government where millions of dollars have been spent on this every year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. I would like to ask the Minister if she can provide an up-to-date business plan for MTS. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A business plan update and a paper with recommendations for public sector business structure of MTS was delivered to the department by a consultant in 2019. A consultant has recently been engaged, a second consultant, to propose an alternative private sector business model. The department will review and consider these recommendations to inform a business structure recommendation paper to be completed this summer. After that time, we will be prepared to present recommendations to the committee. I commit to the Member that I can have further discussions with them on his points of view in that model. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister confirm if she can make the contract between MTS and ORSI available, if not to myself, then to the appropriate standing committee, so that we can determine what we are dealing with?
Contracting regulations prohibit me from sharing the ORSI contract in whole. It was established through a competitive RFP process and contains proprietary pricing information that, if released, would be unfair to the contractor. However, I do commit to the Member that I will look through the contract and see what parts I could provide to the Member that do not have any proprietary information.
My understanding is that one of the unions will be negotiating with ORSI possibly mid-summer. I am just wondering if there will be any impact or possible impact with these negotiations on the government's ability to ensure timely delivery of goods and services to communities.
The union and ORSI have recently reached agreement on terms and conditions of their memorandums of understanding for 2020. PSAC is the only union that hasn't completed the 2020 agreement with ORSI. Given the track record that ORSI has had with the three maritime unions, we don't foresee any issues with PSAC. GNWT is not part of the union negotiation process. However, the delivery of goods and services will be well under way by the time PSAC negotiations start. PSAC members work the yard. Vessel crews are under two different unions: that's the Seafarers International Union and the Canadian Merchant Service Guild. Currently, we don't foresee any issues with PSAC, like I said. In that respect, there should be no affect on the ability to deliver goods and services this summer.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
