Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Affirmative Action Policy, in some form or other, has certainly been around for quite a long time, and it does indeed aim for exactly as the Member noted, which is to ensure that we have a representative workforce. It does provide an opportunity to give preferential access to certain target groups. As far as the reviews, Mr. Speaker, there have been some efforts towards a review as early as 1997. Standing committee was involved in the production of a review in 2000 and again in 2005, and there has certainly been work since then looking at the policy over the last 10 years. It has never actually made it to the point of a full and final review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. Like I said before in this House, as well, for any working population, it should always be representative of the population served, and we are still not seeing that. With what the Minister just said, are there going to be any policy reviews within the life of this Assembly?
The opportunity for review and the opportunity for change certainly comes with risks. I can certainly say that it is my intention to look at that policy and move it forward to determine if a review is really in the best interests and achieves the goals that we have for it. Where I am going with that is that it's figuring out what we want to get out of the Affirmative Action Policy that we are not getting. What is it that we are not getting that we would like to see changed?
I suppose, in a sense, that would be a review, Mr. Speaker, but as far as that will look like, where it will go, and what the end result will be, certainly, I can't say. I acknowledge that I have had many questions about the Affirmative Action Policy already. It doesn't seem to be achieving the things that people want it to achieve, the things that people think it should achieve, whether or not it is achieving its actual content or not. It is time to look at whether or not there are better ways of achieving those goals.
Again, thank you for that response. I think, going forward, it's always good to know where we sit and get a baseline of how all the policies are going from its inception until present. My next question is: can the Minister provide me with some statistics on how much success or perceived success this policy has had since its inception?
As soon as I am hearing that there is a request for statistics, I do have human resources numbers in front of me over the last year. I don't have all of the numbers since the inception of the policy, and I am not sure that I will be able to go all the way back into the 1990s, but I certainly will have statistics available over time. As I understand it, Mr. Speaker, right now, we actually do fairly well at the GNWT in terms of hiring individuals able and available and interested in the positions. That doesn't mean that, every time, the process goes smoothly or that, every time, someone is satisfied with the process, but that's exactly the challenge that I think we have is that, right now, we're not achieving the goals that people perceive us to have or the goals that people would like us to have. I will certainly commit that I will get some numbers going back a reasonable period of time so that we can identify and see those trends. Hopefully, that will help go forward as to where we should take this.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, and I quickly realized today, while sitting here, that the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes and I are on the same page. I can save the Minister a little bit of time today and let him know that there will be increased costs to schools for PPE. The expectation is for schools to have physical barriers, for them to be able to have face masks, for them to have increased cleaning in the schools, a potential for increased staffing needs if a teacher has a runny nose, which, if anybody here knows kids, runny noses in the fall and kids are kind of like peanut butter and jam; they just happen. There are going to be increased costs because of COVID for schools this fall. Will the Department of Education, Culture and Employment ensure that school boards have access to that money because we all know that they don't have enough money that they need in order to run schools the way that we all, as parents in the territory, expect them to be run today? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A lot of the things that the schools are doing won't cost extra money, but the Member is right that PPE is something that we didn't have before. You can make hallways one way and adjust drop-off times for students for free, but when it comes to PPE, then that is an issue. Right now, we are well on our way to providing schools with PPE. I am going to, obviously, find out what the needs are and go back to Cabinet and find out how we can support schools. I can't say what the final decision of the Financial Management Board is going to be, but like I have said before, I am here to support schools. I'm not going to leave them hanging. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm happy to hear that, and I'm also happy to follow up with the Minister throughout the summer as he is able to work with the school boards. It was also brought to my attention that, in my constituency, and I am sure that this is consistent throughout the Northwest Territories, in the rush to get students set up at home, many of the schools emptied their resource and supply stashes so that children would have access to many learning items, whether it be books, markers, workbooks, anything they could get their hands on. Some kids even were able to go home with Chrome books. For the start of the school year in the fall, if students are in the schools, the schools are going to be starting with already a deficit of resources. I am wondering if the Minister would be willing to help the schools replenish those resource stashes and to count that as a COVID expense.
It is my understanding that anything that can be counted as a COVID expense should be counted as a COVID expense. Then we're going to give the bill to the federal government, and hopefully, they pay. Like I said, we're trying to figure out what situation every single school is in. That's a process that we're undertaking right now, and then we can sit down and have these conversations. I am here to support the schools. Never once have I stood up here and said, "Schools need to pull themselves up by their boot straps." The Premier said this is going to be the most progressive government this territory's ever seen. While I can't commit money on the floor of the House, I can commit my support to working with the school boards and ensuring that they're taken care of.
I am going to ask for some more money anyway. We live in a very small territory, and I have had the privilege of knowing many teachers who have also shared with me the PowerPoint presentation that they received from the Chief Public Health Officer. I have seen what the expectation is for kids going back to school this fall, and as a parent and as a resident of the Northwest Territories, I definitely have my own concerns. We know just from what we've heard around Canada, through COVID, that one of the expectations is going to be limited extra-curricular for students in their classrooms, and that's stuff like drama, gym class, being able to do any type of assemblies or anything like that. As a parent of three young kids, I have a lot of concern because I know that even us as adults in this room, we have a hard time sitting still. Expecting young kids to sit still for seven hours a day, I feel it just isn't realistic. I am wondering if the Minister is willing to commit additional on-the-land training for students this fall.
Like I said, I'm not the one who signs the cheques around here. I'm anxious to see what the schools have come up with because the Member is right. There are a lot of restrictions on what can be done. There is no singing in schools, which is one of the saddest things I can think about saying. There won't be any indoor sports. Things like that. We have to come up with some different ways of doing things. A lot of schools combine on-the-land activities with Indigenous language revitalization. One thing ECE has done is: they can carry over that unspent Indigenous language money from last year forward. There are things like that. The plans that the schools come up with are really going to dictate what they're going to need. From there, we can figure out how to best support them. Like I said before, I feel like the education Minister who has already lost a year of school, and I'm not going to lose another one. Whatever we can do to ensure the students have the best possible education given the situation, I'm willing to do.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's response. My last question is a bit of a broad one, but I'm curious to see how the Minister will respond. We have had a lot of opportunity to really learn from COVID over the last three months, and to ask ourselves what we would do differently. What I would like to know from the Minister is what the Department of Education, Culture and Employment was able to learn from our last three months in COVID. Looking forward to a second wave, how would ECE better support school boards for a second wave, and how would they ensure that no child is left behind? Thank you.
It is a big question and especially because the delivery of education is out of ECE's hand. It is so decentralized that it's the education bodies that are delivering education. If I could do anything, it would be to work harder to ensure that students were able to stay in school. I know there was a big desire to close schools, and rightfully so. I remember the night before, it was a Thursday night, I believe, and this Assembly was thinking, "What are we going to do? Should we just call things off?" That's what ended up happening. Essentially, the same thing with the schools. I think what I've learned personally that there are things that we can do to keep students in school because it is so important to have students in school. It's a safe space for them. For a lot of students, it's their only safe space. For a lot of students, it's where they get their meals, and developmentally, it's so important to them. The biggest takeaway I would get is figuring out how we can ensure that students stay in school, maintain those connections with teachers and friends in these times. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. In her statement today, the Minister said the change in implementing travel restrictions took place on May 29th. My first question is: why did it take until today for Regular Members to get formal notice of this? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I said in my statement, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer has been working hard, looking at putting together the Emerging Wisely plans, looking at each of the different phases, while in the meantime looking at border restrictions and putting in place some of the measures that have happened. I mentioned on May 27th the border enforcement stood down on refusing entry into the NWT for non-residents, and then we had to take into consideration the Canadian Charter of Freedoms. There are a number of things that have taken place. The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer has been working to ensure that, as changes come into place, we communicate that.
That wasn't an answer to the timing and the communications. Communications have been a really huge challenge during this pandemic, and now there's this added challenge of the change at the border. The reason it matters is because people have made choices since May 29th to not have people come to visit them because they didn't think they were eligible to come, to make a number of adjustments in their lives that they would not have made if they knew that the border restrictions had changed. I'm going to repeat my question because it is important to my constituents. Why did it take until today to learn about this change?
I do want to go back a little bit. While that order was written to restrict travel within the territories, which is the power granted by the Chief Public Health Officer under the Public Health Act, we came to realize that the communications and the actions at the border were not keeping with the Charter and the Order. That happened back in April, and then in May, we realized that we need to take into consideration the recommendations from the Canadian Charter of Rights. People took our communications to act, actions to mean that the borders were closed. Our Office of the Chief Public Health Officer took that into consideration. Yes, I agree it's taken some time for us to communicate that, but as soon as we did find out within our Cabinet, that's what we did.
Unfortunately, the effect of this Q and A session is to create more confusion. What I understand is that the borders never were closed, even though we were told they were closed, and that the Chief Public Health Officer made a change. For whatever reason, we weren't told until today about that change. There are real things at stake in telling people that the border is closed. People who were looking forward to family visits and, in some cases, family reunification have been waiting for a relaxation of restrictions. I don't know if that exists now or not. I just know that whatever change was made wasn't communicated to us for almost two weeks. Can the Minister tell us again why it's taken this long to get here and whether there can be more efficient communication between the CPHO and her department?
Absolutely. I recognize that there is room for improvement in communication, and that is something that our department is working with Chief Public Health Officer to ensure that the communication, when any of the actions that are being made out of the Chief Public Health Office, that we have a process to follow. Therefore, our Cabinet has come up with a communication plan. Going forward, there are steps that are in place so that we can ensure that there is a process before it gets out into the public. We recognize that.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that answer. When constituents ask me questions about whether their mother can come to visit or whether they can have their partner relocate here, I usually say to them, "You should call 811 or email Protect NWT," but what I'm hearing is that it can take days, even weeks, to get an answer to their questions. They're looking for a more immediate response. My question to the Minister is whether Protect NWT needs more staff in order to provide a tighter turn-around to residents of the NWT for their questions about who is and isn't allowed in. Thank you.
The Member is correct. Our Chief Public Health Office and our enforcement and our compliance enforcement are quite busy. Just to put this in perspective, on average, we get 1,106 new calls per week, average follow-up calls on a weekly basis, about 228 calls. Average new emails are about 353, follow-up emails 321. Average self-isolation plans that we have processed and closed is about 337 plans a week. I'm just saying our office is quite busy. We recognize that because some of our enforcement staff are having to be repatriated back into their government jobs. Fire crews are going back to fight the fires soon. We recognize that, but there has never been a gap in our system. We continue to work hard to make sure that we have enough people in place. We're actively recruiting. There are a number of things that our department is doing in collaboration with all the other departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we often do in this House, I'm going to ask some question that I believe I already know the answers to. I, as a Regular Member, am unable to pick up the phone and call a public servant and ask them a technical question. My question for the Premier is: why is that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellow North. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've only been in the Assembly here, this is my second Assembly, but I think this is probably an age-old question, in my opinion, because even in the last Assembly, they were talking about asking the Assembly before. When I first was in the Assembly four years ago, I thought it was okay. Anybody could pick up the phone and call my staff. In fact, I think I gave that direction to an MLA. It soon bit me, Mr. Speaker. The reason that we try not to, there are two reasons. One is accountability. It's really important that Ministers know the issues that are going on the departments because if we don't know, how are we going to change things? That's one thing. The other thing that was even more important to me, and maybe not at the same level, but it was critical for me in making a decision in the last Assembly was the intimidation of staff. Staff complained about it. They said that when an MLA goes to their office and asks them, they feel tense. They don't know what to say to them. They automatically see them as an MLA; they can take their job away. There is a whole bunch of power and inequalities with that. Those are the reasons, Mr. Speaker. It's about accountability and protecting our staff. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What I believe has happened here is that there have been some very egregious examples in the past of MLAs really crossing the line and getting political with staff. I believe the spectrum has swung to the full other side of the spectrum where simple, technical questions that are better suited to a phone call go through multiple email chains. I would encourage the Premier to look at this policy and try and change the culture such that, sometimes, the nuanced conversation can happen over the phone. My next question is: I recognize some of the limitations in myself as an MLA in talking to public servants, but I believe also this limitation has been more and more imposed on journalists. My question is: are journalists allowed to pick up the phone and talk to any member in the public service? For example, could a journalist talk to the lead negotiator for Akaitcho, a member in the Premier's own department?
Journalists often pick up the phone and phone our departments. In fact, they sometimes get a hold of me. Again, it's not about trying to keep secrets. It's about processes. When you talk about the Akaitcho, when you talk about land claim agreements and stuff, there is a risk that those are partnerships between my department, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and Indigenous governments. We have to be very careful what we're saying in those. It would be more appropriate to go through a Minister for that to make sure, if there is anything controversial, then I'd certainly want to call the chief and say, "Is this okay?" There are processes with that, probably wasn't the best example to use. Again, it's about keeping track of the questions. We do have a whole communications department. When the media do go through the communications department, a lot of them can get quicker answers. They get better quality answers, and we can keep track of the issues. Keeping track tells us what we need to change.
I believe many journalists may disagree with the statement that they get better answers, but I'll leave them to advocate for themselves. I recognize that we have to have processes in place and track them, but I believe that this culture has then trickled onto members of the public. I consistently get constituents that have unanswered phone calls, unanswered emails. My question to the Premier: is a member of the public allowed to pick up the phone and talk to any single person in the public service?
Absolutely. Any member of the public can phone any department to the Government of the Northwest Territories and ask about our programs and services that we provide. However, in saying that, our employees, there is a balance, again. It's between confidentiality and informing them about programs. If it's only about asking, "What programs, services do you have?" go ahead, call. If you're phoning to ask about somebody's income support or somebody in housing, you're not going to get that answer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear that. I really wish I had the power that a member of the public has. My question to the Premier is: this is largely a cultural thing. It's hard to change when to empower public servants to know when they can't talk to media, what they can and cannot say. I recognize the Akaitcho example has some nuance. I really do believe we need to redraft the language in our communications policy to be more proactive and encourage all members of the public servants to be encouraged to pick up the phone and call stakeholders, call the public, call the media. Is the Premier willing to draft some more proactive language into that policy?
I think that Members would agree that this government has been trying to work on our communications as we go forward. Out of that, and I'm not even sure if we have a policy on that, but my understanding is any employee in the Government of the Northwest Territories should be reaching out to their applicable stakeholders, if that is in their position and direction from their managers. If it's something that's politically sensitive or inappropriate, there is a chain of command, and that's why managers make those. However, excuse me if I use an example, if it's an income support worker, absolutely, they should be phoning their clientele and find out questions. That is something we've always promoted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I understand there are addictions treatment options in the South for residents of the Northwest Territories to attend. What these facilities have is qualified counselling services. The health Minister has stated several times that the on-the-land program offered by the health department can be accessed by First Nations. The program description states, "This will support community-based and operated on-the-land programs that have clear stated goals and outcome to treat addictions." Will the Minister commit to having the department assist with identifying qualified counselling services that can be accessed by First Nations wanting to provide addictions counselling as part of their on-the-land initiatives? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Deh Cho region has a number of supports available for individuals experiencing addictions. The Community Counselling Program is one example that is available to all residents in the region. It's currently fully staffed and is located in Simpson, Providence, and Fort Liard. These counsellors provide support to residents in the Deh Cho communities, using telephones for communities that don't have a resident counsellor. Since the onset of COVID-19, the Community Counselling Program has shifted to providing services over the phone or using virtual options like Zoom or FaceTime. We are looking at some of the ways that we can do on-the-land programming, keeping in mind that we have the COVID-19. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi for that. They also state that they have a variety of supports and tools, and a successful aftercare program is required. Will the Minister commit to providing funding and resources to First Nations to provide alcohol and drug counsellors for the ongoing aftercare program required for a successful addictions treatment program?
The department has a budget for mental health and addictions in the tune of $17,463,000. It includes on-the-land. It includes facility-based addiction treatment programs, community-based counselling, youth addictions prevention, withdrawal management models, aftercare options that support addressing homelessness. There are quite a variety of programs that our department is doing to address mental wellness and addictions.
Masi for that. On my first one, she states that they have community counselling programs, but she didn't answer the part whether they would be available to First Nations as part of their on-the-land initiatives. That's going out on the land, whether it's down the river or in the winter programs. I didn't get an answer on that one, if maybe the Minister can clarify on that one.
