Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Madam Chair, Mr. Koe just said the number, but I didn't write it down. If I could ask it to go back to him, please?
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Koe.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The uptake for employees so far is 293 employees have been covered by 41 applications by their employers. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Koe. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I've said this in a Member's statement and through questions on the floor: I hate to think that we're actually going to roll back people's wages at the end of this. This is just unconscionable, that we would actually do that, especially for low-income workers. I understand from previous responses from the Minister that there is a minimum wage review committee that has apparently been appointed and is going to report on this, but even if we find a way to increase the minimum wage, it's still probably not going to be anywhere close to a living wage. I think we need to move toward a guaranteed basic income. Those are my views on this, and I want to encourage my colleagues on the other side of the House to make that happen. I'm prepared to do work on it on this side of the House, talk to my colleagues, as well, but we have to work together to make sure that we can provide the residents who are most in need with getting them out of poverty, quite frankly. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Did you have any further comments to that, Minister?
Madam Chair, I know the Member wasn't suggesting there was a question. I would note that this isn't a wage, Madam Chair. I agree that no one wants to roll back anything. There have been quite a number of initiatives that have rolled out in response to COVID that are having unintended benefits far and beyond the immediate stage of a crisis response, but this one in particular was really put in place by the federal government to make sure that no one in low-wage, often front-line work walked away from their job in the context of a crisis where they might perceive themselves to be at risk or perceive a fear or be otherwise struggling through what was a very unprecedented time. The future of this program, again with the federal government, is that it's not forever. Now, what might happen on their side, I can't say, but certainly from their end it was that this was not forever; this was meant to really cover the emergency stage of the pandemic. Beyond that, again, it will be up to them if there is some change in how they want to provide money and funding to the territories and provinces. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Did you have any further questions? Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I don't want to relive this debate. The fact is that this was targeted by the federal government to support essential service workers, but our government made a decision and then negotiated this with the federal government that all low-wage earners in the Northwest Territories should be eligible. I want to commend the Minister for doing that. That was the right thing to do. Anyway, we made the decision to broaden the application of what was a federal program intended for essential services to cover everybody here who gets a low income, to help them get through the pandemic, as well. Hat's off to the Minister for doing that. Let's fix this permanently and move people toward a living wage and end poverty in the Northwest Territories. That's what we should be doing. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. I will take that as a comment, a good comment, and we will move on. Are there any further questions or comments under this section? Management Board Secretariat, not previously authorized, $36,840,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Total department, not previously authorized, $36,840,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Turn to page 8. Committee, we will now consider the Department of Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, and we will proceed to the detail on page 8. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2020-2021, Department of Health and Social Services, operations expenditures administrative and support services, not previously authorized, $405,000. Questions or comments? I will call it, then. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Could I have some plain language about what this money is going to be spent on? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That involves workforce planning, so this is initiatives that are recruitment- and retention-related. There are quite a number of projects in terms of, for example, Aurora College is involved in proposing to deliver personal support worker and practical nurse programs. There is risk messaging there, modification of that, and provision of that program. As well, Madam Chair, there would be additional staff training, in terms of being able to staff the new long-term care facilities that are being delivered across various communities in the Northwest Territories, and again, similarly, ensuring that there is training available to provide in-place positions for new health and social services workers as they are coming out of the Aurora College's programs. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Nothing further, thank you.
Thank you. Any questions or comments? Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm just wondering if the Minister can please expand on the retention challenge as part of that piece. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There are some options, including focusing on employee development programs so that current employees are able to move forward and have better opportunities for advancement. Similarly, expanding the residency program again so that employees are better able to take advantage of having job-shadowing observerships and practicum, both focused in terms of then making the workplace one that is hopefully more satisfying and one that is more attractive to maintain and to keep workers in place. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member. No further questions? All right. Administrative and support services, not previously authorized, $405,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Health and social programs, $8,413,000, not previously authorized. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm curious about the item for which there is money for meat inspections. I wasn't aware that there was any domesticated meat in the NWT, so maybe this is for something else. Could the Minister please give me a plain-language explanation? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As I understand it, this is an opportunity that might well provide the opportunity for there to be development of that industry by developing the regulations themselves. This is the opportunity to, as a starting point, create those regulations, create the policies and the processes associated, and then once those are in place, have available a training program so that there could potentially be, then, an industry that would support more locally produced, harvested foods. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you. I'm shocked that the government is working ahead on a non-existent industry to put regulations and policies into place. I thought that it worked the other way around; you had an industry that needed regulating, rather than creating regulations for something that doesn't exist. Maybe the Minister could explain that to me. I'm missing something. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is to support a position with Health and Social Services where they can undertake this project. There certainly are quite a number of harvesters in the Northwest Territories right now who are able to harvest food, but then aren't actually able to turn around and provide that to anyone outside of, perhaps, immediate family, lest they are contravening regulations and not meeting health and safety requirements. That's the target group here. It's meant to provide an opportunity to spread food around that is coming in, that exists already, and as such, to address food insecurity by making that resource available in a broader way. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
No, nothing further on this section. Thank you.
Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I just want to say that, on the meat inspection issue, I know that the Northern Farm Training Institute does raise animals. I was there this past weekend. They are interested in trying to market some of that meat. They've tried to do it in Yellowknife at the farmers' market here, but they weren't able to do that. I visited another operation, potential operation, by Mr. Russell Chase, who would like to breed rabbits and sell them, but can't do it right now. We have to fix this issue in terms of building food security here, so I support this. I did want to ask questions about funding for Child and Family Services. It's almost $3.7 million. I support this, but I'm just a bit concerned about how we're going to roll this out in COVID pandemic times because I think some of this would normally result in hiring and training extra staff to take on some of the work. This is largely in response to the Office of the Auditor General's review of Child and Family Services, so have we considered how this is going to roll out during the pandemic? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to put a number to it, this is funding that will support 20 positions, including significant front-line positions as well as support staff to help ensure that the front-line workers aren't doing their own background administrative supports as well as support to develop cultural safety and curriculum development. As far as the recruitment, Madam Chair, part of the problem was just in the process. The authorities have developed a human resources recruitment and retention plan, and that is expected to make the process of recruiting and retaining staff more streamlined, and as they are going through that process, implementing that process, implementing an ongoing centralized process for hiring for Child and Family Services, I can report that they have reduced vacancies from a 25-percent vacancy down to a 6.3-percent vacancy, and that number includes a drop that has consistently remained, even between January and May, we went from 7.6-percent vacancy down to 6.3-percent vacancy, between January and May. I don't have the social background on why that might be or the psychological background on why that might be, but I am happy to say that that does seem to be the trend that we're experiencing right now. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. The Minister is full of good news today, and that is sincerely good news. I appreciate the work on that, and I do want this money to be well-used. The next line item is $2.6 million. This is for continuing to roll out the child and youth counsellor program. I think the Deh Cho has already been done, if I remember correctly, and I think it might be the Tlicho region. Now it's Yellowknife's turn, which is good, but I've heard some concerns here because some of the Yellowknife schools already had some individuals doing some of these functions. There was some concern that there were delays in implementing and rolling this out and so on. Can the Minister tell us what she's heard, and how this is going to roll out during the pandemic, as well? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. Just to give a bit of very brief context, it looks like we have a bit of extra time, 2018-2019 saw the establishment in the Tlicho and Deh Cho regions; 2019-2020 saw a rollout to the Sahtu and the Beaufort-Delta; and now, 2020-2021, we are expecting or assuming, if there is approval, rather, it would go to Yellowknife. As far as the Member is mentioning the concern that I acknowledge exists around security for staff who were already doing some of this work in some of the schools and some of the school districts, I can say that there is a priority right now within hiring for these positions. The hope being that, if that does get priorities for immediate action, that will decrease any lingering uncertainty that might be still experienced by those staff members wondering what is happening for the upcoming year. Hopefully, with the year being a bit uncertain, there are some backup plans within NTHSSA that if, in fact, there may need to be more positions filled, depending, that we can, then they can then do that, and they would have a backup plan for coverage. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. One of my questions was asked so I'm just going to keep moving down the line item to the $2.6 million for mental health and wellness counselling. I would just like confirmation if that is the child and youth care counsellors. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Sorry. The $2.616 million. Sorry, Madam Chair. I am trying to read too many notes at the same time. Yes, that is the child and youth care counsellors, Madam Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My last question is just in regard to the very last line item for Alcoholics Anonymous and Wellbriety. I just want to confirm that that is program funding that is offered in all communities and not just Yellowknife.
