Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation retain the policy changes made to the Transitional Rent Supplement Program during the pandemic to continue to improve access and affordability within private market housing until such a time that the Canadian Housing Benefit is operational. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I've heard very good things from my constituents about the revamp to the Transitional Rent Supplement Program. They've had positive interactions with Housing Corporation staff, and they're grateful for the support to make their housing more affordable. I think the biggest challenge here is finding some bridging that will go from the end of August, when the current program is expected to expire, until the end of March next year, when the Canadian Housing Benefit will be introduced. I want to commend the Housing Corporation for good work on this and ask them to look internally to find the resources necessary to continue this program until the Canada program kicks in at the beginning of the next fiscal year. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just also wanted to support the words of my colleague from Yellowknife Centre. This program has been the most popular program that myself and my constituency assistant have recommended to people during the COVID pandemic. It's open to any NWT resident who is spending over 30 percent of their household income on shelter and is funding of up to $500 a month, and has kept a tremendous amount of Northerners out of homelessness, which is far more expensive to pay for at the end of the day. I commend the quick ability of the Housing Corporation to put money into people's accounts to keep them housed. I support this, and I believe it needs to continue until the Canadian Housing Benefit is operational. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
--- Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories advance universal childcare by maintaining the additional funding provided during the pandemic to support operational, cleaning costs, employee wage subsidies and food security issues anticipated to be more severe post-COVID. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that most of us are aware that the best thing that we can do for our children is have them in licensed childcare. It promotes their personal development and their school readiness. It also allows, usually mothers, but in some cases, fathers, to return to the workforce and continue to support their families and have the personal fulfillment of work. This is really a critical service that we offer the population of the Northwest Territories. Every dollar that is spent on children under five is a savings for expenses further down the road because it gives them the best possible start in life. I commend the Minister of Education, Culture & Employment for finding ways to provide additional support for childcare in the Northwest Territories.
I would certainly like to see it continue through the foreseeable future. There isn't really a time that we're not going to need childcare. We have a growing population of children, a large birth rate by national standards. We have good programs in some places; no programs in other places. I feel that we've made a really good start here on trying to make childcare a priority, and I support this wholeheartedly for the future of our children. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
--- Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment direct the district education councils to keep technology to support student home-based learning during the COVID-19 pandemic; and further, that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment focus on positive interventions and outreach to improve relationships between families of "high risk" or vulnerable students. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. When we reviewed this work, we found that there were two issues for many families. One was that they didn't have the tools to participate in the technology which are things like pads and laptops and so on. The other end of the problem was having the infrastructure where they could have the bandwidth to participate in long-distance learnings, and that's an issue that has been addressed by my colleagues from the Standing Committee on Economic Development and the Environment. They have talked about the need to complete the infrastructure necessary to make broadband available everywhere.
The tools and the infrastructure are two very important ways to help students continue learning, not only during the COVID period, but through any period in which they are in small communities, and all the course offerings are not available, and they need to do more distance learning. This is, obviously, a key piece of this.
We also recognize that families, in some cases, are very keen and able to assist their children in taking advantage of technology and distance learning, while others really struggle with that. The second part of this motion acknowledges that disparity among families and asks ECE to think of ways, and I'm sure teachers have already been doing this, but to continue to focus on ways in which they can engage vulnerable families to keep their children engaged in school activity when classes are out. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
--- Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Committee MOTION 27-19(2):
Committee Report 3-19(2) – Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Long-Term Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT – Wage Top-up, Carried
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories continue to offer the wage top-up as a permanent program to businesses, providing financial assistance to Northwest Territories workers aged 15 and over and earning less than $18 per hour. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to say how important this program is to low wage workers. Eighteen dollars an hour is not a living wage here in Yellowknife, so then, it's likely not to be a living wage anywhere else in the Northwest Territories. What this federal program enables the Government of the Northwest Territories to offer is wages that are closer to the living wage threshold, and thus, families and workers have a chance to live above the poverty line. I know from the questions that my colleague asked yesterday that there has been some uptake in this program. More uptake could be accommodated and the amount of money that is available. I believe it's important to continue this program so that people who are working full-time get paid a living wage. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, this is, I guess, another one that I am passionate about. I've raised this issue with my colleague, the Minister of Finance, several times about the wage top-up program and want to commend her again. I think Cabinet did the right thing in extending this wage top-up to all low wage income earners in the Northwest Territories. It's not focused just on essential service workers.
I can support this but the real answer here is to increase our minimum wage, and that's what needs to happen. It's not just maybe into $18 an hour. It needs to be closer to a living wage that we can lift people out of poverty. We heard, I think yesterday from the Minister of Finance, that 293 workers are taking advantage of this program. They have to do it through their employers. I guess I'm going to quote from the Premier. I think it would be a sin to roll back these people's wages after the pandemic. It's just unconscionable that we would actually take money away from people.
Now, whether GNWT should be doing this through a wage top-up, that's a different issue, and I think, as I said, we need to just look at increasing the minimum wage. I've had some members of the public raise with me the issue that with a wage top-up, what we're actually doing for some employers is subsidizing, like maybe big box stores, franchises where some of those workers may not get much more than a minimum wage. As I said, I think the real solution here is to increase the minimum wage, and I look forward to that being done in our term. I am prepared to support this motion. It gets us part-way there, but the real answer is increasing the minimum wage. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to the recommendations contained in this report within 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Does committee agree that this concludes consideration of Committee Report 3-19(2)?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. That concludes consideration of Committee Report 3-19(2), and I would like to thank the chair of the committee. Mr. Norn, what is the wish of committee?
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Committee wishes to consider Committee Report 2-19(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT. Marsi cho.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We have agreed to consider Committee Report 2-19(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT. Does the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations have any opening remarks? Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As noted by the Members for Nunakput and Kam Lake, the Government of the Northwest Territories' response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term recovery of our economy and territory have been the focus of all committees' discussions. The Standing Committee on Government Operations focused its work on the response of the Departments of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Finance, Municipal and Community Affairs, and the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.
As chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, I am pleased to be introducing this report and thank the committee members for their contribution to this report. I would especially like to thank my deputy chair, the Member for Yellowknife Centre. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Committee, we have agreed to forego general comments on the report and proceed directly to the recommendations. Member for Thebacha.
Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake a review of the legislative framework supporting the Government of the Northwest Territories' emergency response, with a view to determining what amendments are necessary to ensure that the Premier has overall administrative control whenever a public health emergency and a territorial state of emergency are declared under their respective acts at the same time; and further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories bring forward a legislative proposal to make the necessary amendments to the Government of the Northwest Territories' emergency response legislative framework during the life of the 19th Assembly. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to recap the rationale for this recommendation. From the report itself, it says: "The authority of the GNWT to declare a public health emergency pursuant to the Public Health Act and a territorial state of emergency under the Emergency Management Act underlined a potential legislative void in that it did not expressly provide the Premier with authority to coordinate and manage the overall response."
As the public is no doubt aware, the Public Health Act previously has been used for things like whooping cough and sexually transmitted disease, and the Emergency Management Act is more typically used for forest fires and floods. As we are all going through our very first pandemic, our legislative framework did not contemplate a territory-wide emergency of the kind that we are in at this time, and so what we would like to see, then, is a remedy to this legislative void by reviewing these two relevant acts and seeing whether a third is necessary, or there are changes to the other two, which support the Premier in having clear authority to manage the government's response to a public health emergency such as this COVID-19 emergency that we are now in.
The rationale here is to solidify the legal grounds for the response to the pandemic. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I sat in on some of the deliberations of this committee, as well. I support this. The first day of this sitting, I was raising issues around lessons learned. Even though we're still in the pandemic, we need to start to think about what we've learned and how we're going to get ready for a second wave, potentially, or future pandemics, and so on, so this is certainly consistent with that.
I wouldn't wait, though. If I was on the government operations committee, I wouldn't wait for Cabinet to bring forward a legislative proposal. We can always work collaboratively with our friends in Cabinet, but the committee itself has the authority to conduct its own review and come up with its own ideas working collaboratively with Cabinet, but I wouldn't just sit back and wait for a legislative proposal from Cabinet; but I am happy to support the spirit and intent of this moving forward. Thanks, Madam Chair.
