Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Housing. Yesterday, I brought up questions about the lack of housing in Hay River. Since then, I have been thinking about it and becoming increasingly frustrated and angry, and only wrote the questions while sitting here. I will start with: in Hay River, I'm going to start recommending to those residents who cannot find permanent housing to start looking at other communities, as the government just can't deliver the housing they require.
My first question to the Minister would be: I would ask the Minister, considering we have a significant housing shortage in Hay River, is her department willing to work with ECE to cover the cost of relocation and some temporary rent payment supports for those persons and families willing to relocate to Yellowknife or southern Canada? This appears to be the only option this government has to give our residents a chance at the housing they deserve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Member, for your comment. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has, right now, as I mentioned yesterday, rolled out $43 million in infrastructure projects and housing throughout the Northwest Territories. I understand the Member's frustration with the lack of housing or with homeless issues throughout his riding. It has become quite significant throughout the Northwest Territories that we do have a large number of homelessness issues throughout the Northwest Territories, but the Housing Corporation does have programs that accommodate these unique situations. We have a homelessness assistance fund that is available to every resident throughout the Northwest Territories that provides assistance for first month's rent and the damage deposit for each client. We have made changes to our transitional rent supplementary program for the Northwest Territories.
As of right now, we are working with a vulnerable persons working group in Hay River and looking at strategies and options for Hay River, for this area. As we progress and go forward, I will keep the Member up to date on what we will be creating for his riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It's not only a housing deficit that we are facing in Hay River. It is access to land, as well. Can the Minister commit to working collaboratively with MACA, Lands, and the Town of Hay River to ensure that land for public housing will be made available, with a quick turnaround?
Yes, I am aware that we do have to work with our Indigenous groups. There is a consultation period that we have to fulfil when accessing land throughout the Northwest Territories. There are several in different jurisdictions and different approaches and different Indigenous groups that we would need to consult with. The department has been working in conjunction with the Department of Lands as we develop throughout the Northwest Territories. That is a relationship that has already existed, and yes, I will be working to continue that relationship, working with the Department of Lands for accessing properties, and also working with the Department of ECE to look at our homelessness fund and financial assistance that we have available to the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Over the years, communities and government have been talking about smaller homes for people, so I will ask the Minister: will she commit her department to seriously look at the construction of smaller homes for those who are homeless or hard to house?
Yes, that is a conversation that we are actually having right now. We do have a program called the Community Initiative Fund that works directly with community residents, with the leadership, looking at unique projects such as this. Yes, I do commit to working with my department and I will follow up with the Member on the progress of it, and also with the outcome of the vulnerable persons working group in Hay River, as well.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have lots of conversations, and that is kind of part of the problem. What we need is more action. To address the housing deficit in the NWT, it always comes down to money. What action has the Minister taken to address the issue of lack of funding to substantially address our housing shortage here in the NWT? Is the Minister applying any pressure on the federal government to access additional funds for housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, the Housing Corporation is in constant communication with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. I have established a working relationship with my federal counterpart. We do have access to the $60-million co-investment fund for the Northwest Territories, and it's a partnership and an initiative that we are working through within our department. We are establishing staff right now to roll out this project, this funding, so it could be more easily accessible to the residents of the Northwest Territories. As we go forward, I still continue the conversation with the federal government and to lobby for money for the Northwest Territories. We live in a unique territory. We have unique challenges, here, and our construction season, I also display that it's short, so, going forward, I will commit to working with the federal government and accessing more money for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier, I am very happy to see the mandate item: to establish and manage alcohol programs and a medical detox program. During the COVID-19 response, we saw a number of organic beginnings of a managed alcohol program that disabilities council provided a number of the people quarantining with daily alcohol in addition to Aspen Apartments, when people were isolating, were provided with alcohol. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services: is there any intention to grow these programs into a proper medical managed alcohol program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The establishment of a managed alcohol program is a commitment of the mandate of this Assembly. Research into what a managed alcohol program could look like in the Northwest Territories is something our department has done a fair bit of work at. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed our department to move towards a managed alcohol program more quickly than anticipated in order to keep people safe and support the public health orders. Controlled access to alcohol is currently being provided as part of the COVID-19 response for homeless individuals. This is to help people stay isolated when necessary to reduce the chance of withdrawals. Alcohol is being provided, again, like the Member said, to Aspen, the former Arnica Inn, and the Inuvik warming and isolation centres. Yes, our department has done a fair bit of work. It is something that we could easily look at going forward. Thank you.
I am very happy to hear that. The other half of this mandate commitment is a medical detox centre. Right now, our emergency centre gets overwhelmed with people due to alcohol-related issues. The commitment in this government is to reduce those by 30 percent, a very admirable commitment. One of the issues right now is that we are sending people to emergency to deal with alcoholism, and there are not always beds for them to detox. They are not always treated as they should be. My question for the Minister of Health is: when can we expect to see the medical detox program establish?
Going forward, using insights that we have gained from this COVID experience, we have been able to work with partners to make this type of harm-reduction program a permanent part of addiction services here in the Northwest Territories. However, it's a little too early to say what this would look like or commit to anything definite, definite timeline, but we can see the importance of these programs. Because of this, we will prioritize planning to ensure that this is available ongoing.
This was in the mandate as spring of 2023, which I thought was a little too long. I am always happy to hear that we are actually beating a mandate commitment. I want to commend the department and the Minister for all the work and the pressure that COVID has put on this. One of my issues is that the programming we are offering right now is linked to people isolating due to COVID, and I understand that. When a constituent comes to me and asks what kind of detox programs are available, what kind of addictions counselling is available, I want to know when I will be able to refer them to a managed alcohol program. My question to the Minister is: when can we expect programming to exist that I could actually refer a person to, not simply because of COVID-19?
I just want to put this in perspective just to let people know that we are serious about this and this is a big issue. We referenced earlier about the CAPE report, and the Northwest Territories is a little low in some of the indicators. I want to say that we've received some funding, and we hired a senior advisor. This person will be tasked in leading the coordination and addressing the problematic substance abuse here in the Northwest Territories. This is something that we received funding, we are hiring staff. This is not just a health responsibility. It's a whole government approach; it's homelessness; it's justice, just to name a few. It is a whole government approach. This is a good move in terms of dealing with this in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is that there is a number of programs going on right now. I don't think we are quite where we want to be. I understand that we are working towards that. Can I get a sense from the Minister of whether this programming is ultimately intended to be run by an NGO, a non-profit organization, or whether we are anticipating, as a government, to be running the managed alcohol programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Right now, we are in the process of hiring staff. We have got a whole other government department, departments working together. Here in the Northwest Territories, we always reach out to partnerships. We work together. It's not just a GNWT problem. It's substance abuse and alcohol abuse. Here in the Northwest Territories, it's a whole-of-government approach. This is something we can look at. It is important, and we recognize that. 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. Today, we anticipate that the territory will move into phase 2 of the Emerging Wisely Plan, and that will enable a greater degree of freedom for NWT residents and a greater range of economic activity to resume. My question is: in what circumstances would we have to return to phase 1 or even to lockdown? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the public health risk assessment framework that is included in the Emerging Wisely Plan, the Chief Public Health Officer has publicly stated what might take a community or the Northwest Territories back a phase or back into containment is the most restrictive phase right now. We fully expect a second wave to come anywhere from August to November this year.
The second wave in Canada could force the Northwest Territories to go back phases if travel restrictions are not strongly implemented. Resources for checkpoints, Protect Northwest Territories, compliance, and enforcement are all important to ensure that we have proper implementation. Depending on the severity of the second wave hitting Canada and perhaps the Northwest Territories, that our testing capability, we may need to revert back to relapsing phase 1 or containment properly to protect the public health and also the residents here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. I am looking for more specific information. How many cases would force us to reverse phase 2 or phase 1? Is there any consideration about where those cases would be located to drive this decision?
At this time, we are not sure. It all depends on our Chief Public Health Officer and some of the orders. We have talked about some of the measures that we are doing now. We need to make sure that our enforcement, our Protect Northwest Territories, some of the measures we have in place continue to be strong. It's important to recognize that our Chief Public Health Officer has the authority to make any changes to the orders.
Thanks again to the Minister. I am going to continue to ask this question because I think people need to understand whether it's a matter of having a case, 10 cases, 100 cases, and also whether it matters in the decision-making whether those cases are in Yellowknife or whether they are in one of the small communities. I think that people want some accountability about when the phases could be reversed, what would trigger that in the NWT rather than in the country as a whole.
At three o'clock today, we are doing a media release, and we are talking about what phase 2 will look like. Our Chief Public Health Officer, our deputy minister for enforcement, our Premier, and myself will be talking about what opening up phase 2 will look like. I think here is an opportunity for questions for our Chief Public Health Officer to ask her at what point do we revert back and how many cases it would mean. Right now, Mr. Speaker, I just don't have that information.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. I find the answer a little troubling, because we don't have the opportunity to question the Chief Public Health Officer in public, but we are holding the Executive Council responsible for the management of the pandemic, and they are, of course, taking advice from the Chief Public Health Officer. Where does the accountability lie on the decision to move backwards through the Emerging Wisely Plan, and how is Executive Council involved in that decision-making? Thank you.
I signed the order, which means our Chief Public Health Officer has the authority to take control of this pandemic. In terms of where we stand as a Cabinet, we get updates from our Chief Public Health Officer. She briefs us as Cabinet. That level of detail, Mr. Speaker, that was asked, I just don't have that with me. However, I can commit to getting back to the Member with the number of cases.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In March, I asked the Minister of Justice who the lead department is within the GNWT for domestic violence. The NWT has the second highest rate of domestic violence in the entire country. At the time, the GNWT did not have a lead department for domestic violence, and I advised the House that I would come back around to the question by the end of the sitting. Unfortunately, our sitting was cut short, so here I am today. I would like to ask the Honourable Premier: which department is the lead department responsible for domestic violence for the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Domestic violence is not okay, and it affects many, many people in the Northwest Territories and throughout Canada. The Member is right; we have the second highest rates, and we do need to do something about it. There is no one answer to domestic violence, is the issue. We did talk about it at our Cabinet table. Things that we need to look at include our criminal justice response. It talks about treatment. We need to talk about housing for people. We need to talk about treatment for people who are the perpetrators and people who are the victims. It goes across all departments.
As such, then, we decided, as a Cabinet table, that it would make sense that the lead department would be Executive and Indigenous Affairs; I would be the lead. However, in saying that, it is very important to know that we all have a responsibility. All of my Cabinet Members and all Members and all of society have an obligation to speak out and try to address the horrible things that are seen when we talk about domestic violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate that Cabinet sat down and had this conversation and came up with a response. Thank you to them for that. What I would like to know from the Honourable Premier is if she would commit to creating a meaningful domestic and inter-partner violence prevention awareness campaign during the life of this Assembly.
It would be irresponsible not to do a thorough public awareness campaign, Mr. Speaker. For too many years, when I grew up as a child, the theory was, you made your bed; you lie in it. Days were different back then, and many women experienced that and had to live with that, because they were shamed if they did not, if they did disclose and decided to leave their partners.
Those times are done, Mr. Speaker. It is time for all of us to have a voice and speak out against it. Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, I will commit to having an aggressive campaign to actually get it out there in the public and have people talking about it. If we do not talk about it, Mr. Speaker, we will not address it.
I agree, and I appreciate the Premier's commitment to this. My third question for the Premier is: when someone disappears, the first hours are the most crucial. Mr. Speaker, there is rarely evidence that a crime has been committed; however, this is a prerequisite for police to be able to seek a court's permission for a search warrant or for personal records for somebody who has gone missing.
What I would like to know from the Premier today is: would the GNWT commit to bringing forward a missing persons legislation in the life of this Assembly? There is precedent set by other jurisdictions, by other provinces and territories, and this could serve as a model for the Northwest Territories. Would the Premier commit to bringing this forward for our Legislative Assembly?
I think that we are all committed to it, but for the specifics of that answer, I would like to transfer it to the Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This issue dates all the way back to 2012. It was originally raised at the federal-provincial-territorial tables, and sadly, here we are in 2020 and, of course, the Northwest Territories does not yet have this legislation. Some provinces have moved ahead with their own, but it is not uniform across the country. We can't be left behind. Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are going to do the work that is needed to get ourselves ready, to do the investigative work, to put the proposal together. It is my hope that it would be ready to go this Assembly, but seeing as how I am, just today, turning my mind to it, I am not quite prepared to say a timeline to it, but I'll make sure we have a timeline possibly before I'm back in the Assembly, so we'll have a sense of whether that will be possible. At the very least, we are going to get it started. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the collaborative response from both the Premier and the Minister of Justice on that winner. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we spoke in the House about if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. My last question for the Premier today in regard to domestic and inter-partner violence is: would the Premier commit to creating a GNWT action plan to address domestic violence and inter-partner violation throughout the life of this Assembly? Thank you.
Like I said, we brought it up at the Cabinet table. We have decided the lead. We have already put it on the Committee of Cabinet agenda. We will have a working group. We will be looking forward to that. At this point, I don't want to commit to an action plan. I want to make sure that we know what we're doing first.
I do believe that, if you don't plan, you plan to fail. However, Mr. Speaker, I also believe that sometimes the GNWT does way too many plans, and they sit on shelves and get dusty. I want to make sure that this work is a priority for this government. It's a priority for Indigenous women and girls throughout the Northwest Territories. Domestic violence has to be a priority for all people in the Northwest Territories. I won't commit to an action plan; I will commit to action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
