Thanks again to the Member for Monfwi. The budget for the on-the-land healing program is $1.8 million. The budget for the southern treatment is $2.3 million, so there is a difference there of $500,000. The on-the-land treatment program was last increased last year in the last main estimates. There is a robust amount of money available there. As I mentioned before, that fund has not been completely spent. On the contrary, only a couple of Indigenous government organizations have applied for it. I really encourage everyone who has connections with on-the-land healing to make applications to this fund so that this piece of after-care can be made available to all our residents. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance who has the lead on the Dominion Diamond Creditor Protection matter. It's my understanding that GNWT also has to consent to the transfer or signing of the water licence, land leases, land-use permits, and environmental agreement covering the Ekati Mine to any new entity. Licence and permits must be in place for any new owner to operate. Can the Minister confirm that the GNWT must consent to the assignment of a number of licences and permits to any new entity for the Ekati Mine? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is one of the critical roles that the GNWT plays, is that we are responsible as part of the bidding process that we would ensure that any prospective bidder, any prospective buyer, can undertake the requirements of the environmental licence and that includes undertaking or accepting the securities in a reasonable form. Thank you.
I want to thank the Minister for confirming that. If the insurance companies would not agree to the sale of the Ekati Mine to the new entity, it raises questions of what our Cabinet's position is. Regular MLAs were not consulted in any way on this sale. Can the Minister tell us what Cabinet's position was or is on the sale to the new entity and who else it was conveyed to and when?
It's not the GNWT that gets consulted on the sale of this company between private entities. There is an ongoing negotiation that is taking place between Dominion Diamonds and prospective bidders. It's not one into which the government should be putting its hand. Ultimately, in this case, being a CCAA proceeding, the court would be overseeing that process and would be overseeing that sale. What the role of the GNWT is, is to again ensure that our environmental process is respected, that securities are held in an appropriate manner, and at that point that is our role, that is the role that we perform.
As far as the thoughts of Cabinet, number one again is to preserve that environmental process that we have, and number two is to provide an environment and an atmosphere that will ensure a profitable mining industry. If we are able to do that, then it is certainly my hope that there will be, ultimately, a successful bid on the table and that the mine will reopen, but it's certainly not our role to reach inside of that private entity process.
I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we are at the table in those proceedings. Apparently, we have legal counsel there, and we do have a say in terms of the transfer of any of these licences, so I hope that it is exercised in a reasonable way and that this side is consulted. The Dominion Diamond news release said that the insurance companies that issued the surety bonds refused to agree to the sale to the new entity, so can the Minister explain what is going on? Why won't these insurance companies agree to the sale of the mine?
I certainly wish I could give a detailed explanation of what is going on, but again, there is a large degree of what is going on is between private entities. I realize that, on the one hand, one news release is saying perhaps that one side of the deal walked away, but it may well be that another party might be saying the opposite, that it was, in fact, another member of that negotiation that were the ones that walked away or wouldn't agree. I think there needs to be some caution exercised before one of us here necessarily assumes what is happening. From our perspective, some of the parties are keeping us informed on their perspective, on what they see happening in that sale.
Again, our role, really, is to ensure our end of it is moving along in a reasonable fashion, and that is protecting the environmental process and ensuring that, to the extent that there is a bidder who may require the assignment of the environmental securities or the environmental agreement, we do what we need to do to ensure that that happens expeditiously. The Government of the Northwest Territories is not going to suddenly upend or change the environmental process that exists, the environmental agreements that exist, so at this stage, if the Member requires me to allay those fears, then I am certainly happy to do that. Our hope is that this mine will reopen and, if it does, it will be assuming the environmental agreements that are already in place.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we all want to see the mine reopen, but I just don't want our government to get short-changed or the environment to get short-changed in the process. For the first time I can recall, GNWT accepted surety bonds as financial securities for this particular mine. Insurance companies don't stay in business by paying out. Can the Minister tell us whether it is Cabinet's position that these surety bonds should be converted to or replaced by the more reliable and irrevocable letters of credit issued by a Canadian chartered bank, and whether the GNWT has put this as a condition of sale or assignment? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
It was always an expectation that, over time, the surety bonds that were being held for this particular mining industry would convert over to irrevocable letters of credit. Right now, to be very simple about it, it's not a concern right now. From the perspective of the government, the surety bonds that we have can be called upon by the government if we need to, so from our perspective, they provide adequate security and assurance that, if the bonds needed to be called, if the securities needed to be called, they would be there. What they did provide was some flexibility to the company when it was initially undertaking the environmental agreement process. So that flexibility was there. It comes with protection for the GNWT, and at this point, there is really, from our perspective, no concern in continuing as it is right now and no intention of changing or reducing the level of security that we have or the form that it's in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has approximately 2,400 public rental units spread out over the NWT. Let's say, for brevity, the units each consume approximately 1,200 litres of diesel fuel per month. The total for the year for 2,400 public rental units is approximately 34.5 million litres of diesel fuel consumed every year. If you were to stick a dollar figure on that, we use an average of a dollar per litre. We are looking at $34.5 million per year from the use of diesel fuel. Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister to commit to developing an energy action plan for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation that will reduce the use of fossil fuels and incorporate wood pellet boilers in the public rental units. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Member, for your comments. Working on the energy plan for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is a priority. Right now, we have $3.9 million under the Low Carbon Economy Fund that we worked on with the Department of Infrastructure to try to alleviate the utilities and the oil and gas within our public housing units. We have also had biomass projects throughout the Northwest Territories. We do have 2,600 units throughout the territory. The Housing Corporation is working toward administering more energy efficiency within those public housing units. I will commit to developing a plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That is good news to hear. We are constantly reminded of the date 2038. Nobody knows in the communities, the Indigenous communities, what that date really means. Most people are in fear of that date, that they will have no more units available for rent, for housing of our people, because every year from now until that date the funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the CMHC, will deplete until there is no more funding available for operations and maintenance on that date. Will the Minister act now in developing an energy action plan to extend the public rental housing program beyond 2038?
Thank you, Member, for your comment. My answer, as I just reiterated, is: yes, we will be working towards an energy action plan.
It's nice to hear that again. I look forward to the energy action plan that is innovative in the use of our natural resources and that creates employment for our communities. It is much-needed employment, and I really look forward to that report. Hopefully, it's not going to be too far into the future, that we will have something in front of us for review.
Thank you. I will let the Minister respond. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Member, for your comments. Like I said before, energy efficiency is a priority of the Housing Corporation in developing our units. I do recognize that we have declining CMHC funding as of 2038, and the Housing Corporation is working strategically on what we are going to be working with after the 2038 mark has come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the Chief Public Health Officer has the power to make all of the rules that have been in place and is not to be politically influenced, and we have heard this from the Premier and the past Minister. When this Emerging Wisely document was created, I would just like to know if this document was run by Cabinet before it was released to the public? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. This is before my time over here, but my understanding is that, yes, Cabinet did have a chance to review the plan before it was made public. Thank you.
I also understand that there has been many changes to this document, and we've heard Dr. Kandola has said this, that it's a moving doc. It's a living document. There's been a lot of changes in there. There's been a lot of changes with the essential workers, who gets exceptions, who can get exceptions to go to communities now. How is this information passed onto the CPHO if there was no one to influence her decision on making changes?
Just to be clear about what's happening here, the CPHO provides medical advice, and the Department of Health provides policy about how to implement that medical advice. As you know, people can apply to ProtectNWT or call 811 and ask for some kind of exception to the orders as they are written now, such as no long-term isolation, that they can go to work during the day, or that they can go to a community that is not a hub community, and exceptions of that kind. Those are given to her office, and she makes a choice on an item by item basis by assessing the risk. That's her primary measurement.
During the public briefing that we had in September, I did ask the Minister if they could review the restrictions around funerals, and I'm just wondering if the Minister can tell me if the CPHO, if you know that they are reviewing this rule?
Thank you for the question. Yes, the CPHO is fully aware that outdoor funerals, if not already over, will be over in a matter of weeks because of the temperature outside. It's my understanding that the protocol that's in place now will remain in place but she is actively reviewing the funeral protocol, and that there is a possibility of revised public health orders next month, and that this would be the time we hear what she's decided about funerals.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have one question to the Minister: if she can ask the Chief Public Health Officer if she could move this up. Lakes are freezing at home. In the North, we've already got blizzards going. We can't have outdoor funerals already. It's already too cold. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have the opportunity to meet with the CPHO every week, and I will certainly make that point to her, that its urgent that there be an alternative to outdoor funerals so that people can grieve in a more comfortable, controlled environment. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In March of this year, I asked the then-Minister of Health and Social Services about virtual care in the Northwest Territories. Since then, the GNWT has put together a three-phased approach to virtual care to address healthcare needs in the face of a global pandemic. In regards to the advances that were made through the COVID-19 pandemic as far as virtual care is concerned, I would like to see the changes and advances that were made continue their momentum. I'm wondering: for phase two, the virtual care initiative identified a need to create secure messaging between healthcare providers both within the Northwest Territories and with southern care providers, what work has been done to date to address secure information sharing between service providers? Thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The particular focus of the virtual care work is between in-territory providers, health providers, and in-territory patients. There has been some work done, although COVID-19 reorganized priorities, and that work has slowed down. We already have a head start because the secure messaging will be through the territorial EMR system, which is available in every health centre and cabin that we have, so there is widespread availability once the secure messaging is developed for application across the NWT. The only other loose end is that we need to continue work with physicians in Alberta on them being able to access patients here, that they have the appropriate licensing, that we have compatible medical records, and that they can talk to one another effectively. Thank you.
That leads quite nicely to my next question, and I just want to confirm first, though. Are there currently no out-of-territory physicians practicing virtual care with NWT residents?
Thank you to the Member for an opportunity to provide that clarification. Stanton Hospital has five southern service providers providing virtual care, and the family physician group has one southern service provider providing virtual care.
A standing barrier to providing virtual care is the barrier created by differential licensing requirements which the Minister touched on, and there's different requirements straight across Canada. What work is being done to simplify the registration and licensor processes to enable qualified physicians or healthcare providers to provide virtual care across provincial and territorial boundaries?
The department right now is working on adapting the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons physician standards, and those standards include a telehealth standard. What the department is doing is adapting those to NWT circumstances, step one. Step two, engage the key stakeholders with the content such as the NWT Medical Association and the Health and Social Services Authority so that they can provide their input into that. Finally, there may be a need for a legislative change in the Medical Profession Act, and if that's the case, we would certainly expedite work on that.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the things we hear quite often in this House and also within committee work is the need for cultural sensitivity straight across the North in all the work that we do. I'm wondering: how is the GNWT working to ensure that the cultural, technological, and language needs of all NWT residents are being met through virtual care?
The answer is that the service now is not entirely seamless, but if residents normally receive service in an Indigenous language in the health clinic in their community, they will continue to receive those services. New patients, it then falls to interpreters who are available in the health clinic or the health centre to interpret for that individual who is the patient. There is every effort to accommodate people to speak their first language and to receive services that are culturally safe and appropriate. Having said that, the technological end of this about connectivity in every community and how robust the bandwidth is, this is a failing in our system that we need to address. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Communication between Cabinet, Regular Members, and constituents is very important if this government expects to get most of our decisions right. COVID threw a curve ball at this government's communication plan. I would ask the Premier: now that we have a year behind us and we have somewhat of a track record managing COVID, how will she ensure that we get our communications back on track between Cabinet and Regular Members? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
