Debates of October 20, 2020 (day 40)

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement alluded to the Auditor General's finding on education delivery by the department of education. Of interest, I noted the department piloted the junior kindergarten program across the territory during the 2017-2018 school year. The Auditor General's report stated the department's analysis of a small number of junior kindergarten students during the pilot program scored better on a number of indicators related to developmental readiness for learning. The report also goes on to state data from the JK program needed additional data to be collected over several more years to know whether the results were conclusive. Can the Minister provide information as to whether any data was collected in the years following the rollout of the junior kindergarten program? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are significant benefits to early childhood education, and I think everyone would agree to that. The fact that we have junior kindergarten, anecdotally, means that there have been some benefits to children across the territory. To the specific question about the data that we've collected, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has been collecting the early development instrument, the EDI tool, have been using data from that since 2013, and that includes the years since junior kindergarten has been in place from 2017. There needs to be a certain number of years of data collected so that you have a good baseline, and then, you can actually start drawing conclusions from that. We are at that point now where we can begin to look at how things change from year to year and draw conclusions on that so that we can measure the success of some of our programming. In terms of the data collection, yes, we're on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We look forward to the findings of that rollout, considering we do have language immersion programs included in the JK programs up to grade four. The Auditor General notes the department made commitments to ensure equitable access to quality education for all the small communities but did not explicitly identify actions required to achieve this commitment. Can the Minister provide information as to why the commitments were not actioned to ensure quality outcomes or equitable access to education?

Since the first report in 2010, the department has taken a number of steps to make good on the Education Act's requirement to provide equitable access. I just want to comment on something the Member said earlier, that the department is "passing the buck" to the education authorities in terms of the failure of small communities in terms of education. I've been here five years, and I've never heard any Minister pass the buck. The previous Minister before me, I heard her state that we are failing students in small communities. The day I became Minister, that became my failure, so I'm not passing the buck. The education authorities are our partners, and I'm not putting blame on them. We're all in this together.

To the Member's question, a number of the actions include things like junior kindergarten. That expanded early childhood education across the territory in a way that has never been done before. There is a realization that, in small communities, the teachers and the principals need special training, so we provided special training specific to small-community principals and small-community teachers. Northern Distance Learning is one of the greatest ways that we've been providing more equitable access, and currently that program offers academic courses in grades 10 to 12 to students in small communities who go to schools where the teachers aren't there to teach those programs or the numbers of students aren't there to teach those programs. It really gives students who want to go on to university but are living in a small community the opportunity to do that.

We have recently changed our school capital standards. These are the requirements for what we put in schools when we build them, and we changed those with a recognition that small-community schools need certain things that they weren't getting before, things like gyms, things like spaces for Northern Distance Learning. One of the most significant things that has happened in the past number of years is access to mental health and counselling through the child and youth care counsellor initiative that we are partnering on with Health.

I take the Member's point. We are failing students in small communities. There are no two ways about it. The numbers show it, but I'm owning it. We're doing everything we can to rectify that.

I thank the Minister for those explanations, especially the "passing the buck" one that he kind of hooked on. The Auditor General's Report states that the department invested heavily in the Northern Distance Learning program, something he alluded to. Did the department evaluate the Northern Distance Learning program as it relates to meeting high-quality education outcomes?

We have done an evaluation on the program. It shows positive benefits, and those are reflected in the numbers. The students who are participating in these academic courses would otherwise have to take them through distance learning, traditional distance learning where you get, well, back in my day, you got a pack of CDs and some workbooks in the mail, and you had to fill those out. The success rates on those types of programs is very, very low; everywhere, not just in the territory. The credit acquisition rate in the territory for Northern Distance Learning has been significantly higher throughout the year. Going back over the years, it has been as high as almost 80 percent; it has been as low as 55 percent, in some years, but nonetheless, the students are getting these courses. They are making their way through the material, and they are passing these diploma exams that you have to pass if you're in Ulukhaktok or if you're in Edmonton. It is working, and we hope to expand it across the territory.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I'd like to ask Health and Social Services a question. We don't have a treatment centre in the Northwest Territories, and I would like to ask the Minister of health some questions. [End of translation] It was under a different Minister that a promise was made, a promise to look into residential addiction treatment being provided here in the Northwest Territories, but the promise was also reiterated by the deputy minister who remains in the position today. To the Health and Social Services Minister: why has the department not followed up on its promises to look into a new residential addiction treatment centre here in the Northwest Territories? Masi.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to take that question on notice.

Thank you. The Minister is taking that as notice. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the current cases of suspected COVID in the Northwest Territories, I would not be doing my job if I did not revisit my question from yesterday. My questions for the Minister of health are not meant to raise panic; however, we are a small territory with an obligation to ensure that our residents are well-informed and that protocols have been followed. What I am asking for is a simple, straightforward response: can the Minister of health tell us that the department of health and the CPHO followed the protocols set in place with respect to the recent Yellowknife cases? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A review has not been done, but I have no reason to think they haven't followed the protocols.

Can the Minister tell me if there is anything in the Privacy Act that would prevent public health officials from accepting a list of contacts from a business showing who could possibly have had contact with a person who may be positive for COVID-19?

Contact tracing is the responsibility of public health and community health nurses. It is up to them to interview the patient who has become ill and to establish where that person has been and who they have been in contact with. This is not a function that can be carried out by a business.

I thought that I was asking about whether the health department was part of that, not the business. Anyway, I understand that we are following the national strategy for dealing with this pandemic. Are there any areas that the Minister sees that we could be improving on this strategy, and what would they be?

It's difficult to answer that question because this pandemic is still under way. Certainly, having new cases after months without having cases has refreshed everybody's responses to dealing with the CPHO protocols. In terms of areas that we can improve on, I'm open to suggestions. I don't see any right at this point. If Members have complaints from their constituents about the way in which the pandemic is being handled, of course, we answer those questions every day, and we would welcome more.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. Numerous complaints about how the pandemic is being handled. As was mentioned yesterday in the House, there are many moving pieces. Would the Minister commit to notifying a business if they are going to be part of a public health release sooner than at the time of the public notification, as happened in this case? Thank you.

The business in question here was notified before the public health advisory went out, and so were the RCMP. They, I know, responded in their own ways. I can't commit to any more than that. This is really a CPHO function. She decides when the release goes out, and she notifies people first. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance. I understand that we have internship programs within human resources, as well as the Indigenous Career Gateway Program in place. I do understand there are only so many internships available per year. Can the Minister tell me what the funding is annually for the internships, if she has it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Finance is able to support up to 40 internship placements every year. That works out to being roughly $40,000 per year per placement. Thank you.

Can the Minister tell me how many interns there have been in this past year and how many were in health?

This year, there have been 24 interns in total. Of those, one went to the Department of Health and Social Services, in addition to which there were four who went to NTHSSA. They were scheduled to go there, but COVID-19 certainly has interrupted some of the processes that we would normally undertake to have interns recruited and placed.

As I mentioned in my Member's statement, there is a gap in bridging students to the workforce. Will the Minister have her department of human resources look at the way to build a bridging program from the college, or any healthcare program, into our healthcare system?

Recruiting more healthcare professionals is a mandate item for this government. There is already a health recruitment unit well under way, which is a partnership between Health and Social Services and the Department of Finance. In short, yes, I certainly can commit on the part of Finance, on the part of human resources, to taking some steps, to developing some ideas, and to having them ready. Aside from that, this will be something that becomes a multi-departmental response. I am confident that, as I said, human resources will do its part, and I am confident that I will be able to work with my colleagues to see that those ideas from human resources can get looked at and considered by those who are on the front lines in the health department.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the things that I know is that there are some other programs that are for GNWT employees to access training dollars, but I don't know if this is widely known of the hiring managers and the staff. Will the Minister commit to looking into all the funding pots that we can so that we can train current staff, so that we can possibly train them, if they choose to, to go out to health centres, into specialty areas like obstetrics, emergency? These are the areas that we keep struggling with, and these are the ones that we keep bringing in people from outside the territory to fill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, yes, I am happy to make the commitment on my part, certainly, that we will make sure and put that information together. I recognize that it's an acute problem, perhaps, for our colleagues in the Health and Social Services field, but even more broadly than that, making sure that, if there are programs being run by human resources, that they are known and accessible to those doing the hiring in communities and in regions, particularly in health. That is critical, otherwise all the great programs that we might have aren't adequately being accessed. That is actually a specific issue and question that human resources is looking at to ensure that we are doing our job and to ensure that the good work that we are doing in human resources gets translated, and so I certainly will commit to doing that and to continuing to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I'm just going back to my Member's statement on mental health in self-isolation centres. For me, the way I look at it, if you are in a self-isolation centre, just a helpline alone is not enough. My first question is for Madam Premier: can the Premier confirm if there are mental health workers, i.e. counsellors, ready and available at our self-isolation centres?

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When COVID-19 first struck the Northwest Territories in April, when we started to put things together and brought in our isolation units, I can't say at that point that we actually had those processes in place. Since then, we have partnered with the Department of Health and Social Services for what is called a "navigator." That person is responsible for when people are identified that they need any help, whether it be mental health, addiction, or other supports. Those people actually will provide the services and try to navigate the people and help to refer them to appropriate services, including mental health support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you for that response. My next question has to do with the first point of contact. Can the Premier confirm if employees working at the self-isolation centres have been given any training, for example, mental health first aid or anything pertaining to mental health?

My assumption is: no, they haven't got the mental health first aid training or are specialized in mental health. It is a specialty field, in all honesty. It's my background, as well. However, what I can say is that the employees who are at the isolation centres do know that they have access to the navigator, and also the people who are staying there also are provided the information that they can access that service if they wish. It's a volunteer service.

My third question is: can the Premier explain, if someone is having a mental health crisis while in self-isolation, where can they reach out for help aside from the navigators?

I do want to take a moment and say that, when the Member was doing his statement and he talked about how being in isolation can be really stressful on people, I hear you. I agree with you. I had two of my children who were in isolation when they came back from school, and I know it was tough on them, as well. Mental health is critical within that.

People, if they want, they can actually talk to any of the isolation staff who know how to access the navigator. In extreme cases, when disturbances have been found in the isolation centres and the RCMP have been called, they also know how to reach the navigator. The navigators, again, will link them in with the services available, but they are volunteer. At this point, unless somebody is a danger to themselves or others, we can't force them into taking those services, but the services, again, there would be a risk assessment because of COVID-19, especially if there is a fear of people having COVID-19. There would be a risk assessment done, so depending on the risk assessment, services can either be in person or they can be telephone or virtual care. We've now got in virtual care, which has been a tremendous support for our health system.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, I recounted the ongoing saga of how our government allowed the Cameron Hills sour gas field to become a public liability. Can the Minister of Lands tell us what general work has been done to date at the site by our government and how much it has cost? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.