Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of MACA as to the usefulness of years and years of reports and plans related to highway and out-of-community rescue services. Will the Minister commit to reviewing all of those reports and plans and having a tangible plan with the framework, with equipment, to do the job ordered before April 1st? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Member, for your comment and your questions. As you know, we know that, when we're developing in the Northwest Territories, we see a lot of the highways that are being constructed. There is a need for safety, too, so we can work in conjunction with the communities and the hamlets, as well, not only that but the jurisdictions outside of the municipal areas. I am committed to reviewing the reports and also looking at the April 1st date that the Member had put. I'll work towards that. Sorry. I can't commit to that, but I will review the reports.
Thank you to the Minister. I'm more than happy to help her with getting to that April 1st deadline. Will the Minister agree to having MACA be the lead agency and work with Cabinet to ensure these siloed government departments doing bits and pieces of public safety will work together to get public safety done in a cohesive and immediate way?
MACA is a priority. I mean, safety is a priority of MACA. Sorry. I will be working with my Cabinet colleagues and I will be in communication with the Member, as well.
Will the Minister agree to work with Cabinet to ensure the purchase of a fire rescue truck this year, a medic light rescue and tanker-heavy rescue combination units each subsequent year to finally have lifesaving services along the Northwest Territories roadways?
Thank you, Member. The decision right now is very premature. I need to look at the reports that have been created prior to this Assembly, and I need to look at those numbers. I will have the conversation with my Cabinet colleagues.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. Honourable Caroline Wawzonek told this House on June 3rd that COVID made digital connectivity even more important and also urgent. She said, and I quote, "I certainly do expect I will be making faster progress on this and maybe would have before the COVID happened." Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask Minister Wawzonek about the faster progress that she mentions. What are the implications of the faster progress for Internet and Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me speak to the matter in Whati first. I'm very happy to be able to say that, with the recent signing of the infrastructure cooperation agreement between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Tlicho Government, part of that agreement was, in fact, that the GNWT is now supporting the option for a fibre optic line to Whati. This is going to be a project that would be led by the Tlicho government, but the GNWT is going to partner and provide support as well as some financial supports in terms of preparing their project. That is a very exciting opportunity to work together on completing that.
In addition to that, Northwestel had an application that was recently approved by CRTC that will allow all satellite communities, which includes Wekweeti and Gameti, but all of the satellite communities, to take advantage of the low earth orbit satellite network as soon as that technology is available. The expected date for that is in 2022 and 2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That's great news about Whati. It's still in the works, and if we wait for Northwestel, we may not see the Internet. There is a CRTC federal counterpart, and as you know, the federal drags its heels, as well. This is an area that we need to push forward. As the GNWT, the Minister has made it a priority, a commitment in this House, so I would like to ask the Minister: the government has given fibre optic services to Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Fort Simpson, and Wrigley. Some of them are small communities. In the interest of fairness, when will the Minister of Finance extend those same services to the Tlicho communities of Gameti, Wekweeti, and also, well, Whati is still in the works, but those communities?
Right now, there are no plans in place to be extending the fibre line to Gameti and Wekweeti. The first step is to get it as far as Whati. Again, working in combination with the Tlicho Government, it may well be that, if we are successful in our applications to the federal government for their support and their funding in regard to that project, that, from there, we may well be moving on to Gameti and Wekweeti, but we have to lay the first line first.
If we can find $82 million for a 12-kilometre fibre optic line down the Mackenzie Valley, I'm sure we can find it, too, for my region. Why can't we find an extra little bit that would help households, schools, and nursing stations and businesses to now enjoy the benefits of this line that their very own tax dollars built, for my riding in Monfwi?
Again, I am very pleased to say that we're going to be working together with the Tlicho Government to bring a fibre line into the community of Whati, and pleased that, again, at this point, with the CRTC approvals that are in place, Gameti and Wekweeti will be seeing a dramatic improvement to their access, as well. We are constantly working with federal counterparts to have access and opportunity to get involved with the tremendous amount of funding that is coming forward in the next few years for broadband, but even that funding from the federal government, at this point, although we're having those conversations, it has been announced but there are no calls out yet. The actual applications, the kinds of applications, that's not even known. Nevertheless, we want to be first in line and we've already had those outreach opportunities, and I have taken them where I can and will continue to do so.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, we have to think short-term and long-term. Short-term, in my view, is connecting to Whati. I'm just wondering if the Minister and her department, at the federal and Northwestel level, has there ever been consideration of, once Whati is connected, Gameti and Wekweeti are also in line for the discussion to move forward as a long-term objective of this government? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
That is the first time I've had it raised to me that that is an option or a solution that we should be pursuing, and I agree with the Member's statement that there is short-term and there is long-term. Yes. Absolutely, short-term, I'd like to see this project to Whati in partnership with the Tlicho Government advance, and then, beyond that, to get the satellite communities to the state where they have gained access to low Earth orbit satellite system. Then, beyond that, I will give you the words that I was told by the federal counterpart, which is: dream big. If we're being told to dream big, then we want to dream big. I am happy to hear that there are other options and ideas, and I am happy to continue to take them forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm planning to return to Hay River this weekend, and my constituents told me in no uncertain terms, "If you don't get answers on this matter, don't come back." I will ask for support from the Minister of MACA because I adore the community of Hay River and want to return home tonight. What happened to our shoreline this fall is a very serious matter, and my constituents want answers with solutions and commitments from this government. Can the Minister of MACA tell me what it would take for her department to consider an event as an emergency under the Emergency Management Act? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Under the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, we do administer the Emergency Management Act. We would be working with climate change or natural disasters, fires, erosion, and shore erosion, as well erosion on the river banks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister confirm what triggers an event to be deemed as an emergency and to commence action to deal with it? Using the Hay River flooding caused by the high water and wind as an example, what is the process and what action was taken in this instance?
While the Emergency Measures Organization monitors risk situations as they develop and advises communities to increase the risk of period factors, triggers for active responses include the risk factors of community capacity to deal with situations and other associated response issues. The decision of when it is activated would be the response of GNWT assistance. In normal, a discussion would be the with Emergency Management and ENR for wildfires.
Can the Minister confirm what supports those impacted under an event declared as an emergency can expect from this government? Is there financial support for rebuilding and flood-proofing?
Just specifically for Hay River, I am familiar with the Member's questions and with his comments, as well, in that we did deal with a situation where we had high water levels in Hay River. The department did reach out to and did work with the Town of Hay River. As well, we did reach out to Infrastructure to get material to work with the shoreline that was affected and the houses that were affected. Right now, the South Slave District MACA office is working with the Town of Hay River to complete a federal Climate Change and Preparedness North funding program for flooding mitigation.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister confirm that her department will commit to working with the Department of Lands, West Point First Nation, Hay River Metis Government Council, and the Town of Hay River to develop a plan to secure the perimeter of the lake in the town of Hay River, to address this issue in order to avoid future flooding and damage? We need this work done before next spring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Those conversations are actually happening internally right now. We will be working with the Town of Hay River, and we are in communication with them in regard to the high water levels in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment currently has five career and education advisors serving all 33 communities. This role is to help high school students come up with a path that they want to take after high school and to be able to lay that path out with them and get kids really excited about what they want to do. I've had the opportunity to speak with both people who serve in that role and kids who have taken advantage of that role, and it's a very positive relationship. What I am wondering is: what is ECE's plan to grow the career and education advisor role within the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd be happy to grow that program. I can't count how many times, just talking to members of the public, they've said that, "My child didn't know what they wanted to do. They didn't have the courses they needed to graduate. I wish there was someone to help them." I've been able to answer time and time again that we now have that. We have a program that was only accessible to students in about six schools in the territory. Most students did not have that access to career counsellors. This program, we had six counsellors, and we added three more in this current fiscal year. Six of those counsellors have spread out to the regions, so we now have two in the Beaufort Delta, one in the Sahtu, one in the Deh Cho, one in the South Slave, and four who serve the North Slave region, so including the Tlicho region.
Looking forward, I would be happy to add more of those positions if it's possible at some point and to expand the age range that they deal with. Right now, they work with students grades 9 to 12 as well as anyone aged 18 to 24, whether or not they are in the labour market or they are in university or they want to get into the labour market. I would be happy to expand it so that we can get students access to the career and education advisors even earlier. However, we know there are a lot of competing priorities, and there is only so much money to go around. While it's definitely something I would like to do, we will have to see where it lands in the grand scheme of things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Given that we know that our home and community care needs will be increasing by 80 percent over the next 15 years and that, due to COVID, Aurora College is currently offering its personal support worker program online, will ECE consider offering the personal support worker program to high school students? This would allow students in grades 11 and 12 to work towards their college diploma while also completing their high school diploma, preparing the student for a place within their local economy without having to leave their home community.
I like how the Member thinks. I think we need to be offering more programs than we are, increasing the number of programs that lead to careers and lead to employment soon after high school. However, this is a program that is offered by Aurora College, and I can't tell the college what to do. I will bring this information back to them. I know that they have been working with Health and Social Services and the territorial health authority to expand delivery of the program outside of Yellowknife, and so it is being offered online, as well. It is being expanded, but it's not being offered in the high schools at this time.
I appreciate the Minister's comment about not being able to decide on programming from Aurora College, so I hope Aurora College is listening. Will Aurora College consider integrating the personal support worker diploma courses for partial credit towards the first year of the nursing program so that the personal support workers can receive credit for what they have completed should they decide to return to college and so that existing nursing students will be eligible for personal support worker positions as summer employment while they complete their nursing degree? As an aside, Mr. Speaker, this is currently a practice at Ryerson. Thank you.
Another good idea from the Member, but again, I don't do the programming at the college. Nonetheless, I do appreciate what the Member is saying. The college is moving towards a laddered approach, where you can get your certificate and then move into a diploma, degree, and so on. That is not currently possible with this personal support worker program. There is nothing beyond that. The credits do not transfer, and it would take some rejigging of the program in order to make that happen, especially considering that nursing is nationally accredited and that there are stringent requirements. However, that said, I am happy to take this back to the college.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Along the same lines as making sure that high school students have all the opportunity in the world to build their experience, whether it be economy of care or whether it's trades, I am hearing from some employers that there is a concern that, in order to qualify for the trades wage subsidy, their apprentice needs to accomplish a minimum of 30 hours of work during the week. Some of the apprentices are high school students through the SNAP program and obviously cannot accommodate 30-hour-a-week minimums. I am wondering if the program is willing to work with employers to reduce that minimum requirement or if that minimum requirement is different when it comes to high school students. Thank you.
The SNAP program, people participating in the SNAP program are already able to benefit from the wage subsidy program, so no change is needed. It's already happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am appreciative of a lot of the work that the Department of Infrastructure is doing in regard to district heating and cogeneration. However, this is one of those situations where the technology exists in many jurisdictions. It's proven. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It makes heating bills cheaper, but it requires a system-wide rethink. It requires community plans to ensure that the largest facilities are clustered. It requires making sure our power plants are built next to our water treatment plans so they can share energy. Presently, that kind of coordination is not being done by the GNWT. Another huge gap in this area is breaking into the residential market such that people can heat their houses off of a district heating system. My question for the Minister is: what steps are being taken by the Department of Infrastructure so we can have people heat their houses using district heating? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a biomass district heating system for several apartment buildings in Yellowknife. The GNWT has $50 million in combined grant funding until 2024, under the Greenhouse Gas Grant program, for governments and for buildings and industry. That is available to support district heating systems across the Northwest Territories. The Arctic Energy Alliance also has funding to support biomass heating, as well.
I am appreciative of that work, and I know the NWT Housing Corporation has been connecting some of its buildings using district heating and putting pellet boilers in. When we do this analysis, the City of Yellowknife knows better than no one. They actually won an award for 2018 for connecting their facilities, and it has saved them money. It's proven to work to get the pipes in the ground. There is no better place than downtown Yellowknife to implement district heating and connect all of those large towers. However, we do not own those towers. The City of Yellowknife is not willing to become a utility, so is the Minister of Infrastructure willing to put a plan together to put district heating in downtown Yellowknife?
I know the City of Yellowknife has looked at this, and they would be eligible for 75 percent of funding under the Greenhouse Gas Grant program for governments if the city decides to undertake that kind of project. We will continue to work with the city if we need to, to be able to provide this assistance to them.
