Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I'm wondering: what areas of income assistance the Minister will focus on as part of the income assistance review? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Identifying the areas that we're going to focus on is actually part of the review. I think that, as an MLA, I've dealt with income assistance issues over the years, as have all MLAs, I assume. I know there are some certain areas that I would like to deal with. We're also undertaking a client survey so we can go talk to the actual clients who receive income assistance and see what they think the issues are. We're talking to the front-line staff, and we're using feedback from the integrated case management report. There are a number of areas that are yet to be identified, but I think that, if I was pressed, I'm sure I could name off a handful. I'm sure we all could. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister lightly touched on it, and I touched on some of the common barriers that were brought up in the ICM report in my Member's statement. I'd like the Minister to hopefully confirm that, yes, all of the common barriers identified in the ICM report will be part of the review of the Income Assistance Program. Some of those, for example, are cumbersome program requirements, late payments, and lack of person-centered approach.
Confirmed.
Thank you to the Minister for that. Given that 70 percent of ICM clients have housing-related challenges, one out of four is already homeless, and 80 percent showed up at ICM already unemployed, how could income security and housing front-line staff work together to provide a more coordinated wrap-around service at this time?
The Member is referencing the clientele of integrated case management, and there has been a limited number, I would say, over the past few years, of clients to that program. That's because those are clients who are facing a number of barriers. Those barriers interact with a number of different departments, and that's how they get access to that program. That program has shown us that sometimes these people, the clients in these programs, just need a little bit of assistance in certain areas. Sometimes, they need someone to go to the bank with them and help them talk to the teller and just give them at that confidence to say, "Okay. This is how this interaction should go." There are those types of things that need to happen.
In terms of the collaboration between departments, sometimes, we need some GNWT employees to look at these programs that the clients are accessing and look at it from the client's perspective and say, "Okay. How can we ensure that these programs are more streamlined, given what I'm seeing my clients struggling with?" What the Member is talking about, integrated case management, is specific to Yellowknife right now. Perhaps that model only works for Yellowknife, but the fact is that that type of integrated service delivery really needs to be rolled out across the territory. Maybe integrated case management isn't what's needed in communities but front-line staff working together, working across departments, under common policies that were developed by collaboration of departments is what's needed.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That's exactly what I'm talking about is a collaboration between departments so that we can provide better service to Northerners so that they're not having to go to different departments and really search out what programs what might be available to them because a lot of people have enough struggles. Struggling through GNWT departments should not be one of them. I guess another way of looking at this is: what is senior management doing today in order to change the corporate culture from a gatekeeping one within the GNWT to one where service to the public is a top priority? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
The senior management of the GNWT really take their lead from the Executive Council of the GNWT, and I know that myself and my colleagues are all committed to ensuring that we have the best client service possible. We just heard the Minister of housing say the same thing. In that vein, the deputy ministers of the social envelope departments, Finance, ECE, housing, have all signed an MOU that states that they are going to work together to promote the principles of person-centred, community-driven delivery; that they are going to be responsible for this; and that they are going to have to answer for this. That is being coordinated by Justice as the lead on the integrated service delivery model.
When I say "integrated service delivery," I am looking at -- perhaps we could even change that name because that name even has a government focus on it. The government is integrating its services, but as far as the clients are concerned, they are getting services from the government. They don't know if they are integrated. They don't know which silo these services come from. The senior management is actively working to come up with ways to work together right from the point of developing legislation, right down to the service delivery, and working together with a focus on the best way to serve the client. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I have detailed a number of delays hobbling the effort to get the long-promised territorial midwifery program in place. A common thread appears to be, in all of these delays, difficulty in staff recruitment. Can the Minister tell us when a recruitment and retention strategy for midwifery will finally be completed? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That strategy will be complete in the spring of 2021. Thank you.
I want to thank the Minister for that. I look forward to seeing that document. The update that was supplied to me in August said, "Territorial leadership positions will undertake policy and guideline development and will develop data collection and reporting mechanisms consistent with the approved monitoring and evaluation framework." It's hard to believe that we've been running a program for more than five years without data reporting, collection, monitoring, or evaluation. Can the Minister tell us when the required policy and guideline development is going to be completed?
The policy and guideline development is an ongoing process. It doesn't impede the development of the territorial midwifery program, so they are developing together.
I am still kind of baffled at how we can have a program that is developing without data, but a further element that is being worked on, of course, is staffing. A territorial manager is now hired. They are going to work with regional authorities. Again, a basic building block that we need to have in place is things like credentialing, performance review, response to complaints. Can the Minister tell us when the work will be completed on setting procedures for proper qualifications for midwifery staff, their performance, and a complaint procedure?
It's my understanding that the new territorial midwifery manager is working on all of these things. There is a standard job description for all registered midwives that is part of the regulatory framework that has already been established, and further, the NTHSSA bylaws have a process for reviewing performance of professional staff. This is the same process that would be used for midwives, as well.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, no aspect of government service delivery is free of the shadow of COVID, particularly health service delivery. We know midwifery consultation in the South Slave and Deh Cho is on hold, pending COVID. Can the Minister briefly summarize what impacts COVID has had on midwifery implementation and when we will finally have a full, territorial midwifery program? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
An example of the impact of COVID on this program is that, when the territorial manager of midwifery arrived in the territory in March, right at the outset of the pandemic, rather than being asked to sit and write policy, she was redeployed to support clinical care to postpartum and newborn clients at Stanton Hospital and in the community. That, I don't think, is in place any longer. I think she is back to her regular job at this point, but that was an example of where things were at.
As the Member is aware, the midwifery expansion project did not receive funding in the 2021 budget year, and there is no request for funding in the next budget year. This is a question of competing priorities. The department has a number of initiatives through the mandate to complete, and this kind of new initiative money has been allocated to the child and youth counsellor positions and to Children and Family Services' needs. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about the importance of supporting our entrepreneurs, and one of the best ways we do that presently is through our SEED program through ITI. My question for the Minister of ITI is: can we top up the SEED program funding this year to make sure that no applications are denied? This could be central to our economic recovery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to note that the staff who will be administering the SEED program are both orderly and smart in the way that they will be administering that program, and we appreciate the work they do every day. Right now, the budget for SEED is $3.8 million, and it has been that way for a great many years. Fortunately, as part of the COVID response, we were able to increase this budget up to $4 million through internal reallocations, and as of right now, we are actually projecting that that will hit $4.3 million in terms of the total applications being sought. Every effort is going to be made, indeed, to achieve funding all of those applications. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am glad that the Minister is working to find that top-up internally. We are hearing this year that there is $4.3 million of demand for SEED applications. I can only imagine that this demand will continue next year. Really making sure that our entrepreneurs can find that capital in these tough times, I think, is central to our recovery. Is the Minister willing to increase the SEED funding in next year's operations budget?
Increasing the funding on a permanent basis is something that has to go through a business-planning process and an analysis to determine if, in fact, that is the best way to spend public dollars. Certainly, there is a suite of programs right now that support entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized businesses, including not only the SEED program but programs spread across ITI, as well as BIP. I will say that part of what I want to ensure we do is make sure that we are adequately funding those programs in a way that they become complementary and that they fill gaps one from the next, but that takes something more than just looking at the one program alone. However, I do say that we are doing that work, and indeed, there is a review happening this fall of the SEED program itself, to help ensure that there are no gaps along the way, and to ensure, as I say, that we are funding our small and medium-sized businesses.
During our pandemic response, a number of SEED COVID-19 guidelines were released, and I want to thank the department for that work. They said, "We are going to be flexible; we are going to be quick and adaptive." I think they were great guidelines. However, underlying this was still the SEED application policy, which has a market disruption clause saying, essentially, "We will not fund businesses if they will disrupt the market." In my experience, there has been no consistency in application of this, and I do not really think it's the goal. By not disrupting the market, we are not increasing competition, and we are encouraging monopoly. Is the Minister willing to get rid of the market disruption clause from SEED applications?
The market disruption clause certainly has been the subject of some discussion. What I will certainly commit to is saying that, in the course of the review that we are doing internally of the SEED program, a careful examination of the market disruption clause needs to happen. Certainly, what I have heard from some of the larger centres is that there is a greater desire to get rid of it. Yet, from the smaller centres, there is some desire to hang onto it. It may be that we need to find a "not one size fits all" solution to that clause.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear the Minister commit to reviewing this. In my experience, I am confused what this clause does because we fund plenty of tourism businesses through SEED, and to me, every time we fund one, they are disrupting the market in comparison to their competitors. I helped one of my constituent fishermen get SEED funding. Then another complained that they did not get a government subsidy, so I had to go help them. It seems that, every time we give government grants, we are disrupting the market. To me, that is the goal. Is the Minister willing to just accept that during COVID-19, when we are being more flexible and we are trying to get SEED dollars out the door, market disruption does not apply? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I did want to acknowledge that the Member had expressed the fact and outlined the fact that the program has been adapted to COVID-19 and that that adaptation happened quickly on the part of ITI. I would note that, for the purposes of COVID-19 right now, the SEED program has shifted rather substantially and that, for this year, they have waived the market disruption clause and indeed re-shifted the focus of a lot of the SEED funding so that small and medium-sized businesses can apply under a fairly different set of policies, given the fact that the markets themselves are quite disrupted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Just recently, the weather has been changing, and we are into the winter season. There is a lot of concern coming from my communities, especially the elders. It is regarding their furnace and if it shuts down or breaks down, or the sewage line. They have concerns regarding that. I want to ask the housing Minister a question. In Behchoko, Whati, Gameti, Wekweeti, if any of their furnaces or running water breaks down, what do they do? Who can they ask help for? Masi. [Translation ends].
Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Member's comments. Seniors' housing is a priority for the Housing Corporation. We have approximately 348 seniors who are occupying our units presently, but that does not include the private homeowners, as well, throughout the territory. We do have a number of programs that are available. Right now, we are under review of making those programs more accessible.
The Member had asked about his riding, as well, and looking at the furnaces and how are we able to work with that if there are freeze-ups to sewer lines. Right now, we are working with the Indigenous groups to look at a community initiative project and a community initiative funding plan, that the community would be able to provide that service on behalf of the Housing Corporation. Should this service not be available locally, we will be looking at hiring outside of the Member's riding in order to provide those services. However, the priority of the Housing Corporation is that I would like to work more closely with the Indigenous governments and have them provide those services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Translation] When we take a look at our elders in the communities, they have worked a long life, and we are trying to give them a comfortable home. We should make sure that they are taken care of. [Translation ends]. I am speaking on behalf of the elders of the communities, even throughout the Northwest Territories. The Minister alluded to where private homeowners are not eligible, and when we provide services such as for a furnace breaks down or plumbing, minus 40, minus 50, it's very critical that we assist those individuals. Policy or papering should not be in front of us. We should send people out there right away and deal with the paperwork after, but that does not seem to be the case. I would like to know when can we start including these elders who own their own homes? There are quite a few of them, and they are still begging, begging us to have a dedicated person in the community, that they can pick up a phone, speak Tlicho to, and then that person can be there. When?
My apologies to the Member. The Housing Corporation does have seniors' programming that do deal with emergency repairs in emergencies such as this. For the Member's riding, the Housing Corporation does provide that service from Yellowknife. We do have people who travel into the community to deal with those emergency services, to make sure that adequate care is being kept for private homeowners. I already had said that we are looking at the application process. I know it's quite lengthy and that language barriers are an issue, as well, and we need to start looking at how we are going to be better communicate with the Indigenous groups, using their language within that respective riding.
My colleague from Nunakput, his community, it's minus 26 today. That is coming to our region, too. It's a very real issue. Obviously, I would like to see this expedited. What I am stating here is coming directly from my elders calling me, speaking to me in my Tlicho language, just the other day. They do not want to go through this process again with minus 40, minus 50 the next couple of months. I highly encourage the Minister to expedite this process, and I am hoping that we can see before next month, at least. Would that be possible for the Minister's department to pursue that?
The programming already exists. I will follow up with the Member to identify the individuals so we could provide the programming and also provide the assistance in what level of programming the client may need to acquire.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. What I am referring to is a dedicated person in the community who some elders can call directly because those elders will know the specific individual. We do not have that right now. We have somebody possibly coming from Yellowknife, and who do they call? The local housing authority. Sometimes, there is a runaround, and at times, a family member would have to come and possibly service the furnace, uncertified. What if something happens? Are we waiting till something happens here, Mr. Speaker? It's very critical that this policy change that the Minister is referring to, if that can be expedited so we can have a dedicated person to deal with the furnace and plumbing breakdowns in the community for elders who own their homes, Mr. Speaker. Masi.
I hear the Member's comments. The local housing authority does act on behalf of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. They are our front line. When we do have housing issues, I would like the clients to be contacting the local housing authority so we would have information on how we are going to conduct and what kind of programming we are going to be offering. Also, I just wanted to elaborate on the dedicated person to be located and to be identified at the community level. Trades and apprentices are something that we are struggling with right now in trying to find that certification at the local community level and, also, the programming that is offered to keep the certification current. It does not stop the Housing Corporation from providing the service. Right now, just to inform the Member that we are working with the dedicated person that should be available at the local community level. We do have maintenance workers, but I do understand there's a stronger need for the service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI because I know she really likes policy and procedure. Mr. Speaker, ITI's SEED Policy described market disruption as circumstances when, in the opinion of the regional superintendent, the granting of a contribution will likely adversely and significantly impact the revenue earned by another business within the region. This definition, plus the duty of the regional superintendent under Section 7.4(c), make it clear that the authority to determine market disruption falls to ITI's regional superintendents, and that this authority is discretionary. What I'm wondering, Mr. Speaker, is: will the Minister instruct her senior management team in ITI not to apply the market disruption clause for the existing NWT businesses seeking SEED funding for the 2021 fiscal year so that NWT entrepreneurs can creatively evolve and expand their businesses in response to COVID-19? Thank you.
