Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to start off by saying my thoughts and prayers are with the family for the highway tragedy that happened at the end of December. The department is aware and shares some of the Member's concerns about the safety of Highway No. 3, especially the section between Yellowknife and Behchoko, which the Member knows is the busiest highway in the Northwest Territories, for that stretch of the highway. Like the Member said, I may not have the numbers with me. I know the numbers of vehicle accidents along the highway are high.
I do want to say, though, that the number of vehicle collisions on Highway No. 3 between Yellowknife and Behchoko has declined 76 percent between 1999 and 2019, despite a 225-percent increase in traffic. If the department has the numbers, then we can provide that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would be one of those frequent travellers on Highway No. 3 because I represent Behchoko and the communities, and obviously, I see a lot of semi tractor-trailers on the highway. Every time I am on the highway, there are big trucks on the highway. Speeding is the number one cause of these accidents, especially during the winter road season when it opens up, which is today, so there will be a lot of tractor-trailers on Highway No. 3. There will be very busy traffic, up to 6,000 loads, I believe, going up to the mine sites. These tractor-trailers don't slow down when there are vehicles parked on the side of the road with flashing lights. I do have a witness who was involved in this, as I spoke to in my Member's statement, first-hand, on December 31, 2020. My question for the Minister of Infrastructure: What are the protocols in place for these truck drivers when it comes to approaching a parked vehicle with flashing lights on the side of the road? How is it enforced?
I want to thank the Member for suggesting to look at speed limits for trucks and maybe even lower them. We will have to consult with the general public and the transportation industry and get their thoughts on this matter. It is a possibility that reduced speed limits could alleviate some of the tragedies and accidents along the highway. It will have to be a coordinated safety campaign that would make the highways safer. I can commit to having some of this work done and getting back to the Assembly.
Just to elaborate a little bit more because I did speak to the Minister in advance because this is of high importance in my region: I am getting messages from my constituents asking if this government can lower the speed limit for these tractor-trailer units down to at least 70 kilometres per hour. Right now, as it stands, it's 90 kilometres per hour, and it's still not being obeyed or followed. What would be the process to make this happen? We had a public meeting in Behchoko on Highway No. 3 safety issues this previous Monday with all the stakeholders, and almost everyone raised this issue. My constituents would like to see this change ASAP. Can we see this in the life of this government?
The Member talked about a meeting in Behchoko that happened on February 1st, and there were representatives from governments, industry, and enforcement agencies, as discussed, to be able to make this Highway No. 3 safer for all motorists. I fully support that work going forward and agree with the need for increased cooperation at all levels and improving public safety education for professional drivers and for the general public who use Highway No. 3.
In the meantime, we are taking positive steps to make the Northwest Territories safer. For example, like all jurisdictions in Canada, we are in the process of developing and implementing a mandatory entry-level training program for new Class 1 truck drivers, so we expect to have this work done and a program up and running by this December. We do have some concerns about truckers speeding on the section of the highway, and I can say I have witnessed it in person. The majority of the truck drivers do obey the speed limits, but there are always those who do not. We need to come up with some ways to be able to work with the communities and try and come up with ways to be able to have transport trucks reduce their speed.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I am glad the Minister is receptive to looking at reducing, possibly, the speed limit for these transport operators. Obviously, that would be a good start for this government. The safety of Highway No. 3 also should be and must be a priority, no matter who or what company they are working for. The posted speed limit should be obeyed at all times, especially for the tractor-trailer drivers, who we have seen so many times speeding. We are here to provide some options and ideas, so this is one of the recommendations that has been passed on to me: Could the Minister possibly look into establishing camera units at Fort Providence bridge crossing, where there are cameras already, one at Behchoko, and in Yellowknife to monitor to speed limits? A system where, once leaving the destination, let's say leaving Fort Providence and arriving in Yellowknife at a certain time, expected time of arrival is based on speed limit? Mr. Speaker, masi.
I agree with the Member that we need to look at increasing highway enforcement patrols in the region, especially with the opening of the Tlicho All-Season Road that is going to happen in November. I will be, and the Member may be happy because we did have a discussion, perhaps looking at funding for additional highway patrol officers in the North Slave to be included in the next business plan. I think the Member would be happy to say that adding one additional person to be able to help monitor the highway is a good start, and I think that is something positive coming out from the department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier in my statement about our electronic medical record system and our eHealth system. At one point, the Northwest Territories was a leader in this area, being one of the first jurisdictions to completely shift all of our health records to electronic form. When we designed that system, we designed a patient portal, which allowed people to log in and see their health records digitally. Other jurisdictions have now caught up and have those portals open and operating, and we have refused to do this. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is: Why has that portal not been turned on? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department supports, in principle, the idea of having a patient portal where patients can access their health information that's held in electronic medical records, recognizing that there is information that is not in electronic medical records. We recognize the benefits of them having confidence in managing their health themselves and to make sure they're making informed discussions with their healthcare provider. It turns out that turning this feature on is a little less like turning on a light switch and more like steering the Queen Mary. It hasn't been accomplished at this point, and in the meantime, the medical record system we're using is going to be retired on December 31, 2023, so we are now looking for a new electronic medical record system. It seems unlikely we are going to make modifications to this system, but rather, we'll look at it in the context of the next system. Thank you.
I look forward to bringing up this issue in the next Assembly as it was brought up in the last, as well. I understand we are now shopping for a new electronic medical records system. I heard that was 2023. Can the Minister commit that as part of going out and purchasing a new system, an online patient portal will be part of that system?
I can't make that commitment. I can say that there is interest in this. I've already said that. It's in the four-year business plan that you've reviewed in the fall. Another possibility is to have a separate patient portal that is not connected to the electronic medical records but, in fact, include a wider range of records such as you mentioned in your statement: records from Alberta, paper records, images, and that kind of thing. Before we go down this road, we need to do a very comprehensive privacy assessment, and we need to answer some fundamental questions such as: Can parents access their children's records? If you are a caregiver, can you access your patient's records or your client's records? We need to have a very robust privacy and public engagement on this issue before we are able to decide what the best route forward is.
I recognize that it may not be as simple as turning a switch on. However, our doctors and our healthcare professionals use HealthNet Viewer daily. There have been consistent problems in this area in making sure that patient files are complete. I think that there is a bit of a misunderstanding, and our patients think that someone is monitoring their file and making sure it is robust and complete and all of the data works in there. Actually, the health system is just as siloed as many other GNWT departments. My question is: What work is being done now to make sure we are bringing all of our information into one place, whether it is the electronic medical records system or some new system as the Minister states?
I will need to return to the Member with information about what is being done right now on bringing in different sources of information into electronic medical record. I can say that I've answered a couple of questions from MLAs about records that seem to be missing from the electronic medical records for one reason and another. If the Member has a constituent who feels that their electronic medical records are incomplete, we can certainly investigate that.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have had multiple constituent issues of records missing, but the problem is: they do not have access to that electronic medical record system. A portal accomplishes exactly that, is that they can keep a file up-to-date. As the Minister said, there is lots of work to do in this area. COVID, I think, has pushed this work to the forefront. Is there a digital health strategy coming forward with some of the lessons learned and some of the paths we have to go down that will answer these questions such as maybe by 2023, whether we will have this portal? My question to the Minister is: do we have a comprehensive digital health strategy that is factored in, the changes COVID has put on the system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Department of Health and Social Services is very actively working on the pandemic rather than looking back at all of the lessons learned. I am not aware that there is work being done on a digital strategy at this point. Of course, it is important to capture the lessons learned, but this is not the moment. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance. In my statement, I described the legal requirement for tabling of an annual report for the Heritage Fund in this House. Can the Minister explain why this legal requirement has not been fulfilled for several years and whether she will immediately bring the reporting up to date? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that, when the Heritage Fund Act was initially put into place, it actually did not include a requirement for the report to be tabled or provided. However, when the act was amended and with a new Financial Administration Act in force, and I believe that would have been in 2016, from that date forward, the reports have, in fact, been published and brought forward by the Department of Finance and that indeed those reports are contained in section 3 of the public accounts, which does get tabled every year, and that 2018-2019, 2017-2018, and back to 2016-2017, all three of those public accounts, including section 3, including the report detailing the financial administration of the heritage fund, are available online through the Department of Finance website. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that. It would be much more helpful, in my view, if these could be tabled separately somehow in the House so people could actually know that they are publicly available. Having them buried in public accounts is not very transparent. However, the purpose of the Heritage Fund was "to ensure that future generations of people of the Northwest Territories benefit from ongoing resource development, including the development of non-renewable resources." With less than $30 million after almost 10 years and on resources worth over $18 billion, clearly, we have collectively failed. What is the Minister going to do to try to turn around the NWT Heritage Fund so that there is actually something worthwhile for future generations?
The value of the resources that are going out from the Northwest Territories, perhaps some of the challenges that we are facing right now, is that we are not necessarily speaking about the same thing. The royalties that are calculated, Mr. Speaker, come from the profits, and so the mines that have to generate profits, that have these resources, have to pay their staff, have to pay salaries, have to pay taxes, a variety of taxes, and have to pay royalties, as well, and, of course, have to pay for the capital to build the mines that actually then can generate the profits to take the resources out of the ground. It's not quite so simple as to simply say, "How much is it worth?" It is, "What money is actually available after, with the profits, to put back in?"
With that, Mr. Speaker, the Heritage Fund, I can certainly say, compared to a year ago when there certainly were tremendous shocks, the fund is actually up 15 percent since the lows back on March 31 of 2020 and that, in fact, the management of the fund is such that we are now seeing increases as markets are starting to turn around.
I want to thank the Minister for that report on the health of the fund, but she did not really answer my question about why there is going to be so little to pass on to future generations. The problems with the fund started with the very low rates at which we capture revenues from resource development. There is no legally set revenue stream for the heritage fund and no public governance. As we approach the 10-year mandatory review, what is the Minister going to propose to ensure that we capture and retain a fair share of resource revenues for future generations?
The 10-year review, in fact, it is the Legislative Assembly or a committee of the Legislative Assembly that is responsible for conducting the 10-year review. I can certainly assure the Member, assure this House, that myself and the Department of Finance are more than happy and very much prepared to be of assistance as that process goes forward through this Assembly.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. She really did not answer my question about how to increase the money going into the Heritage Fund, so I guess I will try it again. As we approach the 10-year mandatory review, what is the Minister going to propose to ensure that we capture and retain a fair share of resource revenues for future generations? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
There is currently a resource-royalties review underway. There is, of course, the Mineral Resources Act regulatory scheme that is being reviewed and looked at to bring the Mineral Resources Act into place. To the extent that there is some concern about the way that the fund gets managed, which is detailed quite extensively in the regulations surrounding the heritage act, then, at that point, again the Department of Finance is more than happy to assist a committee of the Assembly which is charged, in fact, with the review that is supposed to happen in the 10-year plan. I am looking forward to that process and to all these processes and to continuing to be available to support the Assembly when that review takes place and to continue to update the Assembly with respect to the Mineral Resources Act as it evolves and to the royalty review that is included therein. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier about the challenges that an NWT resident had in accessing programs and services through the GNWT. Two-and-a-half minutes definitely was not enough time to go through the detailed challenges and frustrating challenges that this person faced in order to get some access and in order to get some resolution to some of their challenges. My point is, Mr. Speaker, that our programs and services, we spend millions and millions of dollars making programs and services available within the GNWT, but they are definitely not accessible to NWT residents. I would like to find out from the Premier today: does this government intend to address the NWT's need for client-focused accessible integrated service delivery in the course of this Assembly? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a concern. I know, from my own history of being a social worker, that there are issues to the government. All government programs are meant to provide services to the people based on the needs of people. Because the government is so big sometimes, they do actually end up working in silos. Over the years, we have tried many things to address this issue. We have multiple working groups. We have committees of Cabinet where members from different departments sit together. We are looking at an integrated case management service with the Department of Justice. Within our smaller communities, we have government service officers. Is it the answer? It's the start of the answer, Mr. Speaker, but we have a long way to go. I would be the first to recognize that we are trying, but yes, open to any suggestions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Premier give us an idea of what direction has been given to departments to enable and empower front-line staff to work together?
There has been no direction that I know of that has said all government departments shall work together to the front-line service workers, but we have given that expectation to deputy ministers across. That's why we have deputy ministers' working committees, as well. Does it get down to the front-line person? That's a concern. People have job descriptions, and I know that most government workers do really care, and they do go above and beyond. It's not in the job descriptions, but I do hope that, when people see obstacles, for example, if they're looking at income support and there's an education issue, that they would actually try to reach out. That is the work. We recognize that there is an issue, but that is the work. That's why we are doing the integrated case management pilot, and it's showing success. No-brainer that it's showing success, so we are hoping to expand that program as we move forward. Again, lots of competing priorities, though.
I appreciate that people have job descriptions, and I will say that every single person that we came across fulfilled their job description. They fulfilled the mandate of their department. That's what they intended to do and what they are supposed to do. People aren't boxes, and they don't fit into boxes. People's challenges in life extend beyond one single box of one mandate in one department. When somebody presents with a challenge with housing, it quite often is not simply a matter of a housing issue. When somebody presents with a challenge of income security, it is not solely a challenge of filling a bank account. There are so many other pieces that go with that. Until we start helping people with wraparound supports that address their concerns, we are never going to end up spending less money. We are never going to catch up.
My question would be: if no direction specifically has been given -- I recognize what the Premier says about the integrated case management. They have a huge wait list, and I am going to talk about that tomorrow with the Minister of Justice. They can't serve all of our clients. Is the Premier willing to give direction to Cabinet to start making front-line staff work together?
I will give direction to the Ministers during the Cabinet meeting. I can make a commitment to do that, that they should talk to their senior officials in every department and do try to talk about client services and how we can best work with people. I do think that all Ministers recognize that. I know that they're trying to do that. We're open to ideas, like I said. The combining of one release of information form that was brought from this Assembly from Regular Members, give credit where credit is due, was a phenomenal thing, in my opinion.
We have work to do. The integrated case management program is a success. That was a no-brainer for me. I knew that would happen. The government service officers in every small community, those have huge successes. We have work to do, but I will give direction, as the Member asked, to every Minister that we see here today, hearing me now, talk to their officials, ask their officials that, as much as possible, have people work together. However, in saying that, I do have to recognize that there is confidentiality, especially in, for example, health or even housing. Do I want my story shared with everybody without my consent? Absolutely not, but we could work better together as much as possible.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I do have some suggestions for different Ministers for later this week that I will work through with them as the week goes on. I will say that, without the policy and the process in each department, in order to essentially force it, it's not going to happen. Unless each department sets up policies and processes that give them cross-reference to be able to talk together and empowers their public servants to work together, it's just not going to happen. It's not just a matter of saying to people, "Talk to one another," because their job descriptions and their protocols within their departments don't allow them to do that.
One of the things that I noticed over and over again was that different service providers were met with dead ends. They were there to listen to you about what it had to do with the mandate of their department, but they weren't empowered to be able to say, "Listen. That sounds like an issue for income security. Let's bring income security into the room." It was a matter of sending somebody to walk six blocks to see if they could find the right public servant to talk to and not putting the onus on the person who has a place to sleep that night to bring the person into the room. That's what needs to change. I do believe that our public servants are amazing, and they do want to make change, but they need to be empowered to bring their colleagues into the room. Thank you.
There is no arguing with the Member. She is absolutely right. It would be really nice if people could stop and hit one service centre and be able to get their answers addressed and the services they need and to actually not have to walk to the next government office two blocks or five blocks away, whatever it may be, that they could pick up the phone. That is the goal of the government, eventually.
Giving credit in the last Assembly when they started the integrated case management program, that was the goal, that it would become a pilot project, and from that work, which we're just concluding, we just did an evaluation, I believe, a while ago, and again, showed success. That work would actually be transferred and that we can actually get more and more departments to be doing that work. It is part of the answer. It's not the only answer.
I didn't like one-stop shopping because I heard from too many people that when you have one-stop shopping, if I get mad at that worker and that worker is mad at me, I have nowhere to go; but I think that there is a combination that's needed, Mr. Speaker. It's not just a one-stop shopping. Maybe it's an option that you can have a one-stop shopping service officer, somewhere to go, but also give people the options that, if I don't want to go there, I can still go to income support or housing on my own so that I can access those services.
I think that we need to look at all of the options that are available, Mr. Speaker. We have to make sure that our services are people-centred. People-centred sometimes does not mean there's only one right answer; it means having a combination of answers for people that meet their needs. I think that is the work that we are doing now, and we will continue to. We are more than open to suggestions on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance: Please provide a list and amounts of all financial obligations to the Government of the Northwest Territories for the Ekati Mine at the time the property was sold to Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd., including the following:
An itemized listing of all outstanding amounts due to the Government of the Northwest Territories for payroll taxes, property taxes, corporate taxes, mining royalties, carbon taxes, fuel taxes, land lease rents, water use fees, Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission assessments, and any other financial obligations; and
Details on how each of the financial obligations listed above were treated during the sale; and
Whether GNWT has forgiven or changed the terms of payment for any of the above financial obligations; and
The aggregate amount spent by GNWT in connection with the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act proceeding in relation to the Dominion Diamond group of companies including outside legal counsel, consultants, staff time, and related costs.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
