Merci, Monsieur le President. I have a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services about wastewater testing. First off, I want to commend the Minister and the department for their leadership in doing the wastewater testing. I think it's a really good early warning system that we have in place here for the capital and the regional centres. Unfortunately, though, I have asked several times, and some constituents have raised with me the fact that there is no way of finding out about the results of this wastewater testing. Can the Minister tell me or tell the public about the status of some kind of public reporting of the wastewater testing results? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member said, wastewater surveillances helped us to detect cases in three communities, and so it has proved a very effective system. At this point, the samples are sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, so there is some lag in getting test results back. It's our hope that we will be able to invest in the Taiga lab here in Yellowknife to examine those wastewater samples and provide more timely responses on them. That said, I am not aware that the dashboard has been set up or that it will be set up until that new system is in place. Thank you.
I want to thank the Minister for that. Look, as I said before, this is a great system, and I really do truly appreciate the work that has gone into setting it up. I'm just wondering, though, in the dashboard, could we have something like the presence or absence of COVID and whether the levels are constant, increasing, or decreasing, and the dates of the tests? Is that the kind of information that could be put on the dashboard when it's available?
I would have to inquire about the level of detail that is being contemplated for the dashboard. I think that we would want to have the dashboard launched with some public education about how to interpret the results so that the results don't create panic in communities that are being reported on. Certainly, I am willing to inquire about what the dashboard is going to look like.
Nothing further.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of the Housing Corporation. Can the Minister confirm when Hay River can expect more public housing units? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, the Housing Corporation is in the process of constructing market housing units. That is an RCMP initiative. Presently we don't have any future public housing units to be allocated for the community of Hay River, but in result, we are working with the homelessness strategy in the community and looking at finding long-term solutions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Hay River is in dire need of housing for single families, for single people, for larger families. People have been on the waiting list for up to three years. We have to look, I guess, outside of the box on this and figure out how to get more housing in there. Is the Minister willing to consider talking to and using the private sector to build housing that could then be leased back or used for public housing?
I appreciate the Member's comment. Looking at this approach is different, and I would like to look at unique opportunities throughout the Northwest Territories. If we have an opportunity with private sector, I would like to take a look at that. Also, just looking at the City of Yellowknife, we do hold a number of leases already within the apartments that are established here. I would like to follow up with the Member. I am quite interested in that approach.
Right now we have a high-rise in Hay River with 122 apartments, and I am not sure if there is something that we can do to get that up and running. It would alleviate some of the housing concerns in Hay River and help out the Housing Corporation. Can the Minister confirm where we may be with making any head way working with the owner to get that operational again?
The Hay River high-rise is a collaborative approach throughout the government departments. Right now we do have an initiative that we have spoken with the management of the high-rise in looking at a possible co-investment fund application and how we are going to be working with that applicant to make sure that that application is successful.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have one question for the Premier and, if I get the answer that I am looking for, then I won't have any further questions. Would the Premier have the discussion with all of her Cabinet colleagues to ensure that their departments follow the Affirmative Action Policy this summer and every summer after for the GNWT summer student program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Honourable Premier.
Mr. Speaker, that is probably the easiest answer. We have been having those conversations at our table on a regular basis, so yes, I will absolutely commit to having that conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. No further questions. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of health. I have a number of constituents getting a hold of me, talking about the new extended care facility slated for Hay River. I would just like the Minister to provide an update of where we are at with that so I can report back to my constituents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question. I have no new information to offer him about the extended care or long-term care bed project, but I do expect to be able to provide one before this sitting ends at the end of March. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of housing. The Housing Corporation has something called the community residency requirement where somebody must live in a certain community for a certain number of months, and sometimes it's up to a year, before they can actually put their name on a wait list for public housing. I am just wondering what the purpose of that policy is. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Looking at the resident requirements for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and for our public housing units provides consistency through our application process, and it eliminates people coming from the South or people coming from the smaller communities and bombarding one housing wait list. I need to make sure that we deliver our programs fairly and that we are meeting the needs of the people of the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The problem with this policy is that it inadvertently, I believe, affects women. If a woman is trying to flee family violence, leave her small community, and go somewhere else, she can't put her name on a list somewhere other than her home community. She has to be willing to move to a community and couch surf or be homeless in order escape family violence. If somebody wants to be able to move from, say, Yellowknife, where they came for extra services, and move home to their home community, they also have to be willing to live homeless or couch surf before they can move home. Is the Minister willing to revamp this policy or, better yet, get rid of it?
In regard to the family violence and looking at relocation, the Housing Corporation has worked, I want to say, fairly with individuals throughout the territory. We were able to look at a transfer from one community to another in regard to fleeing a domestic situation. I will take a look at that policy and I will make sure that we do recognize this situation when we're looking at reallocation or transfers.
Is the Minister willing to consult with the Standing Committee on Social Development with this one?
Once I do have the conversation with my department, because I just made this commitment on the Floor, so I will be speaking with my department prior to requesting a meeting.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] We have Highway No. 3 leading to our community, and I'd like to ask a question regarding that to the Minister of Finance. We have no cell service between these two communities. The people I represent are asking me questions regarding this, so I'm asking her these questions. [End of translation]
Mr. Speaker, I just have a quick question for the Minister of Finance. Two weeks ago Monday, we had a meeting in Behchoko on the lack of cell service. There was an expression of interest that went out. Can the Minister please explain what it means, "expression of interest?" My constituents like to know exactly what is going to be taking place and the process itself. Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The expression of interest is a tool that we're using right now in the Department of Finance essentially to suss out what the options might be. An expression of interest is just that, to go out to the private market to see what options they may have, what ideas they may have available to us so that, indeed, we can look for a solution to this problem. As I've said before in the House, there is not an obvious market solution. There are no profits to be made or gained from opening up cell towers, but technologies are constantly changing, technologies are emerging, and it certainly incumbent on us to make sure that we go out, see what's available, and that's the first step of this expression of interest. The deputy minister of Finance was at the meeting that was called by the Tlicho, as was the deputy minister from Infrastructure, and that was an exceptional first step, to start to bring together the Tlicho Government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and other stakeholders. I think there were members of the private market and private service there, again, at that meeting. I understand it was a good dialogue had. We are taking our steps to get our information from the private sector, and I am looking forward to hopefully finding a solution that will benefit this stretch of road and maybe other stretches of roads if we are innovative in what we find. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The meeting we had was very productive. I'm glad that the Ministers sent their senior staff to attend. These constituents who travel on a daily basis, there are upwards of 53 for one organization, between Behchoko and Yellowknife. I would just like to know the time frame. The expression of interest went out two weeks ago. Where is it at and, on the process itself, if there can be some timelines pertaining to that?
To give some context and some background, the request for the expression of interest was issued on February 1st, and it closes February 22nd. From that point, then, obviously we will be reviewing what's in there. We would expect to review those proposals beginning on February 28th and we would have to conduct some internal reviews and no doubt engage with stakeholders further before anything further might take place. Hopefully, we would be in a position, subject to those reviews, to be soliciting for formal proposals, if we do indeed go that direction, by the summer.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government spends a lot of money on sending people South for addiction treatment and, when they come back, we have resources to support them, but one thing that I've heard from some of the people is that they're looking for a place to go, whether it be for a day, an hour, a week, when they feel that they may relapse. I would to ask the Minister of health if her department is willing to take a look at maybe identifying a centre or addressing that somehow, so people don't have to leave the Northwest Territories when they feel like they're going to relapse, but where they have a place to go, a safe place to go and get some treatment. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's an interesting idea, and I understand the intent there, to sort of have what they are now calling a "circuit breaker" so that, if somebody has had a slip, rather than going back into a full 28-day treatment program, there would be a shorter and more immediate intervention. That is something that I would certainly be interested in talking to the Member about. Thank you.
I thank the Minister for considering that. What I would expect is that, you know, we don't look at it being in just one community. I don't expect we have to spend a lot of money on it, but we should have something in the south and something in the north, as well, just so that people have easy access. So I would just ask the Minister that she consider that, as well.
We are currently looking at ways to strenghten after-care, as you know. We've just started with our survey of people who have used our services to find out how well it worked, what else could be done. This is something we will certainly put into the consideration. It is a serious commitment of our mandate, to improve after-care services, and this is a potentially promising way of doing that.
