I can send those off and request feedback from the standing committee, but the plan right now is really to have it community-driven and not have it necessarily dictated. That being said, there has to be some sort of structure around it, so we can definitely collaborate in that sense. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of returning Fort Smith Regional Airport runway to former specifications.
Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 550 signatures, including 127 electronic signatures and 344 written signatures of Northwest Territories residents, and Mr. Speaker, the petitioners request that the Government of the Northwest Territories return the main airport runway at Fort Smith airport to its former width for reasons of public safety and economic growth.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I have a short presentation. Further to my Member's statement earlier today, this petition was started in January of 2021, and it contains a total of 550 signatures. There are 352 handwritten signatures, along with 198 electronic signatures, and 79 signatures came from people residing outside of the NWT, though I will add that most of the outside signatures came from people who used to reside in Fort Smith or were born and raised in Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, I must admit that today, as I present this petition, I am feeling a sense of validation in my ongoing efforts to restore the Fort Smith airport runway to its former specifications. As I said in my Member's statement, I am no longer the lone voice vocalizing support to restore the Fort Smith airport runway. I am now joined with the support of 550 people who agree with my efforts. During our caucus retreat last year, Mr. Speaker, a meeting was held on August 31st. I just want to recap that meeting. This email was sent that very night after the meeting by Brian Harrold, who is the owner of Northwestern Air Lease.
It says: "Dear Frieda, just a quick recap on our meeting today. Thank you for inviting Minister Simpson and for listening to our concerns. As I had mentioned at the meeting, the narrowing of the airport has had several impacts on the town and Northwestern Air Lease. When Northwestern Air Lease had decided to start a flight training school, we had predicted some of our mitigations for a safe operation at a 200-foot-wide runway. This allows the students significantly more room for error on takeoffs and landings. As we had discussed, by narrowing the runway, the number and type of large aircraft that could be used in the event of an emergency evacuation has been severely limited.
"I understand that the Boeing 737 manufacturer states that the Boeing 737 aircraft can operate from a narrower runway. However, both WestJet and Air Canada have procedures that will not allow their aircraft to land on any runway narrower than 149 feet. This is why Fort Smith is no longer usable as an alternate airport due to bad weather. This means that the only 737 aircraft that can take part in an evacuation would be the Canadian North 373-200. This will limit the aircraft that would take part in an evacuation and would leave the evacuation to the military and Canadian north for the large aircraft, and the rest would have to be with ATR's Dash 7s and Dash 8s. This could mean a large number of aircraft trying to depart or arrive in poor conditions." This was an excerpt from the whole email that was sent by Brian Harrold.
Mr. Speaker, there is one aspect of this petition that was particularly concerning for me and for several other interested people who considered to sign this petition. I was told by a number of Government of the Northwest Territories employees that their supervisors had discouraged them or were trying to prevent people from signing this petition. Upon hearing this, I reached out to the Minister responsible for Human Resources and asked her if this was, in fact, true. She told me that there was no such direction given. This indicates a serious lack of clarity from the Department of Human Resources about the Government of the Northwest Territories signing this petition. This petition is not going against any government policy. This petition is about the safety and economic wellbeing of the community of Fort Smith.
My duty to present this petition to the Government of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly on behalf of the amazing community of Fort Smith is an honour. I appreciate all the support I got from the community and will continue to work extremely hard to find solutions to this unnecessary situation with the airport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: "Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4-19(2): Report on the Review of the 2018-2019 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report;" "Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 5-19(2): Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories;" and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 559-19(2): FASD Support Services in NWT Correctional Facilities." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents: "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 502-19(2): Seniors Housing;" and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 538-19(2): Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Safe and Secure Housing." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 286-19(2), Main Estimates 2021-2022, with Health and Social Services. Mahsi.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short recess.
---SHORT RECESS
I will call the committee back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 286-19(2), Main Estimates 2021-2022. Does the Minister of Health and Social Services have any opening remarks?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to present the 2021-2022 Main Estimates for the Department of Health and Social Services. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $74.8 million or 14.3 percent over the 2020-2021 Main Estimates. These estimates support the mandate objectives for the department while continuing to meet the Government of the Northwest Territories' fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.
Highlights of these proposed estimates include:
$34.6 million for the COVID-19 Coordinating Secretariat;
$13.1 million for initiatives, which include resources to increase front-line capacity in Child and Family Services, resources to continue with the establishment of the NWT school and community child and youth care counsellors in our communities, and resources to expand Healthy Family programming;
$10.7 million to address forced growth;
$9.2 million for projects in partnership with federal agencies such as Indigenous Services Canada, including the Northern Wellness Agreement and the First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care agreement; and,
$8.5 million to fund 24/7 operational staffing costs in Health and Social Services programming, forced growth at Avens, and the expansion of the dialysis unit in Hay River.
The department is also planning for a $558,000 decrease due to sunsetting agreements with funding partners.
These estimates continue to support priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly by:
increasing supports for meeting health and wellness needs and priorities of Indigenous people;
supports to increase mental health services to youth in schools and communities throughout the NWT;
increased supports for mental wellness and addictions recovery; and
improving early childhood development indicators through expansion of the Healthy Family Program to support expecting parents and parents with young children.
That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. The committee has agreed to forego general comments. Does the committee agree to proceed to the detail contained in the tabled document?
Agreed.
The committee has agreed to consider the activity "COVID secretariat" first. Does the Premier wish to bring witnesses into the House?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Madam Premier, please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me today, I have Mr. Russell Neudorf, the associate deputy minister of the COVID secretariat, and Ms. Jeannie Mathison, the director of finance with Health and Social Services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. COVID secretariat, beginning on page 176, with information item on page 178. Questions? Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking at page 178 at the active positions. Could the Minister or the department tell us how many of these positions were hired from the North versus how many were people brought from the South? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As committed to when we met with standing committee, 100 percent of the staffing for the COVID secretariat are from the North, either P1s, P2s, or some of them are not priority status but are residents of the Northwest Territories. No southern people were hired for the COVID secretariat. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Premier. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell me how many of these employees for the enforcement team are ex-RCMP officers? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The enforcement task team, I will turn over to the deputy minister to get more on the RCMP officers, but there were qualifications that were needed with the enforcement, Mr. Chair. The task force enforcement team are literally knocking on people's doors and handing out verbal warnings, written warnings, or tickets. It was really critical that we have people who have some kind of training in enforcement to ensure the safety of residents and the safety of our enforcement team. Mr. Chair, I can turn it over to our deputy minister to speak more on how many are ex-RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Premier. Mr. Neudorf.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Premier had indicated, because of our need to hire people quickly and not having time to train them up, we needed to hire people who already had some enforcement background. I'm certainly pleased that we were able to do that in the hiring. I do not have the exact details about the number of RCMP. We will commit to provide that to the Member.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you for that, reiterating the Premier's point again. Thank you. I look forward to getting that information. Can you speak to how much money was spent relocating people around within the territory to take these positions, i.e., people being moved to the Beaufort-Delta region rather than hiring locally there? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will ask Ms. Mathison if she knows exact numbers. We did try to hire as much as possible from the regions. For example, in the Beaufort-Delta, when I went up to Fort McPherson, all of the border patrol staff were actually from the communities. Mr. Chair, the amount of money that we had spent, I would have to turn it over to Ms. Mathison if she has that.
Ms. Mathison.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't believe any expenses were incurred for relocation. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Rather than the monetary amount, I would like to get a feel for how many people did move around. I know that there have been people who were hired from out of the region into that region. I just want to know if there is a way to characterize that happening, but it doesn't sound like it. Maybe I will follow up, then, with the Minister at a later date. Thank you. I'm good.
Thank you, Member. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will take that as a comment, and the Member is going to follow up.
Thank you. Questions? Member for Yellowknife North.
