Masi, Mr. Speaker. Masi, Colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we can't risk on our lowers. COVID and its variants are with us here and forever. This Government has an obligation. That obligation is to ensure we're ready for the new challenges that the new normal are present now and also in the future. I call on the Government to set up a standard task force to anticipate those challenges and ensure the government is ready for them.
I have suggested just a few challenges in need of some actions. Rest assured, there are many more that don't have time to deal with today, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, please be advised this will be the first of five Members' statements I will be doing about the flood situation in the Nahendeh. I can only speak about my experience and what I saw. Please note, there were a lot of moving parts, and I could not see them all.
As people are aware, both communities were in charge. They were the ones that declared the state of local emergency and are working with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Federal Government, including MP McLeod. From what I have witnessed and been part of, it is sometimes hourly contacts on top of their regular scheduled daily EMO meetings.
With all my heart and soul, I would like to thank the people of Jean Marie River First Nation, Chief, Council and Staff; the Village of Fort Simpson, Mayor, Council, and staff; and the huge number of volunteers and the regional EMO staff for doing an amazing job during the flood. Both communities and the regional EMO staff worked on their plan since January.
Unfortunately, what we witnessed was the worst flooding in recorded history from what I understand. There were things that we did not foresee, but thanks to these great teams, they were able to adapt.
I would like to thank the Town of Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Providence, and Norman Wells for opening their homes and communities for our evacuees. They treated our residents with great respect, and they were being well taken care of.
To the residents of both communities, I hope you are safe and secure wherever you are. I know it's been a stressful time, but together we will get through this.
To the residents of the Northwest Territories and business, thank you, thank you for all your kindness, donations, and support. This is why I am proud to be from the Northwest Territories.
As the GNWT involvement, I can say that various Ministers have discussions about the situation and being updated on regularly. I know I have been on several calls with my colleagues to discuss the situation. I can tell you from my witness, when the community had a request, the GNWT was very responsive. I know every request I received from the communities, that the appropriate Minister made it a priority to deal with.
Again, I would like to stress the leadership, staff, and volunteers in both communities did an amazing job during this difficult time. I know on the ground level, the GNWT, as a whole, stepped up and helped residents of these two communities during the flood.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I ask this Assembly, what is an elementary, junior, senior high student's life worth? Well, Mr. Speaker, the South Slave Divisional Education Council answered that question and put that value at $70,000. It is that number that forced the Hay River District Education Council to make the decision to suspend all bussing services for all schools in Hay River for the 2021-2022 school year.
This government expects students to attend school. For those that come from affluent families, it may not be a challenge. But for many in Hay River, it will require a 40kilometre return walk home. This issue and this matter is everyone's responsibility.
So, Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Minister of Education if his department finds this commute which will require one to make the choice of walking 40 kilometres or dropping out of school acceptable in a community that stretches 30plus kilometres where there will be no bussing for 2122 school year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don't find if acceptable, and the department doesn't find it acceptable either. That's why I've been working on this issue for more years than I would care to admit. If this was an issue where I could write a cheque, and problem solved, then we wouldn't be talking about it. As a Regular Member, I worked with the Hay River DEA because they require new buses, and as Minister, I was able to sign off on their purchase of new buses. And now we have a situation where they can't afford to use those buses. So perhaps I can take this opportunity to let people know how the funding works for education bodies.
So in Yellowknife, we have DEAs. It's a single body. And funding flows from ECE directly to those bodies. The Tlicho Region, we have the TCSA. Funding flows to that body, and then they disburse it. And in other regions, we have district education councils. The way that it works, according to the Education Act, is that ECE provides funding to the education councils, and they divide it as they see fit. There's very few restrictions on how that money is to be spent. It's similar to the Government of the Northwest Territories. We receive money from the Government of Canada. We spend it on what the Members of this Assembly deem necessary. It's the same thing. We provide the district education council in the South Slave with funding, and they distribute it among the various communities. And they make that determination. And so it's a political decision made by the DEC. And this isn't a money issue. There's money there. There's money in the bank.
The Member referenced that in the last annual report, there's $3.2 million. I'm sure that's gone down because of the costs associated with COVID. But nonetheless, this isn't a case where the money doesn't exist; it's a case where a decision has been made to not allocate that money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, current legislation states that an education body may provide transportations to students for them to have access to the education programming. It is interesting that this government is pushing to have student grades comparable to the rest of Canada at the same time allowing barriers to exist that removes the child's access to learning. I would ask the Minister if he is prepared to have his department review the legislation and propose a change that would make bussing mandatory and fully funded in communities such as Hay River where the commute becomes a safety issue and impacts access to education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that's the plan. The reason I was so quick to move on modernizing the Education Act and updating our funding framework is because of my experience with the bussing issue in Hay River. I saw that the system as it was designed wasn't working, and we need to ensure that kids can get to school. I've been involved in a number of different engagements across the territories on education, and I think at almost every engagement, if not every engagement, people make the comment that kids need to be in school to learn. We can do everything else, but if the kids aren't there, they're obviously not learning. So this issue is vitally important. And I want to ensure that by the time we have the renewed the Education Act and the funding formula, that this will no longer be a problem. In the couple years, few years, until then he have to come up with a solution, though. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have read correspondence between the Hay River District Education Authority and the South Slave Divisional Educational Council. I have read correspondence addressed to the Minister from the Hay River Metis Government Council, West Point First Nation, and Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre. What I found interesting is that the South Slave Divisional Educational Council is all about having the Hay River District Education Authority cut deeper into education programs and services while they're unwilling to look at their own budget. The teachers, the Hay River District Education Authority, and the Indigenous peoples see the benefit of bussing as it relates to advancing education and the safety of their students and children.
So I ask, will the Minister reach out to the organizations that have concerns and confirm with them that the access to education will include bussing and that the safety of their children is paramount? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to speak with those organizations. They are in my community and many in my constituency, and some I've already discussed this very issue with. Can I confirm that there will be bussing? I can't at this point because, like I said, this is a decision of the South Slave District Education Council and the Hay River DEA. And if I could just write a cheque and make this go away, that's what I would do. But the fact is that the education system as it is is very decentralized, and that decisionmaking authority lies with those bodies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I ask that you bear with me. Mr. Speaker, current legislations limits the Minister only direct the South Slave Divisional Education Council. There is no requirement for the South Slave Divisional Education Council to provide bussing or to follow any direction coming from the department, which is very evident by their refusal to fund the bussing shortfall in Hay River when they were sitting on the $3.3 million surplus at the end of 2020. Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister if he will meet with the South Slave Divisional Education Council and the Hay River District Educational Authority, something that the South Slave Divisional Education Council has already refused to do. We are talking about children's education, safety, and it is our responsibility to come up with a workable solution to cover the bussing shortfall for the next two years.
Mr. Speaker, failing that, I would ask the Minister if he is willing to consider directing the South Slave Divisional Education Council to fund the 70,000 bussing shortfall or find the funds from within the department and provide direct payment by cutting a cheque to the Hay River District Education Authority for bussing; failing that, or dissolve the South Slave Divisional Education Council and appoint a public administrator or commence discussions with the Hay River District Education Authority to provide the opportunity to remove itself from the South Slave Divisional Education Council and be an independent divisional educational council on its own? Mr. Speaker this is our children's future we are talking about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member bringing forward solutions. Often all we hear is complaints with no way to address them. So I want to thank the Member for that.
There are some authorities for the Minister in the Education Act. I can direct the education council; they don't have to follow that direction. If they don't, I could dissolve the board. But this is something that is within their authority under the act. So it's not you know, I wouldn't have very solid ground for just dissolving this authority or dissolving the Education Council.
The other comment was about commencing discussions with the Hay River DEA to remove them from the DEC, and in our Education Act engagements, that's one of the issues that we discussed, is what's the structure of the education system going to look like in the territory. And it very well could be that Hay River winds up on its own given the you know, these continuing situations that they seem to have with the education council. But, ultimately, what I want to do is I want to meet with the parties involved. I met with the DEA a number of times, and I'd like to meet with the chair of the DEC as well to have a discussion about this, because, ultimately, the education council, the education bodies are distinct in the GNWT. They're distinct bodies. And this is about relationships. We need to ensure that we have good relationships and that we're all working to the same end, which is the education of our youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As I mentioned in my statement, the importance of the Beaufort DeltaYukon connection and that we want clear answers, not statistics. I would like to ask the Minister what risk measurements are being used to make decisions around border restrictions and movement of people of the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr.Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the Public Health Act, the Chief public health officer has the authority to make recommendations to me about travel, and they are then written into public health orders and enforced at this point by the COVID Secretariat. So it's a process that begins with the Chief Public Health Officer and ends up with me signing off.
The issue about the travel exemption with the Yukon doesn't have to do with risk assessment. It has to do with verification of people being vaccinated. So the Yukon and BC have a common medical record system, but ours is different than theirs. And so there's been some negotiations underway about how to share information between the NWT and the Yukon to verify that people have, in fact, been vaccinated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just, maybe a offer some advice. Would it be easier for the person who's travelling in to have a copy of their record and would that be sufficient, as right now if we don't have an agreement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you. I'm sure that that would be useful to if you had a copy of your own if you had your own immunization. But the information sharing would open it up to everyone without them having to obtain paper that indicates that they have been vaccinated.
These discussions are well along, and I heard the Chief Public Health Officer say on the radio yesterday that she expected them to conclude shortly.
I just want to add one more thing, and that is that the situation between ourselves and Yukon is what the whole world is now grappling with, with immunization records, how do we create a system that is private but effective and indicating immunization to other countries when we decide to travel internationally again.
So this is a live issue at the moment, and we are seeing it right here with the travel exemption to Yukon. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I mean, we've been travelling all over the world before COVID, and there are vaccinations that we need to have in order to enter some countries. And we as a past public health nurse, I've provided these vaccines and given them their records, and they've been able to enter these countries. I don't understand why we can't go from Yukon to the Northwest Territories or vice versa.
So I'm just going to move on. And what you know, has there been any discussion about a temporary absence right now that could provide Beaufort Delta residents to go into the Yukon for at least maybe 72 hours without having to isolate on coming home.
We have no road access into Yellowknife. So those people that are not from the region may not realize that. And there's no possible way we can go anywhere else in 72 hours if we have to be back across the border. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my understanding that the CPHO is working on a travel exemption which would provide access to the Yukon that would be not time limited. I'm not aware of any work being done on a timelimited option. Thank you.
Thank you. Final Supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The only reason I'm asking for the time limit is there's ongoing work and if maybe if this discussion could happen that some of our residents could travel and get what they need to do, pick up vehicles that have been there since November, months ago, because, like I said, it's our lifeline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly will make sure that the CPHO hears that suggestion. And, of course, we appreciate the fact that people would like to get to Whitehorse and go shopping, pick up their vehicles and so on. And we look forward to making that happen as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Premier consider a more personal and compassionate approach to helping the communities of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River with appointing a disaster navigator with a team to help both communities for a positive recovery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the MLA talking about we need to be more compassionate and personal with people, and I heard the MLA say that as well during the presentation the other day, that, when we were looking at the flooding. And I agree. And, Mr. Speaker and the Minister agrees as well, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. She has already said that we need to humanize our services there. So I do think that we need to have a more compassionate way of working with people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in my discussions with Chief Jerry Antoine, he said the Government of the Northwest Territories needs to establish a singular point of contact between Fort Simpson and the Premier's office to ensure better communications are established immediately, and he wants this contact to be someone in a position of authority. Will the Premier establish that point of contact? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I do know Chief Antoine does have my number, and any chief can actually call me at any time. They also know that it's difficult to reach me during the days, and I think that's what the issue might be more so.
But, again, I did hear them. And I did have conversations with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, and both of us agree that we need to be more concerned about the people on the ground. So we did have conversations, and we are looking. Actually, we will be bringing in either I'm not sure what the term is, a pathfinder, a system's navigator, somebody on the ground, Mr. Speaker, that actually can help people navigate the systems.
It's horrible what they must be going through, and it's horrible to lose your home, and then have to figure out the bureaucracy is not acceptable. So we've had those discussions and we will be bringing that forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, Chief Antoine said that this is a very simple request, but it is urgent. He also said they already have professional technicians on restoration ready to go. They need the guarantee to recoup the costs.
Will the Premier guarantee that the Government of the Northwest Territories will help the affected communities recoup all costs, such as labour, material, equipment, et cetera pertaining to flood restoration? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a little bit harder of an answer to give. There's all kinds of factors that need to be taken into consideration when looking at costs. There's amounts the federal government will cover. There's also some people in communities do have insurance, and some people don't. Those things have to be taken into consideration as well.
What I can say, Mr. Speaker, is that the officials are meeting this weekend, and also Cabinet is going to meet this weekend to discuss about the flooding and what we can do to support as well.
So I'm looking forward to figuring out what we can do, but, again, it's not so easy just to say that we'll cover everything when there may be other factors, such as insurance agencies that might be able to take account, and Federal Government, in some communities, some of those housings are Band housing versus or Federal housing versus GNWT housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, Chief Antoine's concluding remark was, mahsi, and thank you for being there. Premier, the ball is now in your court. I told Chief Antoine that I would request you call him after session today about these matters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's an easy commitment. Absolutely, I can. All chiefs out there know that they can reach me. My life is pretty basic, go to work and go home. So they can reach me any evening and every weekend.
And I will make the commitment that I will call Chief Antoine this evening. If not Chief Antoine, I don't know what will happen, but tomorrow at the latest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I have the Premier committing to things, I am going to ask her some questions. I have to say I'm a little bit distressed to hear my colleague get a response that risk assessments are not part of the discussion on whether or not we are going to go into interterritorial bubble travels.
So I am going to reiterate the question here: Can the Premier tell us where her discussions are at with the other two territories and their Premiers on interterritorial bilateral travel agreements and can she roughly estimate when she can expect this to happen.
And I do expect that the Premier is talking with the other Premiers, not just leaving it to the department. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, yes, we do have a lot of conversations with the Premiers, Premiers across Canada. We usually meet on a biweekly basis, if not weekly, depending on the situations. The Northern Premiers also meet regularly as well.
Those relationships are important. And we're in a special situation. The three territories actually were the first in Canada actually to get the vaccinations. Thank you to all Premiers across of Canada for that consultation. But we also realized that we are exceptional in that we're a little bit isolated; there's not as many entrances and exits outside, et cetera.
So we have made exemptions. We looked at the Nunavut that we have done. However, what I have to say is exemptions change. As soon as Nunavut had the outbreak, things changed.
So we were looking at one with Yukon, and then Yukon opened up, and things changed. Now Yukon is again back to the table. We're at the process, like the Minister said, that we're looking at agreements.
What I have to say, though, is anybody now has the same opportunity as people as anywhere in the NWT. People can go to the Yukon. They just have to come back and isolate. If they've got double vaccinations of vaccinations, they can get 8 days. If they don't, they have to do 14 days. That is the same privilege as every single resident in the NWT.
Now, recognizing that the Beaufort Delta is a little bit different, a little bit more isolated, we are looking at a special agreement. But at this time, people that are vaccinated can go in and stay the 8 days when they return. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad the Premier used the word "privileged" because it takes privilege and money to leave the territory and come back and isolate for 8 days or 14 or 30, as I've been hearing from some of my constituents.
Next, will the Premier commit to instructing her Cabinet to work with any northern airlines ahead of any agreements being made with interterritorial or interprovincial travel in order to gain their input and update any safety or screening requirements that I'm asking that the Premier instruct Cabinet and the rest of the Ministers to do so. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's nice to say that the Premier has privilege. A lot of people have privilege, and a lot of people don't.
Mr. Speaker, our intention when people come back and have to isolate is not about privilege. It's about accessibility. Anyone in the Northwest Territories that is going for medical or emergency or grievance, exceptional situations, will be covered by our isolation centres if they have no other safe place to isolate.
Everyone across the territories, people are privileged, people are not. At this point, we are not paying for the isolation centres for people that are traveling for leisure. That's about our safety things, Mr. Speaker. So every single individual is accounted in that, and I'm hoping that people who can't have safe place to isolate will contact us because that's what we're there for.
As for the airlines, it's not every Minister, Mr. Speaker, that would have that direction. It's the Finance Minister that has those conversations with airlines. But she doesn't. They're federally regulated.
So we did give some contribution because of COVID to Canadian North, and we're looking at an arrangement with them. I believe that going into the Yukon, it's a different airline, though. It's not even ours. It's Air North. So we can't tell Air North what to do. But what I can commit is that we will have discussions with them to see what they're willing to do, such as the discussions we've had with Canadian North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Without getting into too much of an argument with the Premier, I would argue that mental health travel that many people are suffering from now, including Members of her own Cabinet from what I've heard, would say that if they couldn't afford to come back or didn't have a job like ours where we can work from home, that it is a form of privilege. So the private sector would probably disagree with you, Premier.
Will the Premier advocate that "staycations" qualify as a travel benefit under our Northern Residents Deduction and make that retroactive to 20202021 fiscal year.
And I do understand that might take some pressuring of the federal government; however, if we want to see people moving around this winter or sorry this summer and dealing with some of these mental health burnout and fatigue I'm talking about, then I think this is a good move for our people. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, mental health is important. Never assume that somebody comes because they have a good job, that they come from a place of privilege. Sometimes people with good jobs have exceptional costs as well that are taking care of families. So I never go that way.
As for taxes, absolutely, Mr. Speaker. Actually, it's already covered. I'm just trying to look for that, yes.
So you can actually within our taxes at this point, you can actually use staycations for a tax exemption in the NWT. You can claim the lowest of the three following amounts: You can claim the value of the taxable travel benefit received from your employer; you can claim the actual amount that you spent on your trip; keep all your receipts and your supporting documents; and you can claim the lowest return airfare available at the time of the trip between the airport closest to your residence and the nearest designated city to that airport. For example, in Yellowknife, it might be Edmonton. So that's already in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
