Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member's statement speaking about the Beaufort Delta and the core housing need, can the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation tell us what is the current waitlist for the Beaufort Delta communities right now. Thanks.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the question. The total number that we have as of today is 178. We've got Inuvik has 73, Aklavik's got 18. Fort McPherson 21, and Tsiigehtchic 9. Those are the numbers that I was provided that are on the waitlist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister what immediate actions are being taken to reduce this waitlist. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As of today, the number that I have for the Beaufort Delta, including Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic, is 26 million that has been invested into this region. We have 17 of the market housing units which are the RCMP constructed units. They should be completed by the end of this government.
But we have got two units going into Inuvik. In Aklavik, we had 600,000 that was invested into six public housing units. Also home ownership repair programs for private homeowners and minor unit repair, all expected to be completed in 2022-2023. McPherson, we've got four public housing units coming available. And also Tsiigehtchic two housing units and three major repair home ownership programs as well too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I also wanted to add that we continue the effort working with the Indigenous groups in the Member's riding as well to continue lobbying the federal government for further additional housing infrastructure money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for those numbers. You know, Housing keeps bringing up these RCMP units. They don't resolve our housing crisis. They do provide our RCMP with new units in that, you know, since the Minister has brought that up, what I want to know is with all these new units that are being for RCMP, what are we doing with the old units? Are we going to absorb them into GNWT and are we going to use those to reduce our public housing waitlist? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that question coming from the Member.
Right now, as these RCMP units are being constructed, I am in conversations with the federal government and I want those units to be transferred over to the Housing Corporation so we would be able to work with the Northwest Territories and add that to our public housing stock. And also that there is possibly an opportunity to work with the Indigenous groups as well too, as they would have preference before the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll go back to my other question that I had. So knowing that we've heard in this House many times that there's communities and there's boarded up and there's vacant units, what is the Housing Corporation -- how many housing units are in the Beaufort Delta communities that we are talking about, and what is the plan for those units that are vacant that Housing Corporation owns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm going to provide the Member with some numbers.
We've got 11 in Inuvik. We have two that are under repair and four that were scheduled for repair in 2022-2023, and five require funding.
Aklavik, we've got eight. Two are under repair. One is scheduled for 2022-2023 completion. And also five require funding as well too.
In Fort McPherson, we have four. Three are under repair, and one is required funding.
In Tsiigehtchic, we don't have any numbers.
But then, you know, I look forward to looking at those numbers as well too because we don't have the funding to repair those units and have them available for the clients. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I am thankful for today and I also thank my colleagues. The things that they are bringing up is very important, especially to the smaller communities and we are in need of a lot of things, and it's the people that are needing these things; I thank them for that. And we're not going to stop asking for these things for our small communities, and we're trying to make sure that we -- we help our community.
Yesterday's Member's statement. So I'd like to ask a question towards Housing Minister. [Translation Ends]
This is not to be disrespectful for the loss of loved ones, especially in my regions. There are some family that I know that are still grieving. So this is a question for the Minister.
Can the Minister share what types of assistance are available to residents regarding the transfer of property and land ownership from deceased relatives.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for MACA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that there is not a Municipal and Community Affairs issue. I think that's very much about wills, about working with the justice system. But if the Member is talking about land transfer and that, that there is very much about a municipal government.
It's been very confusing, and I thank the Member. She's hit me a few times with this question, and I greatly appreciate it. It's trying to understand how it works in the Tlicho government, but it is my understanding land belongs to -- or is looked after by the Tlicho government, whether it's Behchoko, Gameti, Whati, or Wekweeti. And they need to develop a bylaw to do that type of work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for the question. I just wanted to know if the Minister is aware, knows, Behchoko, Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti is a public government. So it is responsibility of Municipal and Community Affairs.
With that, can the Minister advise what possible assistance is available relating to accumulated tax arrears. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I'm well aware that it's a public government. And, again, it's understanding the complexity of a new government and how we do things.
So in regards to taxation, this was an issue that I brought up in the 18th Assembly and what we were able to do is work with the Minister of Finance is that we were able to do a reverse mortgage, I would call it. Basically we would just pay -- come up with a payment plan to work and pay off the taxes and then as the interest would be reversed. So that option is available. You would have to reach out to the Department of Finance. That's what I have had to do with working with my community members in my riding, and my understanding that option is still available but would need to confirm with the Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for the answers. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to instructing staff to reach out to the Tlicho and community government to address barriers in the transfer of land and property title. Thank you.
Thank you. From the Municipal and Community Affairs side, with the bylaws, we would be more than willing to come with the municipal governments to come up with the bylaws that they need to do that. If it's something to do with lands, more than willing to work with the municipal governments, the Tlicho government, moving forward.
Again, I appreciate the Member asking these questions. And she's been very true to her word. She's been asking the questions numerous times, and I appreciate that. And all we need to do is work together to help solve that issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
We have to be persistent. If we're not persistent, then it's going to be shelved, so.
So the final question, can the Minister commit to having discussions with the Tlicho and community government regarding amendments to the Tlicho Community Government Act to address the legislative barriers of transferring lands and property title. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, and the Member for Thebacha kept on reminding me about land issues. I asked them the same questions so I appreciate the commitment by the Member. I love it, I think it's -- that's how we get things solved here.
I'm more than willing to work with the municipal governments. Our staff is more than willing to work with the Tlicho government. Again, though, I just want to make sure we know what we're looking at, what we need to do. So if the Tlicho governments can work -- reach out to us, work with their MLA, we're more than willing to sit down and have conversations how we can improve things moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I visited Jean Marie River and the Minister on August the 11th to see some of the flood damage. Can the Minister provide an update as to the status of funding expended to date by this government in Jean Marie River and efforts to carry out any of that work from other sources. Merci, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for MACA.
Thank you. First of all, I'd like to thank the Member for touring my riding. It was greatly appreciated. And the community of Jean Marie greatly appreciated him stopping in to sit there. I also have to give a shout out to the Member from Hay River South. He was very much involved in that as well.
So in regards to how much money we spent right now, presently, as of September 30th -- sorry, I just had a mental block there -- we spent $1.7 million for the flood recovery for activities in there. We are projecting that the total for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, we'll spend approximately about $6 million in total.
The GNWT is making a claim for reimbursement for flood-related costs to the Government of Canada through the federal disaster financial assistance arrangement, and Municipal and Community Affairs has engaged Public Safety Canada throughout this. So they're not being surprised about it; we are actually being proactive and saying here's what our costs are and, you know, is this something that we can or cannot claim through the process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that response.
The community of Jean Marie River was particularly hard hit by flooding as we all know. Can the Minister tell us if and when the water treatment plant was put back into operation and what arrangements were made for clean water for the community before that. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to answer the last part of the question first, and then we'll go from there.
So when the flood hit, the leadership from the department and local governments from Hay River and Yellowknife provided bottled water to the community. So we were bringing in bottled water to help address that issue. Then as the ferry was kicked in in Fort Simpson and people were moved back into their homes, or they were still in their homes that weren't impacted by the floods, we were bringing the water from Fort Simpson, the water truck.
Now we continue to do that. In July and August, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and contractors worked on improving getting the reservoir up and running and as of September 30th -- or September, it is now operational. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Good to hear that the water treatment plant is up and going again.
I noted in my statement the housing closest to the Mackenzie and Jean Marie rivers was particularly heavily damaged. The previous Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs had promised publicly that people would be in accommodations, be back in their communities before winter.
What's the status of the assessment or repair work for both private and publicly owned housing in Jean Marie River, and are people back in their own homes. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to thank the Member for asking these questions. I think these are questions I asked weekly with the staff on it.
So the status is basically we've been working on it. For the homes that we're able to repair, we're hoping to having everything as of December 17th. For the ones that may or may not be back into their home, we brought in a camp. So we have two camps. One for the Elders, and one for the family. When we were asking the community about getting a camp in there, we gave them some options. They provided the option -- they selected the options, and that's why the camp we have set up as we have it here.
In regards to homes that are beyond repair, what we've done is we've given them a number of options of how we're going to move forward on that. And then the community members made that decision. It wasn't us as government saying this is what you have. We said, here's option A, here's the consequences if you pick this, option B, C, D, and then the community members made a decision.
I'd just like to share a quick story. I had one individual who was going to do it but decided that the home meant too much more so he -- they have actually gone back to building it, fixing it up themselves. So as in regards to the public, there's four units. My understanding they're in the process, if they're not already done. Housing has done the work on them, and we're moving forward on that. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Clearly, people in Jean Marie River, particularly the Elders, like to be close to the rivers. That brings some risk with more extreme events which will increase with the climate crisis.
Can the Minister tell us whether there have been any discussions or plans to relocate or move some or all of the community of Jean Marie River, and what support is our government giving. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been working with the residents. Some people want their homes to be raised. We're able to do that. Some of them have actually looked at potentially moving to another location. And with the homes that we are replacing, we're making sure that we can lift them up and move them should they wish to move to another location in the town.
Very much the community wants to stay close to the river. We have some locations that we're working with them. But we've also made a commitment to work with them to come up with a plan, a community plan, based on their needs and what they want. So, again, it's very much about working with them on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake. Oh, that's fine.
Sorry about that, Mr. Speaker. I'm operating electronically today. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services today, and I'd like to continue my conversation from yesterday.
My first question is will Health and Social Services waive the $400 copayment fee being charged to families for travelling to Edmonton to deliver between December 10th and February 21st. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the question. I'm unable to answer that specific question. What I understand is that the obstetrics team has started to reach out to the families who will be disrupted by the closure of the Stanton obstetrics unit and finding out what their needs are in order to understand whether we need to do some systemic changes to accommodate families who will be going to Alberta to give birth. So at this point, I can't say specifically what measures we are going to offer beyond those that are already in place for everyone who travels for medical travel. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. I can confirm that the people who I serve when I stand in this House would like to not have to pay out of pocket for essential health care and that would be to deliver a child and would like to not have to pay the $400 copayment fee in order to access required health services.
My next question, Mr. Speaker, is will Health and Social Services increase the $50 hotel benefit to a hundred dollars regardless of escort presence to ensure all parents travelling to deliver in Edmonton have access to equitable hotel benefits regardless of marital status to better cover the costs of hotels. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, medical travel benefits are available to these families who are being disrupted by the closure of the obstetrics unit at the same rates that are provided to everybody else who travels for medical travel. In the event that the family has access to employer benefits, noninsured health benefits, or extended health benefits, Metis health benefits, then they may be able to supplement those numbers. In the event that they are unable to supplement those numbers, they should certainly make the obstetrics team aware of that so that we can consider what else may be available to them. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that this is the norm for medical travel, but most medical travel patients aren't travelling for three plus weeks and expected to foot the unexpected bill of thousands of dollars in hotel costs.
What I will also say is that I do have residents in the constituency that I serve who have been reached out by the OBS team and it doesn't seem that the OBS team is able to make decisions on the phone, which I appreciate that this is an evolving situation and is a new situation for everybody. And so I would like Health and Social Services to please consider the length of stay expected of families and the large financial burden that that brings with it.
My next question, Mr. Speaker, is will Child and Family Services help keep families together by paying for the flight costs of children that cannot be left behind. Thank you.
Yes, thank you. All of these answers are about medical travel providing benefits to people who need to seek services in Alberta and in other jurisdictions. In fact, people who go for chemotherapy might also be away for weeks at a time.
The medical travel program is not a program that provides dollar for dollar costs replacement for going south. There is a financial cost to the individuals involved unless they are low income and in which case there are other possibilities. I cannot make a commitment that every family will have the costs of their children with them paid for.
I think that the Member needs to consider that with 540 births in the NWT a year, and with many of those occurring with people who do not live on the door step of Stanton Hospital, that we have to be very mindful of the precedent that we're creating here and the extra spending that we're committing ourselves to. We need to, as I said earlier, continue to gather information about what families need and then make a decision about what additional supports we can provide. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I see this as an opportunity to create a more equitable birth path in the Northwest Territories. I see this as a voice being lent to the right for people to deliver children in a safe space close to home, close to the community that they reside in, and I think that we need to be able to take this and focus on things like doula programs, like our midwifery program, like bettering the medical travel policies that do exist.
And so I am wondering if the Minister will then please commit to finding out from staff what she is hearing or what they are hearing, rather, from constituents of the Northwest Territories as to what they need and to be able to share that information with Members so that we can compare that with the information that we are also receiving from constituents. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not going to make that commitment. I'm going to assure the Member that I think we all have the best interests of these families in mind. It's very unfortunate that the staffing situation is such that Stanton is not going to be available for births between December the 10th and February the 21st, and I recognize the disruption that's going to cause. But I'm not going to task the obstetrics team with writing reports for us. That, I do not think is a good use of their time.
The ultimate answer to this is to try and improve our staffing levels in the obstetrics unit. We staff now for three nurses, obstetric nurses 24/7. And as I think I said earlier, the birth rate in the NWT is actually going down and not up. Even with that, we are struggling with vacancies in the obstetrics unit. The ultimate answer is to improve services in the Northwest Territories rather than putting a lot of resources into this situation which I sincerely hope is one-off. Thank you.
