Yes, thank you. I take it that the Member is talking about buildings. We don't have any buildings on the books other than the wellness and recovery centre in Yellowknife. In Members decide that's a priority, they should bring it to the regular business plan process and pursue the resources necessary to build and operate it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since I asked how this was going to be a priority, I guess the Minister's response is that it's not.
The next question I have is has the Minister contacted the federal government to advocate for the reinstatement of the funding for survivors of residential school trauma so that the face-to-face counseling is reinstated and the services can resume; and, if she hasn't, why not? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aftercare is a huge priority for me. I spoke about it endlessly as a regular Member, and I continue that passion in this role now.
I'd just like to clarify that the Indian Residential counseling Service is not, in fact, cancelled. The service has been reduced so that facetoface counseling occurs less often, approximately every four to six weeks, and there are alternative ways t-to to obtain counseling between times using the phone and the internet and so on as constituent as residents are comfortable in and according to the technology that they have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd ask that the Minister listen more carefully. I did not ask about or state that these services were cancelled. I asked about advocating for the reinstatement of the funding so that the services being more than every eight weeks or six to four is reinstated. However, I'm going to move on because I'm going to guess that I'm probably not getting answers to these questions either.
If we are going to be putting people on to virtual care and services, what is the Minister and department doing to identify and accommodate residents in small communities who require counseling but may not have access to the phone or internet or be comfortable with that method of delivery? Thank you.
Yes, thanks. I'm not a big fan of all the editorializing but I'm happy to answer the questions.
So most communities have a resident counselor through either the community counseling service or the child and youth counseling program. And in the event that they don't have a resident counselor, a counselor visits on a known schedule to provide those services.
I recognize from my own travels in the NWT that it's not easy in some communities to obtain enough internet connectivity to sustain a conversation, especially one that has video related to it, and that's a real impediment to the services that people receive. At this point, that is an issue that is beyond my department to solve. But we are keen to offer services to as many people in as timely a way as possible to preserve or enhance their mental health. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary, Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, I'm not a fan of the way the Minister speaks to me either but we can't always get what we want, can we?
Can the Minister please tell us how she actually advocates with the federal government for more money for supports for our people besides the FPT tables? Does she ever contact the federal minister outside to tell them what is going on in the territory? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. I'll take that question on notice.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, masi, Mr. Speaker. Question for the Minister responsible for NWT Housing. So first question is basing rent of someone's income discouraging people to work. Why are people who are working penalized with increased rent?
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Housing Corporation tries to provide subsidized rent for the Northwest Territories. And I know that we can do better, and I know through the renewal that we do have that, you know, this is one of the policies that we will be reviewing as well. But the Housing Corporation right now calculates rent as low as 4 percent and 19 percent. Throughout Canada, it's 30 percent that is required for subsidized housing. So we're one of the lowest for the jurisdictions throughout the territory I mean, throughout Canada. But it doesn't stop us from reviewing that as well. Like, I hear the Member as well because we did get a number of tenants that had acquired the CERB funding as well, and it's really provided a lot of, you know, just different calculations this year, including the that funding that was received by the client as well, and I do hear the Member. The Housing Corporation will provide more communications to the local housing authorities and our service providers as well too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I was not talking about CERB, but that's okay. And then at least they admit that, you know, they can do better job.
So I think with the with reference to the first questions, I know that there are leaders in the community, they would like to work with the Housing Corporations on drafting policy in this area as well. So second questions, with so many people living in inadequate housing, even those who are paying max rent, maximum rent, so we would like to know what's happening to the revenue.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to just inform, like, just the House and the Member as well too that the Housing Corporation's lowest rent that we collect is $75. And with the $75, we do have the utilities and utilities that are included in that rent as well too, property taxes and leases as well, and we try to work with the client to have affordable rent calculated in the Northwest Territories. And we are going to be working with the Council of Leaders as well too, that will have the opportunity to review our policies. So we do practice and encourage our engagements as well too with the with the Indigenous groups as well.
And I just wanted to comment on the CERB funding that I had identified, is that we see a really huge increase, rent increase throughout the Northwest Territories, and it is due to CERB. So there's a lot of assessments that are being done right now as well too to not include the CERB payments that were received last year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Okay, thank you. She didn't answer my questions. I want to know what happened to those people who are paying maximum rent, what happens to the revenue? That's what I would like to know.
But I am aware now that there are renttoown program. There are renttoown program in the communities. Can the Minister give us an update on how many people in the NWT are in renttoown program and when these tenants will become a homeowners? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And for the renttoown program, it is our HELP program that we do have throughout the Northwest Territories, and I don't have those numbers in front of me. But the Housing Corporation right now is doing a full review of all our mortgage clients right now, and I have told the department that I would like to see those units transferred within my time, to have those homeownership programs completed and closed off.
I think there's approximately 234 throughout the Northwest Territories that have entered into the mortgage homeownership program.
And also just going back to the question for what happens to the revenue. The Housing Corporation acquires about $5 million annually in rent received from our public housing units, but that also goes back into the operation and maintenance of the units as well too, and it's about $20,000 for operation and maintenance for the 2300 units throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Monfwi.
More questions. Okay. The NWT Housing Corporation has several homes homeownership program. Approvals to participate in this in these program is low, okay. So can the Minister of NWT Corporation commit to guaranteeing an application approval rate that reflects national homeownership rates? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now all of our singlefamily housing dwellings are up for sale. Today we have 105 applications that have been received, and the Housing Corporation tries to work very diligently with the client in trying to help them to become successful in the homeownership program. But nationally, I don't have those numbers in front of me. I'd have to follow up with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Further to my Member's statement, I'm wondering if the Minister can advise us of the rates of Alzheimer's, dementia, and Parkinson's disease in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this information is housed in the same place as I mentioned to the Member from Deh Cho, the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance Program which, as a reminder, is a collaborative network of provincial and territorial surveillance systems supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The information on the website is broken down into geographic region, age, and sex; and the rate of Alzheimer's and other dementias in the NWT for residents aged 65 and older is 5.73 percent which compares to 6.68 percent nationally. The rate of Parkinson's in the NWT for residents aged 40 years and older is 0.25 percent versus 0.43 percent nationally. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that, and I think that it's important that we establish a baseline if it's expected to go up substantially over the next decade.
Mr. Speaker, the rate of Parkinson's among NWT residents is low, but watching very intimately residents try to go through the process of being diagnosed leads me to believe that maybe we do have more of a higher instance of Parkinson's in the Northwest Territories and Alzheimer's and just are not aware of it.
So I'm wondering, Mr. Speaker, what supports are available to Northerners with neurodegenerative diseases in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it all starts with the relationship between the health provider and the patient. They would be able to recommend a range of health and social services that would assist with diagnosis, treatment, and support. For example, medications and medical supplies and equipment can be covered through the NIHB program for First Nations and Inuit residents and the Supplementary Health Benefits program for nonIndigenous residents. Home care services are available to residents in all communities, and Meals on Wheels in some communities. Rehabilitation services are available in person through community outreach visits and virtually to support individuals with mobility, cognitive, and other impairments resulting from their conditions.
It's also important to say that Indigenous governments are active in this area. The IRC has a dementia coordinator, and that nonprofits, like the Alzheimer's Society, are also active in this area to support individuals who have neurodegenerative diagnoses. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate that information. I think anecdotally from what I am learning, alongside some constituents, is that the process of going through the recognizing of a degenerative disease and then from there being able to go through the process and begin the process of being diagnosed is really a difficult, difficult stage of the of the entire journey and that we do not have, in the Northwest Territories, specialists who are able to help people through that process and that can be very, very difficult because you end up kind of trapped in this area of not knowing what someone has, not knowing where to turn them and where to support them, and so I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to, given the expectation of the growth of these diseases across Canada, what the hiring plan is for the NTHSSA to support the surge of neurodegenerative diseases expected over the next decade? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there isn't hiring that's being planned that would support diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. That really requires a level of specialty that it's necessary to use medical travel to obtain. So, you know, the person would need to go to Edmonton or another place where that kind of specialty is available. What we're offering more is how to support the patient who has that diagnosis.
So going back to home and community care, there was a comprehensive review of that program done in September 2019, and it did, indeed, verify what the Member has said, that there is an anticipated surge in need coming from across the NWT, and it's my information that the health authorities are moving towards meeting this need. They are recruiting a health planner and a manager for continuing care planning to lead this work, and the positions will be advertised in January. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's recognition that a lot of this work does require a specialist to really go through this process with someone. And often medical travel's not always a possibility. Sometime there are a multitude of appointments that need to happen, and sometimes along the way people just need to be able to ask questions. And so I'm wondering if this position of a health planner and the plans of the NTHSSA speak to possibilities of creating a host of specialists that can speak to different conditions that Northerners have that Northerners could then access. We've been doing a lot of work as far as virtual care and really expanding a database of physicians and specialists within that and so is there work that can be done to provide a greater level of support virtually for people, then, to be able to answer those questions and help them through this journey? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware that specific staffing is being considered at this point, although it makes sense to have someone who is able to answer questions and provide a navigationtype of role with people with neurodegenerative diseases for the reason that the Member has mentioned, that the incidences of these diseases is likely to get greater as time goes on.
I know of people who have had neurodegenerative diseases in the Northwest Territories who have received good support from nonprofits, but mostly that's been by telephone and not by in-person means. And so there's clearly work that needs to be done in this area. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was hoping the Minister of Health and Social Services could tell me which procedures or services we presently track the wait times for and which we don't. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're very interested in tracking wait times because it is a tangible measurement of how quickly the system is providing services to those people in need. We, however, do not track every possible program and service for a variety of reasons that aren't very interesting because they mostly have to do with software and data collection.
But having said that, we do track and report on wait times for longterm care placements, home care services, community counselling, rehab services, and colonoscopies. And some individual clinics are also posting wait times in the clinic. So there are some places that people can find this online. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suspect it's the boring explanation "due to software" that I am most interested in, Mr. Speaker. I note, on that list, was a very short list of services we're tracking wait times for and did not include a number of procedures and surgeries which is where I get most of my constituent complaints. I'm just wondering if there is any work to be done to create some sort of dashboard where that information is available publicly. I know this is done across all the provinces in Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Member in his statement referenced a knee replacement that took a number of years to accomplish. I don't think that we track those wait times for those major joint surgeries, and I know the time is variable. You can put yourself on a waitlist and get within a few months, or you can end up waiting years. I don't know how hard it is to track that kind of information so that's something I would have to take back to the department and inquire about.
There is some information online which I want to bring to the Member's attention.
Home care wait times are available at yourhealthsystem.ca.
The community counseling wait times are on the same website.
Longterm care times are in the Department of Health and Social Services annual report.
Wait times for colonoscopies were in the most recent business plan.
And we are trying to develop a methodology for reporting on rehab services, and this is a commitment in the fouryear business plan, which we dealt with last year.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I would appreciate the Minister getting back to the House with information on how or what software we need to do this. I know we are purchasing a new electronic medical records system which will cost millions of dollars. And I guess I wanted to also know, as I mentioned in my statement, when we did the vaccine roll out, the software, however we got it, was great. I think everyone who could book online and could see their appointments and get reminders was very happy with that software but I'll note, with perhaps the exception of occupational therapy and physiotherapy, no similar software is being used for any health services, and is that something we could look into. The department has actually flagged this before, that people missing appointments is a significant cause of their wait times and backlogs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, this kind of tracking is important to us so that we have a full understanding of how long it is taking to meet people's needs for services in these areas. There are some limitations, as the Member referenced, to our electronic medical records system at this time. It's going to be retired in the 20232024 period, and it's going to be replaced with something that is going to be superduper, I hope. And it's going to be able to have an online patient portal. It's going to have all kinds of different ways to report things such as those that the Member has inquired about so that we have a full set of dashboards for people to see. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Oral Question 850-19(2):
Merci, Monsieur le President. I'm going to go to a different superduper Minister with my questions, and they're for the Minister of Infrastructure who has responsibility for the Arctic Energy Alliance.
Can the Minister tell us whether she's aware of the difficulties caused by the federal energy pre and postaudit requirements under the Canada Greener Homes Grant program, and what is she doing to fix that problem? Merci, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social sorry, Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this superduper Minister will answer two questions that I just heard. Yes, we are aware of the issue, and the GNWT and the Arctic Energy Alliance were not consulted before the federal program was put in place. We have made the federal government aware of our concerns with this program. While we do not have the ability to change the requirements set under a federal program, we will continue to engage with Natural Resource Canada towards a mutuallyacceptable solution to this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I think that was a yes, and good work. I appreciate that, thank you.
So can the Minister tell us, though, whether her department is working with other provincial and territorial jurisdictions to change this unnecessary federal program requirement of pre and post energy audits. Merci, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the issue was raised with Natural Resource Canada by various jurisdictions throughout the intergovernmental energy efficient working groups, and we have spoken with the other jurisdictions in Canada about this problem, and there is a common concern, as the Member mentioned. We will continue to engage with Natural Resource Canada to be able to look at a solution to this problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. While I'm on a role, I got two, I'm going to keep going. So while the pre and postaudit requirements are a problem, the other one is a lack of certified auditors to carry out the audits, the energy audits, and the cost of training monitors. What steps is the Minister taking to help increase the number of energy auditors, and is any additional funding being provided to Arctic Energy Alliance to help fix this problem? Merci, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there is a national shortage of energy auditors. We recognize that. We are currently training more energy auditors internally for the Northwest Territories. We now have two certified auditors and two more in training. This should be adequate to meet our needs, but efforts are continuing to build additional capacity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
