Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has a mandate to advance the knowledge economy in the Northwest Territories. In doing this, we have engaged with residents, and they have told us that the knowledge economy needs to be grounded in innovation. Guided by input from residents, we are working to expand both our understanding of innovation and the scope of action in this area. We will focus on an innovation action plan to facilitate growth, create opportunity, and diversify our economy. It is a new way of thinking, empowered and driven by new technologies merging with traditional practices.
While our vision of the knowledge economy may be new, its foundation in innovation is not. Northerners have long been recognized for their resourcefulness and resilience, but most especially for their innovation.
Historically, sustainable northern fur harvesting practices established the beginnings of our modern economy more than 200 years ago. And long before the first geologists arrived, Indigenous people used the oil seepages along the banks of the Mackenzie River to caulk their canoes. Inuvialuit kayaks have distinct shapes designed for the conditions of the western Arctic. And today, the blending of traditional and scientific knowledge plays a key role in projects like the planning and construction of the new Tlicho Highway.
This path of innovation continues today, Mr. Speaker. Our government has invested in a worldclass fibre link which supported the development of the Inuvik satellite station facility where polarorbiting satellites transmit data. The Aurora Research Institute at Aurora College applies scientific, technological, and Indigenous knowledge to solve northern problems and advance social and economic goals. The Innovate Centre for the Arts, Crafts, and Technology in Inuvik merges traditional arts and crafts with new technologies and supports community technology centres across the region. Research on permafrost is expanding, including in areas that are now more accessible through the InuvikTuktoyaktuk Highway.
Often, the challenges presented by our climate and permafrost can lead to innovation. Building hundreds of kilometers of ice roads is a painstaking but stateoftheart process that connects communities and industries to wider transportation networks. Using technology to measure ice thickness with groundpenetrating radar has created space for pioneering research. Current testing is underway to use satellites to measure the thickness of the ice and identify where it is weakening and shifting.
In the natural resources sector, mining in a northern environment with permafrost also requires groundbreaking approaches. This includes engineering awardwinning dike technology, blending knowledge and innovation that keeps the ground frozen to enable mining and testing new underwater remote mining systems to extract kimberlite with minimal waste.
Mr. Speaker, the private sector has always looked for ways to innovate and create efficiencies, and our government is adopting the same approach to strengthen the conditions for collaboration, discovery, innovation and ultimately create a more diversified and inclusive NWT economy. Part of this diversification will happen through Aurora College.
Through recent amendments to the Aurora College Act, our Legislative Assembly has taken the first legislative steps to establish an arm's length postsecondary institution. The polytechnic university's vision is to become a hub for researchers from across the North, Canada, and the world. The university will work to increase investments and build partnerships with governments, industry, and other postsecondary institutions. Opportunities in research have already been seen in recent years in northern organizations like Hotyi ts'eeda and Dechinta.
Mr. Speaker, we have creative thinkers and doers in the Northwest Territories. With emphasis on incorporating Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, our territory will have even greater opportunities for development with an NWT innovation action plan and knowledge economy. These approaches will strengthen our entrepreneurial ecosystem across the NWT to bolster job creation, employ stateoftheart technology, and establish investment opportunities for businesses, especially as we transition to a lowcarbon economy. The possibilities are limitless. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, the Healthy Family Program is a voluntary, homevisiting and knowledgesharing program for pregnant parents, caregivers, and families with young children under six.
Over the last five years, the Department of Health and Social Services has worked closely with communities to renew this valuable program. Elders and other community members have shared their vision for this renewed program, where children thrive, caregivers are supported, and communities care for families so that future generations are stronger and stronger.
The robust renewal process included an evaluation of the existing program, research on successful parenting programs in other jurisdictions, and extensive engagement with over 180 staff, families, and caregivers from across the Northwest Territories. The new program is designed to include innovative practices successfully implemented elsewhere and encourages integration with other community programming. It also includes a change in approach, from riskbased to prevention.
Mr. Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action Number 5 calls on governments to develop culturallyappropriate parenting programs for Indigenous families, both as a commitment to reconciliation and to reduce the number of Indigenous children in care. Such programs are needed because government policy rooted in colonization has attempted to dismantle Indigenous family life and parenting practices for generations through assimilation and violence against children in residential schools. It is our responsibility to acknowledge this truth and commit to action. The redesign of the Healthy Family Program responds to this call as part of a systemwide shift to prioritize culturallyappropriate and preventionbased programming that supports parents and nurtures children.
Mr. Speaker, the renewed Healthy Family Program is available to all families and is responsive to their needs. It combines a traditional Indigenous approach to parenting with techniques and best practices learned through scientific research. It prioritizes children and families and provides a hub for support services and resources.
Healthy Family support workers work directly with families to develop their identity through a connection to community and culture. Workers encourage an active role for fathers, partners, extended family, and community in child development and wellbeing.
Implementation of the renewed program is taking place in all 14 original locations and is expanding to five additional communities. In the next year, we will focus on communication with families and staff, program delivery, and program evaluation.
Mr. Speaker, the Healthy Family Program staff have been the champions of this work from the beginning. They are dedicated to families they work with and always do their best to treat clients with respect and as the expert on their own family. Program staff are knowledgeable and experienced in the communities they serve and their expertise in early childhood development is vital to the success of this program. They apply the program's guiding principles daily and serve as coaches, facilitators, and community connectors.
The Healthy Family Program helps to create an environment where children feel loved and where parenting leads to healing. It can have lasting positive effects on children, their caregivers, and on the community they live in.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud of our achievements to date. I would like to thank the knowledgeholders who worked with us on this renewal project, including elders, families and caregivers, social services staff, Indigenous scholars, and the project team. The government is committed to improving early childhood development indicators for all children in the NWT and renewing the Healthy Family Program is an important part of honouring that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories' winter roads are a very important part of providing muchneeded access to and from communities. They are especially critical when it comes to connecting families and businesses.
Every year essential goods, like fuel for electricity generation, heat, and transportation, are delivered to communities and homes by way of the NWT's winter roads. I would like to thank all the highway and fuel delivery crews across the territory for their care, diligence, and commitment this season. Their work is vital for the daytoday lives of residents in all NWT regions. The pandemic has created challenges and hardships but the highway and fuel crews have risen to the challenge and continue to deliver quality service, safely and reliably.
Today, I am pleased to provide an update on the 2022 winter road season and fuel resupply activities.
Each year, highway crews in the Beaufort Delta, Sahtu, Deh Cho, and North Slave regions build and maintain 1,399 kilometres of winter roads, ice roads, and ice crossings, connecting nine communities that are not served by allseason roads.
Mr. Speaker, fuel is an essential good for residents and businesses in northern communities. Many communities rely heavily on diesel and gasoline for electricity generation, heat, and transportation.
The GNWT is responsible for the purchase, transport, and storage of fuel for 16 NWT communities that are not served by the private sector. During the winter resupply season, seven communities receive dedicated resupply services while five communities are part of live supply activities. Local contractors then sell and distribute these petroleum products to residents and businesses.
This winter, the GNWT's first fuel delivery took place on February 2. It is expected that fuel resupply will be completed by midApril, with a total of 9.7 million litres of petroleum products diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel delivered to 12 communities.
We are aware of the effect that recent world events have had on fuel costs. I want to assure you that the delivery and resupply of fuel to NWT communities continue to run smoothly this season.
Partnerships are an important part of this work. This year the supply and delivery contracts were carried out by the same two contractors as last year Bassett Petroleum and Midnight Petroleum.
Mr. Speaker, our staff and contractors have worked diligently this season in keeping communities connected as well as supplied. Our government will continue to work with the public and private sector partners to maintain a dependable supply of goods and services to all NWT communities. Quyananni, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I am going to be talking on mental health. Mr. Speaker, the pandemic has been a challenging time for all of us and now we go into the endemic stage. How are people going to move ahead?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge in the Tlicho region are poor mental health, high rates of addictions and substance abuse, lack of housing, and unacceptable housing conditions. These were major issues before the pandemic and we know that isolation and other limitations imposed through COVID only worsen the situation.
Mr. Speaker, over half, like 56 percent, of residents in the Tlicho region consider their mental health less than very good. We know across the NWT, residents struggle with mental illness and this is the greatest in some of the regions, particularly Tlicho region.
Mr. Speaker, people are drinking and doing drugs at alarming rate. We even have crack cocaine in our communities. At one time we know this was unheard of. But Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to improve people's mental health or address addictions without appropriate housing. Without a safe place for people to call home, where they are comfortable and can make healthy choices, people will continue to struggle. Throughout the Tlicho region, people are crammed into housing units. People wait for years to get into housing. Many of our elders still live in rundown and condemned housing, desperately in need of refurbishment and renovations. How are we doing this to our old people?
Youth and young adults alike, who are the future of our regions, are struggling to get ahead and stay ahead because of mental health challenges. Drugs and alcohol abuse and lack of safe places to call home. All of these things are destroying our regions. Not just our regions, there are other regions as well.
Mr. Speaker, these are desperate times and we have to act fast in awareness of this situation. What we have been doing is not working. We need a communitycentre approach. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the health and social service Minister at appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was struck by a CBC North article dated March 11th, 2022, in which a Dene says local health centre failed to detect tumour that nearly killed him. The elder stated he [audio] died because of his local health centre failed to diagnose the problem. The elder had gone to the local health centre multiple times for abdominal pain only to receive Tylenol medication. The elder then ponders the question as to why he was treated this way. And [audio] if it was because he was an Indigenous Dene.
Mr. Speaker, the saving grace in this story is the actions the elder took upon himself to get to Yellowknife and check into the hospital. I believe it was a CT scan that confirmed his worst fears. It was colon cancer and the tumour was the size of a pop can. The doctor told the elder if he had waited longer he would not be with us today.
Mr. Speaker, that CT scan is not in every small community health centre. I will questions for the health minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Mr. Speaker, no one is more precious than our babies, children and youth.
Every child deserves to live and grow in a healthy home where they are cared for in a stable learning environment. I do not doubt that all parents, grandparents, and caregivers want to give their children the best But not all have the means to do so. In the language of child welfare, the difference that emerges is not what parents and caregivers want for their children; it is what resources they have available to fill those wants and needs.
For too many, safe and adequate housing, nutritious food, health supports, and stable income are out of reach. This puts children and youth at risk. Often exasperated by poor mental health and addictions in the home, babies, children and youth experience hardship that is unfairly placed on their young shoulders.
But raising children is not an individual responsibility, and it never has been. For decades we have repeated "it takes a village to raise a child", because it's true. We are not built to go it alone; caring for children is a collective responsibility.
We need a wholeofgovernment and, furthermore, a wholeofterritory response to pull us out of a crisis that continues to separate Indigenous families. To lift up every family, child, and youth who call the NWT home demands that every person, leader, government department, and civil society organization work together to keep families together raising children that grow to not only be healthy but thriving, creative, selfdetermining Northerners.
Mr. Speaker, we declared a public health emergency two years ago to change the trajectory of COVID19 and keep communities safe. The NWT came together. Now, here we are, with a public health crisis that continues to separate Indigenous families needing the same allofgovernment resolve to change the life trajectory of children in care. Our children need us to come together again.
COVID19 proved that allofgovernment responses are possible. We watched as the government acted through a public health lens that controlled our borders, identified available housing, and put extra dollars in families' pockets. And I get it, Mr. Speaker this public health emergency has been life or death but the NWT is also losing vulnerable children through the child welfare system. This loss is a slow decline of the health, cultural continuity, and creative potential. It requires an integrated approach to provide a continuum of care and support for all families throughout the territory's 33 communities.
With 98 percent of children in care being Indigenous, the GNWT must work respectfully and generously with Indigenous governments to ensure that all children have the opportunity to thrive.
Because, Mr. Speaker, no one is more precious than our babies, children and youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Minister of Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a Member for Thebacha, the majority of my constituents are part of the NWT Metis Nation. As one of their representatives in this Assembly, I consider the advancement of their priorities as part of my priorities.
Mr. Speaker, on May 19th, 2021, the NWT Metis Nation, along with the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories, signed a selfgovernment negotiation framework agreement to help advance land claim negotiations for the NWT Metis Nation.
This framework agreement will help guide negotiations in order to reach a final selfgovernment agreement. The signing of this framework negotiation agreement is a major step in the advancement of this land claim and selfgovernment process. This document also marks six years since the NWT Metis Nation agreementinprinciple was signed and 25 years since the initial NWT Metis Nation framework agreement was signed, which was when this process began.
Mr. Speaker, in talking with various Metis leaders during this term, I have heard that there is a high level of concern and frustration at the lack of progress with these negotiations. I am also told that the Government of the Northwest Territories negotiating team for the NWT Metis Nation claim has had a lot of turnover which seems to be preventing this claim from advancing in a timely matter. It seems that the Government of the Northwest Territories' negotiating team is very busy in dealing with many other files concurrently and are unable or perhaps unwilling to provide a dedicated team to this particular file.
Mr. Speaker, as with other Indigenous governments in land claims negotiations, the NWT Metis Nation wants a fair deal for their people. The NWT Metis Nation wants a final agreement that provides for land quantum and generalized interests that is comparable to other NWT claims. They also want to continue dealing in good faith and want to use the remaining time of the 19th Assembly to advance their claim as soon as possible before the end of this term. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to complete by statement. Unanimous consent granted Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with only 18 months left in this Assembly, I hope our government will prioritize this ongoing land claim and selfgovernment agreement with the NWT Metis Nation.
Settling this claim will help provide stability and many positive lasting socioeconomic benefits to the NWT. Finalizing this claim would also enable our government to advance one of this Assembly's priorities of settling and implementing all outstanding treaty land and selfgovernment agreements. I will have questions for the Premier later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe we need to enshrine in the Child and Family Services Act that no child shall be apprehended on the basis of socioeconomic conditions.
Now Mr. Speaker, I am well aware that many cases by the time child and family services have intervened are due to severe neglect or abuse and likely the time of intervention was long before child and family services got involved. To solve those issues is something all of us in the House strive to do but it is one that will take healing of a whole territory. However, Mr. Speaker, it is clear that there are still children being apprehended simply because their parents live in poverty.
Mr. Speaker, we may not be able to provide everyone with enough income to get out of poverty and we might not be able to, you know, end our waitlist in the life of the Assembly, however I believe a wholeofgovernment approach needs to make it a priority that whenever a child is facing apprehension the government provides every single resource it can to address those socioeconomic conditions, Mr. Speaker.
And Mr. Speaker, the sad reality is that this is probably cheaper for us to do in the long run. Taking children into care, operating the system, running apprehension trials, are extremely costly. Yet, Mr. Speaker, we do not presently provide those, our child and family services workers, with the resources needed to create truly wraparound plan of care agreements. I believe they need the power to provide housing immediately for those families when they are facing apprehension.
Mr. Speaker, telling a family to get on a hundredperson housing waitlist when they are homeless and facing their children being taken away does nothing. Telling a family that is homeless and struggling to provide food for its children that they have to fill out a series of forms does not help. We need to empower our child and family services workers to make sure that plan of care agreements provide all of the basic necessities of life for those children and we need to do that before they are apprehended, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Service about what we are doing to break down silos and make sure that our CFS workers have true access to immediate resources and wraparound services for children. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of COVID restrictions imposed by this and the federal government, you can hear a sigh of relief from all residents. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately there remain issues that are unclear and questions unanswered. One issue, a specific issue, which impacts public sector employees is that of job descriptions that include a requirement for duty travel.
The vaccination policies this government developed were, in part, based on federal government restrictions for air travel. Because of these policies, some GNWT public sector workers were placed on leave without pay. This action not only impacted the employees but also resulted in emotional and financial hardship for their families.
Mr. Speaker, in making those restrictions for air travel, the federal government recognized the unique circumstances of the NWT, more specifically, the remote and isolated communities with air access only.
Documents posted by the federal government dated December 1, 2021, and February 28, 2022, which have been tabled in this House, confirms exemptions for air travel for Indigenous people and Northerners in remote communities to and from Yellowknife. The documents confirm that a valid COVID19 test result would be accepted for travel in the NWT by persons not fully vaccinated.
Mr. Speaker, our vaccination policies were developed on the premise that air travel was restricted equally for all Canadian jurisdictions and that only those who were fully vaccinated were allowed to board aircraft unless it was an emergency. This was, in fact, not true for the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, our vaccination policies must recognize the federal government directives and incorporate those exemptions that allow for employee testing if not fully vaccinated. This would support and allow duty travel for those employees not fully vaccinated by having them test.
Mr. Speaker, the harm has been done as some GNWT employees were subsequently placed on leave without pay; some were compelled to take a vaccine they did not believe in; others took a severance package or outright quit. This could have been avoided if this government were aware and fully understood the federal directives.
Those impacted employees, and their families, experienced tremendous stress as they experienced ongoing harassment from management, from other employees, and the public. For this, the government owes each of them a public apology. We must now recognize the wrong by reinstating and compensating those employees who were placed on leave without pay or forced to leave their employment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
Mr. Speaker, this Thursday, March 31st, is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual event dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by them worldwide. It is also a day to celebrate the contributions of transgender people and their achievements in society.
The day was founded by transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Michigan in 2009 as a reaction to the lack of LGBT recognition of transgender people, citing the frustration that the only well known transgendercentered day was the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which mourned the murders of transgender people, but did not acknowledge and celebrate living members of the transgender community.
The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was held on March 31, 2009. Since then, it has been spearheaded by the USbased youth advocacy organization Trans Student Educational Resources.
In the Northwest Territories, the Northern Mosaic Network, formerly know as the Rainbow Coalition, is working hard to advocate on behalf of this vulnerable sector. They are "invested in making the Northwest Territories a safer, more equitable place for 2SLGBTQIPA+ youth, families and adults." In the past I have spoken about the amazing work done by this NGO, work that includes inclusive youth activities such as ski and paint nights, body positive swims, and peer support groups where noncisgendered youth have an opportunity to spend time in a welcoming, inclusive environment where they can lean on each other for support and understanding.
The Mosaic runs a youth centre and a library, providing resources for those wishing to discover more about 2SLGBTQIPA+ issues and history, and to learn about the accomplishments of those who have contributed to the movement and to celebrate their achievements. The Mosaic also offers training for organizations and businesses that want to improve their corporate culture towards making them more inclusive.
Mr. Speaker, I challenge all of my colleagues and the people of the Northwest Territories to spend time this Thursday, the International Transgender Day of Visibility, learning more about the accomplishments of transgender people and their history. If people are not sure how, then I suggest a great place to start would be the Northern Mosaic Network and looking into the amazing work they do. I can't say enough about how their important work is saving lives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I’m going to return again to the issue of a child and youth advocate for the Northwest Territories, an issue my colleague from Kam Lake reports has been raised almost 900 times in this House since 2003. I’ve raised it a number of those times, yet we appear to be no further ahead today.
To be clear, a child and youth advocate is an officer established at armslength from the government to ensure that the rights, interests, and viewpoints of children and youth are considered when decisions are made that will affect their wellbeing.
In addition to a general oversight function, the advocate will stand on behalf of individuals engaged in the child and youth family services system and to promote transparency and accountability.
The offices are commonplace. Yukon has had a child and youth advocate since 2010; Nunavut since 2014. Both these offices produce annual reports for public review. We are the last place in Canada without a child and youth advocate.
The last time I raised this issue was almost two years ago in the review of the health and social services budget. At that time, I was told that the department was looking actively at options for establishment of that role. A jurisdictional scan was underway. We were told that in moving to proposed models, the unique circumstances of the NWT needed to be analyzed, both in terms of national changes in child welfare and to address the need to build and share accountability with Indigenous governments. Needless to say, all of this work is needed more than ever in light of the 2018 Auditor General of Canada’s report on child and family services, and subsequent recommendations from Indigenous governments and key stakeholders.
But here we are again in 2022, and I see us no closer to creation of an advocate. I see no references to an advocate in the child and family services quality improvement plan activities now underway, nor any updating of the almost decade old Building Stronger Families Action Plan. What I do know from reading of other jurisdictions' successes, and in my work with constituents seeking the authority of an arm'slength authority, is that the time for a child and youth advocate is now. I’ll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on the status of a Northwest Territories child and youth advocate. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Gino Paul Kotchea was born on May 6th, 1978 to Frank Kotchea Sr. and Jeanie Fantase in Yellowknife. At the young age, his grandfather Harry ran him through some willows after the rain and after this his grandfather named Kaidday.
Gino spent many summers on the Liard River with his grandparents and shot his first moose at the age of 12. In the traditional way of the Dene, the meat was shared with elders in the community. Gino learned many skills from his Uncle Pete whom he called his brother. While at Whitefish River, Gino and his grandfather caught another moose. Upon returning to the cabin, Gino's shirt was ripped up and he said, "Grandpa ripped me up pretty good, eh", and they both started laughing.
Being out on the land, his grandfather was his greatest thing. Gino learned many traditional skills from his grandfather and spent a lot of his early years Beaver River and Fantase Lake area.
In 1990, Gino attended school in Fort Smith. One weekend on a family picnic, he saw his first garter snake ever. He pulled his socks up over his pant leg, and that's where they stayed for most of the day. Later that day they went on a 9kilometre hike and he carried his sister on his back most of the way. He was very protective of her.
Gino attended school at Echo Dene School until grade 12 or grade 10, and then graduated high school in Fort Simpson June 2022 or ‘20. 2000.
Gino loved to give back to the community and his way was coaching the girls and boys soccer team, and he took them on a number of regional tournaments.
Gino had many adventures during his lifetime. He wanted to be a police officer. He started working at the local police detachment during his last years of school as a special constable. Gino's grandfather Harry did not approve of this. He told Gino there is more negativity than positivity and a young Dene man should not experience this. As a result, Gino did not pursues that career.
Soon after high school graduation, Gino begin working for Chevron and continued to be an oil/gas operator in the Cameron Hill area. In 2014, Gino got his class 1 and he said that it was his most one of the most challenging things he's ever done. 2017, Gino achieved the power engineering ticket at the High Level college.
Gino loved listening to his brother Frank tell stories, like the one where there was an Inuit boy lost on the tundra. The story lasted three days until Gino discovered it was all made up.
Gino and Donna had their first child Eva Raine on November 26th, 2012 and Medin Storme on February 1st, 2016, and adopted Donna's son Melvin. The family was his most important part of his life and he loved them dearly.
Family and community will miss Gino, Mr. Speaker. We will keep him and his family alive in our hearts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and community at this time.
Welcome. If we have missed anybody in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber and I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It's always good to have an audience with us taking in the session. Especially after the almost two years without anybody in the gallery, it's really good to see people back. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its report on the Child and Family Services Act Lifting NWT Children, Youth and Families: An All of Territory Approach to Keeping Families Together.
All children are sacred. NWT children and youth are talented, unique and powerful. But not all children have access to what they need. Over 98 percent of children and youth in care in the NWT are Indigenous, even though just 57 percent of the population of children and youth are Indigenous. The extent of destruction and trauma on Indigenous peoples, families and communities due to colonization, residential school and the Sixties Scoop, and the resulting overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth in care in the child welfare system is a territorial crisis that requires an all-of-territory response.
We call for champions at all levels of governments, Indigenous governments and groups, non-governmental organizations, and allies to work together to provide a broader continuum of care, including supports and resources for all children and youth across the NWT.
Thank you to the children and youth in the territory who shared courageously with the committee. We hear you. We respect you. We value you. From you, we learn and take your lead. We hope you see your thoughts, insights and brilliance reflected within the following report and its recommendations. Once again, thank you to each and every one of you.
The Standing Committee on Social Development (the “committee”) is mandated by the Child and Family Services Act to review the act and its implementation every five years. Thus, the Standing Committee on Social Development of the 19th Assembly of the Northwest Territories commenced a review in April 2021 to meet this requirement. In plain language, the review may include the Child and Family Services Act itself, directives, policies, plans, guidelines and implementation such as programs and services.
Committee focused the scope of the CFSA review on prevention strategies, and reviewed areas of child welfare put forward by stakeholders. The recommendations that follow are informed by feedback provided to Committee through the engagement process, internal research and Committee direction. The recommendations reflect prevention, early intervention and targeted supports.
With the passing of Bill C-92: An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis Children, Youth and Families and the Child and Family Services Act’s expected amendments to align with the federal legislation, committee is completing its statutory review at a time of change for Canadian child welfare. Together, the 19th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories priority to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, and the 2019 Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls strengthen the long-needed momentum for change required in the Canadian child welfare system.
The committee has selected two lenses of analysis for this report. First, committee has taken an equity-oriented approach to prioritize recommendations with the greatest positive impact for Indigenous children, youth and families and those with lived-experiences with child welfare.
Second, Committee has taken a trauma-informed care approach. A trauma-informed approach recognizes a person holistically and acknowledges that a person may have or is currently experiencing trauma. A trauma-informed approach also considers how frontline staff in organizations deliver policies, structures and services.
From April 2021 to January 2022, more than 50 people stepped forward to participate in the Child and Family Services Act statutory review. Participants represented themselves individually, and as territorial governments, Indigenous government and nongovernmental organizations through public presentations, in-camera private listening sessions, written submissions and online surveys. The presentations and written submissions are included in Appendix A of our report.
The Committee would like to thank everyone who offered their expertise to this statutory review and subsequent report. Committee would also like to thank the Department of Health and Social Services for the in-camera briefings and information.
Overrepresentation of Indigenous People in Child and Family Services and the History of Colonization
According to the Department of Health and Social Services, over 98 percent of children and youth receiving care from CFS are Indigenous, even though just 57 percent of children and youth in the Northwest Territories are Indigenous. Indigenous children and youth are virtually all of the children and youth receiving care in the territory and represent most of the 1044 protection and prevention services provided by Child and Family Services in 2020-2021.
The historic and ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth in care in the NWT is staggering. The overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth in Child and Family Services has long been documented and is rooted in Canada’s history of genocide, colonization, residential school system, the Sixties Scoop, and the modern-day child and family services systems. All stakeholders described the harmful impacts of these legacies and the ongoing trauma of those familial and community experiences including the death of family members, addictions, abuse, family breakdowns, loss of cultural knowledge, poverty and displacement within their communities.
Committee heard the voices of children and youth and children and youth want to be with their families. Committee recognizes that to raise healthy and well children and youth, supports and resources must be made available throughout their entire lives through parents, caregivers, family and even the broader community. The intention is to support the family and community so children and youth can remain with their families and within their home communities.
Culture is a source of strength, healing and positive identity. Over time, culture changes and innovates. Therefore, respectful incorporation of culture must be made to implement the recommendations made below.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories declare the overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth in Child and Family Services a crisis and develop a whole of government response in partnership with Indigenous governments.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services provide birthing support that is holistic, client-centered and culturally safe with doula and midwife services staffed in each regional centre.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services establish a territorial treatment addictions recovery program or treatment supports specifically for youth to remain in the territory and to maintain their support systems.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services create a pan-territorial youth homelessness plan that expands safe community-based housing options by collaborating with communities and non-governmental organizations.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services tailor the Healthy Family Program for vulnerable families to access culturally safe and affirming child-rearing practices and expand the program to all 33 communities.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends Municipal and Community Affairs lead an all-of-government approach to ensuring access to recreational programming by providing additional funding for recreational facilities and programming, so all families have increased access to these spaces outside regular business day hours and additional funding specifically for those children and youth in care to participate in extracurricular activities.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services establish family mentorship pilot projects that pair vulnerable parents with grandparents or elders to share encouragement, child-rearing practices, and Indigenous knowledge.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommend the Department of Health and Social Services increase funding to Indigenous governments, communities, and organizations to deliver addictions recovery on-the-land healing options specifically tailored to youth.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services lead work with communities to establish culturally safe and gender-inclusive family violence emergency shelters in each NWT community with sustainable funding.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services deliver and make mandatory culturally safe and trauma-informed training for foster families.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services establish a recruitment strategy to increase the number of Indigenous foster families, including encouraging extended families to care for children by providing additional financial resources and support.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services develop a Child and Family Services evaluation and monitoring framework, including a data profile on children and youth in care.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services establish an Indigenous advisory body sub-committee specifically for Child and Family Services.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services audit all Child and Family Services resources, ensuring they are all plain language, culturally safe and easily accessible online, including a plain language summary of the Child and Family Services Act.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services provide legal services to parents as early as the plan of care stage with Child and Family Services.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services make legislative changes to the Child and Family Service Act to support the readiness of Indigenous governments to draw down jurisdiction for child welfare, using trauma-informed language, that centers children and youth as individuals with rights, ensures cultural continuity for Indigenous children and youth, and affirms the unique political relationship with Indigenous groups and peoples.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services establish a comprehensive spectrum of services available to children, youth and adults with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and their parents and/or caregivers, to prevent developmental delay and mobilize support for families.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Department of Health and Social Services annual quality improvement plan reporting include progress on the Committee’s recommendations.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report in 120 days.
The committee respectfully puts these recommendations forward in the hopes that it will benefit all children, youth and families in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that the remainder of Committee Report 2619(2) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion?
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
Carried.
The remainder of Committee Report 2619(2) is deemed read and will be printed in Hansard in its entirety. Member for Kam Lake
[Committee Report 26-19(2)]:
Committee Report 26-19(2): Report on the Child and Family Services Act – Lifting NWT Children, Youth and Families: An All of Territory Approach to Keeping Families Together
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 2619(2): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on the Child and Family Services Act Lifting NWT Children, Youth and Families: An All of Territory Approach to Keeping Families Together, be received and adopted by the Assembly and referred to Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion?
Question.
