Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the Member for his question. And I really sympathize with the Member as well too and also with the LHO and our function in smaller communities as well. Right now I don't know what units we do have available in the community of Paulatuk, I'm sure that the Member was referencing. And it is a priority of this portfolio to be housing people that are most in need, and I will follow up with the Member. But unfortunately right now I don't have the amount of units that are available in Paulatuk. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I spoke to the mayor this morning. There's one unit available in Paulatuk and is ready to be moved in. So I'm just wondering if it's like, and this couple's first on the waiting list I'm told. So I'm wondering if the Minister could approach see if the LHO in the community is available to put them into the unit ASAP or as soon as possible, because it's really in need. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will follow up with the Member. I'm not familiar with the unit that is available and the condition that the unit may be in and why the unit may be vacant. But just to acknowledge the Member, as well too for the community of Paulatuk, they will be receiving four units in 20232024. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, with the current situation we have in Paulatuk for lack of housing, would the Minister be willing to work with the community in regards to with our community leadership which is coming down next week to meet with them to hear their concerns and what's happening with the local housing authority in the community. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, I will follow up with the community leadership as well. And I just also wanted to acknowledge that Paulatuk was one of our first communities to complete our community housing plans, and Housing did work very closely with the community and also funded that program as well too. But, yes, I would like to follow up with the leadership as well. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Would the Minister commit on doing a community tour of Nunakput with me to hear the concerns of the people in Nunakput on shortage of housing and the situations that we're all dealing with on different problems with different communities? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And just looking at our schedules that we do have in the next few months that I would like to follow up with the Member to look at the availability as well too. But not only that, I would like to connect with the Indigenous governments in the Member's riding as well too to get a further update on how, and what progress has been made in regards to putting housing on the ground and give them a further update on the partnership that we've been successfully working towards. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm very passionate about training people in the small communities regarding the heating systems as we don't have trades people within the communities, and most times they're quite a distance away. My Member's statement alluded to training for all small communities’ settlement maintainers, especially in the area of maintaining and performing basic servicing on furnaces and boilers. These will still be performed under the direction of a journeyman heating technician or operating engineer who could be stationed in the larger centre.
Can the Minister commit to ensuring our small community settlement maintainers get the required training to perform basic servicing functions to heating systems? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member. Is this for Housing NWT? Or who is it Minister of Infrastructure?
Okay. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Department of Infrastructure currently has 13 settlement maintainer positions. And I'd just like the Member to know that of the 13, 100 percent are Indigenous. So that's very, very good news for the positions.
These employees are critical to functioning our assets in remote communities. The settlement maintainers, they do have a preventative maintenance, and they complete daily checks on our schools, our health centres, and our office buildings. They also respond to concerns and problems with heating systems, air handling units, washrooms, windows, and more. So, Madam Speaker, they do have the training to be able to do these positions. Thank you.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for describing their functions. What is happening is that they don't have any training program for settlement maintainers as the housing maintainers had a program before. They did the carpentry, the plumbing, and all the basic electrical, plus you sat in front of a furnace and boiler system for about six weeks until you really understood and could wire the systems, because that's what I'm after, is that type of training. These are much needed in our small communities to add value to the positions. And like I said, we don't have any ticketed heating specialists in our communities. So once they people are in that training program and understand the heating system, we got Aurora College, which is empty all the time, for this kind of a program. We need to better utilize that, because we're doing it for the housing maintainers and that's why I'm pushing for the settlement maintainers to get much needed training. I don't know why the Infrastructure department does not understand that. I wonder if the Minister can comment on that. Mahsi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we understand that. You know, all of our settlement maintainers have a journey person certificate in one of the building or mechanical trades and certification as a small system operator. You know, these are required to have training and knowledge in the National Building Code, plumbing, electrical, and fire code. So they do have the training. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker, I think I've only asked two questions. Madam Speaker, I hear what the Minister is saying, I just don't understand why she's saying they have the required training. And I know that they don't have the required training to be able to perform basic servicing functions that they would have got from training in the Aurora College oil heat technician seminars that they have every spring. They have them for third year plumbers, plus they're open to housing maintainers, and they should be open to settlement maintainers to attend this training so they better understand what they're dealing with, because right now they don't. I'm wondering if the Minister can commit to providing that training this coming spring? Mahsi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, employees are able to request additional training from their supervisor at any time, and we encourage supervisors to support that when the operational requirements allow. Madam Speaker, we also support settlement maintainers that want to further their education, including programs that are offered through the Aurora College. We also offer mentorship with our journey person staff in the regional centres. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I hear the Minister, but I think the answers are coming from her staff or from within the department, because, you know, I'd really implore this Minister to seriously commit to providing the training that I've been requesting to all settlement maintainers up and down the valley, and many are in isolated communities where we don't have the specialists, and those are the people that are much needed in our communities that can help others too. And I really implore that she provides that training starting in the spring coming up, to settlement maintainers, to the heating systems training that's on for six weeks every spring at the Aurora College, to utilize the building, utilize the services. Mahsi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Department of Infrastructure supports the development of all its employees. Employees are supported through many GNWT programs, including the Indigenous Management Development and Training Program. We also support them in any training that they request.
At this time, we do not have plans for a settlement maintainer program within the Department of Infrastructure but I will have my staff reach out to the Department of Housing NWT to be able to learn more about this program the Member's speaking about and see what opportunity may exist. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister explain how the thresholds in the proposed supplementary health benefits were arrived at and what data was used to inform them? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I appreciate the question. The data was arrived at using income figures supplied by the NWT Bureau of Statistics. The target group for this initiative is people who don't have any insurance of any kind, so the examples were geared towards a lower income threshold. However, there is now a tool on the site which people can enter their income into, and they will find out what level of copay they will be required, if any. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm glad to hear about the tool. I think that's really useful, and people can answer their own questions before they come to us to ask. I guess my question would be that data provided by the NWT Bureau of Statistics, how old is that data? I'm curious because we've really seen over the last year or two, postpandemic, an escalating rise in the cost of living. So I'm wondering if the last two years, that change, has been factored into these thresholds. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I don't have that information with me.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm hoping that the Minister will provide me with that information, and I'll take that as a commitment.
Can the Minister explain how the situation of multigenerational living arrangements are going to be taken into account? Often, you know, we've seen in the past where a grandmother is helping out children, and they come to live with her, and then she is penalized for having that additional income in the House even though there is no overall rise to the amount of money she has herself; can the Minister speak to that. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the intention is to look at individual income at this point. But what I want to stress is that this is not a program at this point. It's a discussion. We have provided four months worth of public consultation, and that now extends until November the 23rd. There are many ways to participate, including a town hall that will take place in mid November with more information to come. So if people feel that there should be a different way of calculating income, that it should be household income or some other form, then certainly that input is welcome. Thank you.
Thank you final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm glad to hear that there is still time to input on this. I guess at times, though, in this era of overconsultation and survey burnout, it is tough sometimes for the public to realize that they still can input on things and other times when things are inputted on, the government just does what they want anyway. So not a question, just more of a comment. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
This is to Minister of Health and Social Services. According to the Office of the Auditor General Report, the Department of Health and Social Services does not do enough to provide residents with accessible, coordinated, and culturally safe addiction services. It is not clear from the department's work plan how it intends to address this situation in a meaningful way. Will the Minister commit to working with Indigenous governments to develop a process of consultation and engagement with communities and Indigenous governments outside its Indigenous advisory board? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have not yet heard back from the Standing Committee on the Office of the Auditor General's Report on addictions and aftercare treatment. So that report has not yet been tabled. But I will say, of course, we have accepted all the recommendations. The committee is considering a work plan attached to that. It does not, to the best of my knowledge, anticipate that we are going to disband the Indigenous Advisory Council, which now works with NTHSSA or that we would replace them with Indigenous governments. If I understand the question correctly, we are not planning restructuring; we're planning program responses. Thank you.
What funding and process mechanisms will be put in place to ensure community and client guidance translates into improvement on cultural safety? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the cultural safety division of the department, which is called community, culture and innovation has a mandate to help with all programs and services to ensure that they are culturally safe and antiracist. So that would be in place in any initiatives that are put in place. At this point, the asks are, I'm going to say, primarily processoriented with a view to collecting better data so that we know and we have a better idea of what the outcomes are, and we're certainly committed to doing that work. We want to be able to show that what we're doing is working. Thank you.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. How will addiction recovery aftercare supports and services being developed by the Department of Health and Social Services engage with a leverage communitybased resources such as elders or youth? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I have not directly consulted elders on any of these initiatives. As I say, they're not really new program initiatives. They're important things, but not necessarily the kind of things we would consult on, like disaggregating data. So we have regular meetings with the Indigenous governments through bilateral conversations and also through the NWT Council of Leaders. There are elders sometimes there. Certainly the Indigenous governments come with questions for health and questions about addictions, and we do our best to work with them and meet them where they're at, knowing that communitybased solutions are usually the best solutions. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Will the Minister of Health and Social Services provide an update to explain her rationale for choosing not to restore contract relations with Poundmaker's Lodge despite the clear and immediate need for the facilitybased addiction treatment services they provide NWT residents? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm not planning to provide any more information than I have already provided about the contract with Poundmaker's Lodge. It ends at the end of this month.
We have five other treatment options that residents can go to. There are three in Alberta, one in BC, and one in Ontario, as well as they can stay home and use the community counselling service, the community on-the- land programs, and so on. So while we are not going to continue with Poundmaker's, we do have those other options. And recognizing that we don't have a specific Indigenous option equivalent to Poundmaker's, we will be advertising for a service provider with a specialty in Indigenous healing, and that RFP is set to go out by the end of the year. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. My questions are for the Premier. According to the statement of environmental values, the Premier is, quote, "accountable to the Executive Council and residents of the NWT for implementation of the statement of environmental values," end of quote.
So recently I'd asked officials from three departments Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Finance, and Environment and Natural Resources who was responsible for implementation of the statement. And guess what, Madam Speaker, nobody seems to know.
So can the Premier clarify who is really in charge of implementation of the statement of environmental values, and how it is going to be accomplished? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
