Thank you, Minister. Member for Nunakput. Final supplementary.
Thank you. I thank the Minister for that, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, some provinces rebate provincial sales tax and heating bills. We don't pay provincial sales tax but we do pay GST in our heating bills, and that adds 5 percent on our tax on every bill. What measures has the Minister considered to support heating costs in the Beaufort Delta? Has the Minister considered asking the federal government for a rebate GST on heating bills in the territories when heating costs is most expensive? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I can say that I have not heard it raised, the idea of requesting specifically a GST rebate on heating fuel. So as I said earlier, I'm happy to take that forward. And more generally, I will acknowledge I've certainly been tasked by my colleagues to take the message to Ottawa given the impacts of climate change in the Northwest Territories that the increased costs and what that's going to do to individual residents and businesses is, as I say, a message that I've been tasked to carry forward and I certainly will do so. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ECE. Can the Minister explain how the department and the city are going to work together in order to finalize the access to Tin Can Hill as a university? And by access, I mean the physical access. We can talk about the getting Northerners into the university at a later day. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So there is a regulatory process, and the City of Yellowknife it is their regulatory process. And so officials are meeting with the officials from ECE are meeting with the officials from the City of Yellowknife to get an understanding of what that process is and the timelines involved with that. But it is through that process that the issues of traffic flow and things like that can be dealt with. And the college wants to be a good neighbour to all of the residents in the area. I can assure you of that. And we don't want to create a situation where there is, you know, concern in the neighbourhood or there's safety concerns. That's not the goal. The goal is to build a postsecondary institution to benefit the people of the Northwest Territories, not to cause disruptions in neighbourhoods. So as I said, the city is driving those that regulatory process, but as soon as we find out what that process is and we get some timelines, I'd be happy to share that with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's comments and commitments to share with me. I do think that there's a lot that can be done to ensure that residents don't feel blindsided as we progress. And I just want to get that plug in for extension of 52nd Street so that School Draw and Copper Sky don't deal with the traffic coming out of the university.
My next question, though, is to do with the facilities management plan. It does comment in the plan that the community learning centres are going to be a key role in the future polytechnic as extensions into the smaller communities and tied to their regional centres of Fort Smith, Inuvik, and Yellowknife campuses.
So can the Minister speak to the fact that several of the small communities do not have a community learning centre, so how will those communities get that support or be an extension of the nearby polytechnic campus if they don't have a learning centre in which to operate? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And one of the goals that we set out with this transformation was to ensure that the college had a presence in every single community in the Northwest Territories. And that's not the case right now. What that presence looks like, that is what is being worked out. In a perfect world, there would be a physical space with appropriate internet connections and whatnot in every community, but this is a massive project and we're looking at improvements to the three campuses as well as a number of community learning centres. So it's not likely that every community will have a community learning centre, a physical space in the near future. But the college does want to be able to expand what they offer online so that if you're in a community without a community learning centre, you can begin your studies online and then perhaps move to a community with a community learning centre or to a campus community to complete those studies. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I almost thought I was going to get a commitment there for every community to get a community learning centre but the Minister is smarter than that. So I do appreciate the commitment on the access; however, that does bring up the lack of internet and computer availability and education within our small communities. I guess then that leads me to my question.
I sort of noted in this job if someone is not responsible for something in particular, no one seems to become responsible for it. So who within the organization of ECE will be the person that coordinates and ensures that the communities get those CLC faculties or at least have the access to that in the community? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So we're on a path, along with Aurora College, towards a polytechnic university. And it is going to be the college who is going to be making those decisions about access as we progress further. Once we have a board of governors in place, which I hope happens early in the new year, it will be that board of governors that will be fulfilling the mandate of the college and focus one of the focuses from the beginning has been ensuring access to college programs in every community. So it will be the board of governors who will be tasked with ensuring there is access in every community. Thank you.
Thank you. Final supplementary.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I know there were some controversy around the board of governors, but I won't touch that here today. I guess my last question is around how will the community learning centres be used to utilize or open up for other initiatives within the community? I had the great fortune of going over to Makerspace recently and seeing their space, and the big conversation there was not so much about always having the programming for people but having the space so others can execute their programming. So if the Minister could respond to that, that would be great. Thank you.
Thank you. And since we've made the changes to the Aurora College Act, I can't speak for the college, but we are working closely together so I can say that the college is open to working with community partners. There is a Makerspace up in Inuvik, and that is part of the college already. And so if there are other opportunities to work with third parties and their synergies, if there's space required and the college has that space, I know that they would be happy to make those connections when it makes sense. We all need to work together and pool our resources. Thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions to the health Minister stem from my Member's statement regarding diabetes.
Canada's framework for diabetes acknowledges a selfreported rate of diabetes among First Nations and Metis adults is, respectfully, 1.9 to 1.5 times that of nonIndigenous adults. And the number rises to 4.7 percent among Inuit.
The report also notes cases of diabetes in Indigenous communities are often more severe than those in the general population. My question is what is the health Minister doing specifically to address the rate of diabetes among Indigenous people in the NWT, especially the Indigenous communities? Mahsi.
Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we don't have a specific Indigenous diabetes approach but we are well aware that this is a disease that has a greater effect on Indigenous people, and men in particular, and so that's something that we work with awareness of.
We started some primary healthcare reform projects in the last year, and one of the aims of these is to improve access to services for people who have chronic conditions. So the planning is underway now to expand the primary healthcare reform projects to the Deh Cho, Tlicho, Beaufort Delta, and Hay River regions. So with that, the Member should be able to see some changes in his community around chronic disease management. Thank you.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for that. I think she took care of my second question so I'll move on to my third one.
Madam Speaker, can the Minister commit to increase diabetes awareness and education in small communities and the consequences of untreated diabetes in a culturally relevant setting. Mahsi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have a territorial specialist of chronic disease management who has been in the position since May of 2019. It's that person's job to research and provide recommendations on patient care standards related to chronic disease management services. The focus is on providing culturally appropriate and standardized diabetes programming by working with all of the communitybased dieticians to ensure that that's the case. Thank you.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, can the Minister commit to including screening efforts in small communities in a culturally relevant setting where people are empowered to get tested? Mahsi.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this is a timely question. All persons, regardless of where they live, are offered screening for diabetes. That's an inventory of risk factors and then a blood test which would confirm whether the person is diabetic or prediabetic.
I'm pleased to say that work is going to begin this year, and ongoing for three years, to work with families who are living with type two diabetes to develop culturally relevant diabetes education materials and programming and looking also at ontheland camps that would be specifically for intergenerational families affected by diabetes. So planning is going to begin on developing and putting out this initiative in the next few months. And I welcome the Member to ask me additional questions in the winter session. Thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions, to start, are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
We learned last week that there are currently 30 spots in the Aurora College nursing program. So I'm wondering if the Minister can tell us how many bursaries are available? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. My information is that there are a total of 121 people enrolled in the nursing program, and 29 of them are first year. And between 24 and 28 typically are Northern or Indigenous. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. So, Madam Speaker, if there are, for example, 30 spots available to firstyear students of which 29 are filled, does that mean that there are every year 30 bursaries available for those students? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that there are enough funds to cover 25 bursaries. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm wondering why we would undersubscribe a program or sorry, underfund a program. And I mean and maybe that's just how we go in Health and Social Services, is underfunding our programs and we need to stop doing that. But if we have 30 potential spots, why would there not be 30 potential bursaries for 30 potential nursing students so that we can potentially say, okay, we only have 29 firstyear students; let's put this one last spot out there so that we can recruit one last person to make sure that this program is fully subscribed. So why is there not 30 bursaries available if there are 30 spots available? Thank you.
Thank you. This is part of the trajectory of health needs to do more and more and more without any additional money. So this program is funded from within. What we can afford to do is 25 students at this point.
I want to say, however, that this bursary is not the only bursary or way to receive additional funds for education. If people in the nursing program go to the bursary section of the Aurora College website, they'll see some additional ways that they can apply for funding. Thank you.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have $193.7 million deficit within NTHSSA. Two of the main reasons for this deficit creeping up are cost of overtime due to staffing shortages and underfunded locum costs. So I think that investing in education in exchange for return of service is a good investment of this territory. So my question comes back to investment in bursaries is will this government provide bursaries in exchange for years of service to anybody who wants to be a nurse so that their program is fully subscribed every year? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the bursary program is for Indigenous and northern students. It's not for the southern students who apply to go to school in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha. She did oh, sorry, Member for Kam Lake.
I was counting. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my last question for the Minister, then, is will they change the criteria of the program to include NWT residents so that even people who have made their home here for the last ten plus years and want to contribute to this deficit of staffing and a staffing shortage can partake in this program? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as I said earlier to the Member this week, this program actually hasn't launched yet. The uptake is unknown. The funding is secure for the 25 positions at this point. So while I know she would like to score a point today, it is not possible for me to commit to what she wants. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. In my statement earlier I talked about the many issues that the business community are facing right now. Can the Minister of ITI explain if her department has a plan to help address the rising costs of commercial insurance for businesses in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there's not a formal plan or policy or strategy around responding to insurance costs. Insurance costs are something that arises as a result of private market factors. And unfortunately, the Northwest Territories does face higher premiums generally. We have a smaller population over which the industry can spread its risk out. There's, you know, obviously remote location. There is the factor of the types of building materials that are used when we're dealing with capital insurance or capital products and assets, houses. And the fact is there's often limited emergency services. All of these are factors that can lead to higher costs in the North and not necessarily ones that we have an immediate ability to mitigate for residents or small businesses.
What I can say, Madam Speaker, though, is much as you've seen happen unfortunately with recent emergencies such as COVID, such as the floods, that if there are an acute event that occurs that the government does monitor such things and can step in to fill gaps if there are gaps and can step in and to ensure that there are not further emergencies. So while certainly I would be hopeful that we don't reach that point on an insurance front, we do keep an eye on what is occurring and, to the extent that we can, try to get information out to the small business community around what they might do to mitigate. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, will the Minister commit to have ITI work with the Department of Finance to find a concrete solution that can help lower the rates of overall commercial insurance rates for the NWT businesses? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as I was just saying there's not a lot directly that the government can necessarily do. But what I would certainly be willing to look at is perhaps having the two departments come together and see if there's room through which the government can help advocate or room through which the government might be able to provide more information to small businesses, to the small business community, about what they might do to help influence their own rates. There may be information that is, you know, more readily available to some than to others, for example, with respect to, you know, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, what they do, what they might be useful how they might be useful, you know, other opportunities of where you might look to influence your insurance rates. And that may be a function or a role for government to act as an advocate but also as a pathfinder. So I will go back to both departments and see if that is something that we can get some more information out to. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I like the Minister's response. Madam Speaker, can the Minister tell us if her department agrees with the economists at the Royal Bank of Canada and anticipates a recession occurring in 2023? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm not good to providing a prediction here today. I certainly can say the Department of Finance is monitoring this. I know the Bank of Canada just put out their most recent monetary policy. And certainly I know I'm reading those documents, and our department's staff and fiscal policy are also reading those materials and keeping an eye on what is happening. But I think really where I want to go, Madam Speaker, in responding is to reassure that in that monitoring that we are doing so not just as an academic exercise. We're doing that so that we would be in a position to know what the impacts would be on the fiscal strategy of the government so that we would then know what that might, in turn, do, you know, whether it's to our procurement, whether it's to hiring, and to know what is happening in the economy at large so that, again, departments such as ITI can go out and make sure they are supporting industry. Our economy is very heavily reliant on the public sector, and the good news with the bad news is that gives us a bit more insulation to some of the shocks that you might otherwise see. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake. Oh, she got one more? Oh, I thought you said that was the last one. Okay, sorry, Member for Thebacha.
Madam Speaker, if a recession is, in fact, declared, can the Minister tell us if her department has a plan in place for how to help NWT businesses deal with that scenario? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
