Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have the trades trailer sitting in Inuvik outside of the Aurora College. I'm just wondering, we've been asking for those in the communities, like Paulatuk and Ulu and Tuk. Are they able to utilize those trailers to get a trades program going on in the communities? With all these new houses that we have being built, it would be good to tag along with that and to have youth because youth are graduating now and they have basically we have nothing, really nothing going on in our communities, Madam Speaker. Are we able to put trades programs in the local communities where the new houses are being building built with our local LHOs? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. We don't Housing NWT doesn't own the trades trailers in the Beaufort Delta. But I can follow up with my colleague in looking at what opportunities we can come up with in looking at the collaboration with the Member's riding as well too. And I just want to say that it's trades and looking at apprenticeship is what housing has really prided on within this government. We've made significant improvement building the requirement for trades apprenticeships also into our contracts that for our hundred unit builds that are being constructed within the lifetime of this government. I look forward to further conversation with the Member. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Will the Minister commit to working with the community governments in Nunakput riding to increase housing apprenticeships in the region? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Absolutely. I would like to look at those numbers, look at the interest. I do understand that the communities in Nunakput are quite isolated. I'm interested to see what else we can be doing different in the Member's riding. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. In regards to that, I just want to say again, we have youth that are graduating that are potentially able to go into the trades program. We could take care of our own units, housing units in the communities and having our own local people taking care of the taking care of ourselves and caretakers for that.
Will the Minister commit to establishing local apprenticeships in the Nunakput riding, in all four of my communities, working with the local leadership, ask Aurora College to get the trades trailers in and start working towards that? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And absolutely, this already has been a success in the territory. I want to just mention Ne'Rahten Developments in my riding has taken a handson approach and have worked directly with CMHC and directly with the federal government. They were able to access federal funding. I was fortunate enough to attend their housing forum. It's quite interesting what that Indigenous group and government have come together to establish and work towards trades and home and repair programs within our community. Very optimistic about what we can do in Nunakput. I'm more than willing to work with the Member and work with his Indigenous governments as well in Nunakput. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Madam Speaker, is this going to be the year that the Minister of holidays gives us Family Day? Well let's find out. When will we get a statutory holiday in February? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Minister for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, since the last time the Member asked this, I did add another holiday. It's not the holiday he was looking for though. So there will not be a statutory holiday on February 21st. The Member is well aware that that takes legislative change and that is not in the works. So it won't be happening this year. However, as I stated last year, this is the year that we are going to look at the Employment Standards Act and see what changes need to be made. So there will be engagement on the act including the potential establishment of a holiday in February. So the department will be going in the spring and consulting on that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. First off, is the Minister aware of the release of the new federal longterm care standards, and are these under review in light of our 2015 continuing care standards? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I have all kind of good news for the Member from Frame Lake.
The standards for longterm care were released on January 31st by the health standards organization. And what's very important to know about these standards is, not only there are lots of them, but they really are aimed at ensuring the comfort, safety, and dignity of seniors who are in longterm care.
I'd like to say that developing the standards was a collaborative process. It involved the Department of Health and Social Services from the GNWT at a government advisory table. There were several forums, and the department had an opportunity to review the standards and provide input into them. We are using them to develop our own longterm care standards which will be complete by the end of March and go into effect immediately after.
The other thing I want to say about the standards is that they are about more than just the response to COVID. They were in development prior to COVID and so they look at a whole range of issues, not only things like infection control and prevention. Thank you.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I think that was a yes; that was great. I'll keep it rolling. Our continuing care standards have been in place since 2015 and reviewing that document, I did not see any discussion of the special precautions and practices necessary during a pandemic or a public health emergency.
So can the Minister tell us whether these revised standards that she mentioned, or the review of our 2015 standard, whether there's going to be anything in there in light of any lessons learned from the COVID pandemic? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Yes, thank you. Given the disastrous start to COVID and the large loss of life, up to as many as 18,000 seniors who died in the early days of COVID, the health and social services authorities developed a management policy for longterm care facilities in the NWT. And this was aimed at managing the outbreak that was happening all across the world at that point, and also with the support of the chief public health officer who provided her input as well. So the document was a living document. Each wave of COVID was different and so the policy was updated each time we confronted a new situation, a situation where it was more contagious or a situation where it was more lethal, and the results of that have been incorporated into the standards I mentioned earlier. Thank you.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. So I had a chance to look at the discussion paper that was released around learning from the response to COVID, and there didn't seem to be anything in there about continuing care or longterm care standards or how the pandemic response relates to seniors in particular in longterm care.
So can the Minister tell us whether there was any public engagement as part of that review of our COVID response that dealt with longterm care standards and whether any public concerns were raised as part of that review? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this work is not being led by the Department of Health and Social Services but what I understand is that there was, as the Member said, a discussion paper and a period of time for people to discuss the things that they wanted to be recorded as lessons learned from COVID. So my hope is that when I see this report, there will be the reflections in there of the kind of questions I got during COVID, which actually had less to do with the health side of COVID and more to do with the social side about isolation, visitor policies, and so on. So I'm looking forward to seeing that report and seeing how we could incorporate the information into the standards or into new policies that deal with pandemics. Thank you.
Thank you. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister again for that. This one might be a bit of a stretch, but I gave the Minister's a headsup, so.
Can the Minister tell us when the results of the learning from the response to COVID19 public engagement and the actual report will be released, and whether standing committee will be given an opportunity to review and comment on them first? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that the report is not yet complete but that the production of the report will follow the normal practice of providing it to Regular Members for comment. Thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that the Minister of Finance would like to take my question rather than the Premier, as I stated in my statement.
My question has to do with the CRTC, and would the Minister commit to, on behalf of the entire Cabinet, so having the Premier's signature there, send a letter to the CRTC explaining how Yellowknife works and our small business of Cabin Radio versus our southern international firm of Vista Radio, and intervening on Cabin Radio's behalf? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Department of Finance does maintain the relationship with the CRTC through the office of the information or the Office of the Chief Information Officer so that is the reason that the question was more appropriate to go to here. I certainly can't commit any other Member of Cabinet, certainly let alone the Premier, to signing any letters. That said, Madam Speaker, I'm certainly happy to say that it would be within the Department of Finance to put together some sort of letter to comment upon or to express some concern that there may be around this decision. We aren't experts in telecommunications/radio broadcasting. We do work more directly with CRTC with respect to broadband. However, in just a brief review of this and in a brief discussion with the department, it would be within our purview to be able to comment on the decision in that regard. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's response, and I'm sure Cabinet will be willing to work with her to ensure that the CRTC does recognize that it's not just the Minister of Finance that would like to see that. But I think I speak for my colleagues as well, that all of us would like to see this looked into.
Can the Minister speak a little bit about the fact that Vista Radio or True North is still a BIP'ed registered company with the Northwest Territories government? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So the Department of ITI maintains the BIP registry, which fortunately I'm able to speak to a little bit. And as I've mentioned I think earlier this session, we are conducting certainly the procurement review in looking at the registry for the BIP, wanting to ensure that it's reflective of what an appropriate definition for northern businesses is. The final version of what that definition might in fact be is not now final and so in that regard, the Schedule 3 to the BIP remains as it is from something that long predates, I think arguably most, if not all of us in this room. However, again, as I had previously committed, that work is underway; I do expect changes to come and if the current businesses on Schedule 3 continue to meet the definition, they'll find themselves under BIP and if they do not, well then they won't. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. I'm just going to remind Members their line of questioning should remain on the same Minister with the same topic. But this time I will if you can keep it on the same topic. Thank you. Supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And Madam Speaker, I was going to thank you for your latitude in that last question. And given that it's not a super controversial topic, I do really appreciate that. I will leave this as my final question.
If it should be required, will the Minister commit to meeting with Cabin Radio to better understand the situation and ensure that whatever correspondence goes forward to the CRTC that it is, you know, with their input and the Minister's full understanding of the situation? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, certainly have an obligation, as I see it, to not any one single company but to the market as a whole, and I certainly only read the decision very briefly today. Would want to ensure that, really, that the CRTC is fully aware of the nature of our economy, of the nature of the business environment here. That is exactly the kind of thing we want to be speaking to. And so in that regard, more than happy to meet with the local players to ensure that anything that comes from government reflects and properly balances the interests. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is for the Minister of ITI. I didn't give her a heads up on it but I know she will answer these ones; they're pretty easy. I'm just asking about the status of the fish plant in Hay River and a possible opening date? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of ITI.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am happy to speak about the fish plant. There is quite a lot of activity underway and senior members from the department were, in fact, in Hay River just recently, and we are still anticipating a summer or early spring opening to the fish plant. It'll be commissioned in the spring with an opening to follow I believe in line with the summer fishing season. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can the Minister tell me if the CFI certification process has been completed or underway? Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Members. It's back, the translation is corrected. Minister of ITI.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I believe that the CFIA process is on track in terms of timing. Whether it has already happened or whether it's scheduled to happen, I can confirm that possibly in advance of appearing on ITI's main estimates this afternoon, Madam Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. It's going to take staff to run that plant so I'm just wondering if the Minister can tell me if staff recruitment has taken place or if something's in the works. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I don't think there's an active recruitment for staffing right now, but I can say that there's quite a bit of work happening with the Tu Cho Fishers Cooperative as well as with FFMC to ensure that those players and parties are all involved, that there's no overlapping work going on but that, in fact, everyone's working together. The goal, again, is to have this plant open and operational for the fishing season, including with having a manager and including having the staffing available. I, in fact, only spoke to FTI about this yesterday and had a very thorough assurance that the work necessary to reach that goal is underway. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. This last question is selfserving. Will the Minister commit to a fish fry during the opening of the fish plant in Hay River? Thank you.
Without knowing the date of the fish fry, Madam Speaker, it's a bit difficult to commit but I would love a fish fry, and I'm sure we can coordinate an appropriate date to be in Hay River for a fish fry. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. I was so excited yesterday about Cabin Radio they turned me into a meme that I didn't get to my questions about midwifery for the Minister of health yesterday. So my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
My first question is, as we enter the final phase of implementation of a territorial midwifery program, what major actions remain to be done? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
