Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Trailcross was used for youth and it will continue to be used for youth in the new pilot program. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure, and if she can let us know when the Inuvik Wind Project will finally be completed and running? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work is underway right now with Inuvik Wind Project. We are looking at getting it commissioned by third week in August. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Wow, I hope I could cut the ribbon with her. Can the Minister give us an estimate of what her department is thinking the final costs are, because I think the last cost we got was about $60, $70 million, and I'm just wondering if you’re still on track with that number? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost of the project, the total project was about $60 to $70 million, and I just want to note of that cost, Mr. Speaker, $39.9 million was secured through Investment Canada Investment Infrastructure Program, the ICIIP program. You know, it's a little not too early, but I mean we will be able to have a better indication once we get closer to cutting this ribbon together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I just heard the Minister. My next question was going to be I know that the federal government committed $30 million, and I think she said $39.9 million. So with it being $60 to $70 million, we initially budgeted $10 million as a government so are we going to be expected to now offset by the government, or is there more money going back are you going back for more money from the feds to do this project? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a really good question from the Member and, you know, I just want to make sure that I have a proper answer to the Member, and I just I need to go get back and have a look at a number and be able to get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister and, yeah, it would be good to have an actual number for us to know.
My last question is this project, I know I've raised it many times in this House, it's been ongoing, it was even before I was a Member of this House there was kind of issues, so I'm just wondering if the Minister's department is going to do a lessons learned on any recommendations on this project in case we decide as a government to ever do any more wind turbines in the territory? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I wear both hats on as Minister of Infrastructure as well as Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation. So, you know, on major projects like this, we do have a debrief at the end for some of our lessons learned. So I hear the Member's concerns, you know, going forward on some of these infrastructure projects, that we need to have these lessons learned, talk about some of the ways that we can improve major infrastructure projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. The government has said it will not withdraw its Supreme Court challenge that affects Inuvialuit child and family services law. It's actually my understanding it's too late for them to do so. Their choice is puzzling and profoundly disappointing.
My question is if the government will not withdraw, what concrete steps will the Premier take after the Supreme Court renders its decision to restore the eroded trust with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I won't speak about the court process. That's still in the process so I'll wait to see what happens. But I am a bit puzzled actually. I was just talking to the chair, Duane Smith yesterday, and I thought we had a good relationship. So I'm not sure about the eroded trust. I know that health has been working closely with their departments. I know I get along really well with the president. But I will make a point, Mr. Speaker, because I am meeting with him coming up here in the next few days that I'll actually sit down and talk to him. If there's an eroded trust, then I don't want to wait until after this. I want to address it now. When this first got brought to as a concern, I did meet with the president of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and shared my concerns. I thought we had a good understanding. But I guess the Member has different information, and I'll find out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then the Premier is not aware or did not watch our meeting with the IRC in which we discussed this on the social development committee, which was a public meeting, and I would have hoped that her staff and staff at Justice had been listening. It was clear to us in that meeting that the IRC was very unhappy about what was going on but I don't want to make that my question.
The Premier's mandate includes leading efforts to ensure voices in all regions are heard in decisionmaking but five of 15 were Indigenous governments and organizations have not signed on to the GNWT's approach to UNDRIP. I'd like to know whether the Premier is personally engaging leaders in each of the five Indigenous governments and organizations to understand and address their concerns? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it all depends on semantics, how you phrase things. So you can say five out of 15 never signed, or you can say ten out of 15 have signed. And there was a protocol, Mr. Speaker, that within the Council of Leaders we knew that we wouldn't have 100 percent, and Indigenous governments said we want to have majority. They defined what it would look like because that was the principles we're working on. So as we're working with the ones that haven't, there was various reasons. Even some that think that the GNWT aren't a public government, I won't name, I have had meetings with. I have meetings all the time. But as for the act itself, Mr. Speaker, there is a protocol now that is being read into the House. The committee is doing their work. I am not trying to under step committee. I am waiting until the committee is finished their work and brings back the recommendations because it would be inappropriate, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, to be trying to get them to sign onto something when committee is out there doing their work at this point.
But, Mr. Speaker, I have very open-door relationships with the Indigenous governments, and at any time in fact, every chief has my phone number. They phone me day and night. I'm always willing to meet with them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, respectfully, an open line means nothing if you don't listen to what the people are saying on it. Ten out of 15 is 67 percent. 67 percent, I'm sure most of the parents in the room would not be happy with their child coming home with a 67 percent report card. So to me, not having all of these people, all these 15 groups sign on, just speaks volumes about where UNDRIP's legislation is going and really what this is. To me, it does seem like a passing just to have some checkmark before the end of this Assembly.
The government says an action plan to implement and it is still two years away when while new laws will have statements of consistency. It is unclear whether the government will do anything else to implement the declaration before 2025. Can the government commit to making specific high priority policies and programs consistent with the declaration before 2025? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I actually agree with the Member a hundred percent, so. I heard from and I will use an example on that. The previous grand chief of the Tlicho government said that too many times politicians listen, but they don't hear. But that same grand chief, before the election came, said to all of his council this Premier not only listens, she hears. So I just want to say that, that's important that we all not only listen, that we hear what they're saying.
As for the ongoing implementation plan, yes, there will be some work on that. Mr. Speaker, this these this work is not going to happen overnight. This work is going to take decades and decades, years and years, to get through. And so that is a commitment that other legislations are going to have to do. But we're not waiting for it.
Mr. Speaker, we've done a lot with the around the United Nations Declaration, and not with without even hearing the words, we've done a lot because it's the right thing to do, to work in partnership with Indigenous governments. As a Metis woman, I hold that to heart. And, I mean, the Member can make faces at me, whatever she wants, but I do know that it is important to me as an Indigenous woman.
Mr. Speaker, I'll just ignore that that she's making faces but I'll ignore that. So in this in this government, we're not waiting
The Member's called a Point of Order. We'll take a short recess.
SHORT RECESS
The Member for Great Slave called a Point of Order but it wasn't caught on the audio. So let the Member go again to call the Point of Order. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Rules of Debate, 3.2 (3)(h) states that you cannot make allegations against another Member, a House officer, a witness or a member of the public, or impute false or hidden motives to another Member; or, (k) use abusive or insulting language of a nature likely to create disorder. I believe that in the Premier's response to me, she did these things. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. I'll allow the Premier to speak to the Point of Order.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did not mean to imply any negative. It was an observation. When I was talking, I looked at the Member and the Member was had some very serious facial expressions. It was an observation. I perhaps inappropriately spoken out. So I will take whatever consequences that the Speaker feels justified. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Colleagues, I will make a ruling later today. Thank you, we'll continue. And I remind Members to please conduct yourselves thoroughly, both sides of the House, keep your gestures and facial expressions, everything you know, because I remember when, you know, when I back, way back when I used to be a Regular Member no, just kidding. But I know how frustrating sometimes it could be, especially during question period, sometimes we don't hear the answers that we like, and I know a few times myself I got very the blood got hot listening to some of the answers. But I know how you're feeling but let's be respectful of one another in this House and the people we represent. With that, we will continue. Final short supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have a final supplemental. Thanks.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
In February, the federal government announced investment of $198.6 billion over ten years for provinces and territories to improve health care services for Canadians focused on shared priorities. To access this funding, the government needs to develop action plans to describe how funds will be spent and how progress will be measured. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister, to start us off with, can provide us or provide this House with an update of where this is at? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. The total increase in health spending for this year from the Government of Canada was $12 million. $12 million. Our budget in the Department of Health and Social Services is $610 million for this year. You can appreciate we were a little underwhelmed. So after being offered $7 million a year for ten years for tailored bilaterals, $2 million for the Canada health transfer one time top up for emergency room and pediatric hospitals, and $2.9 million of incremental funding for the territorial health investment fund, the Premier had started negotiations with the support of the other territorial Premiers who were in a similar disappointed position with Canada's offer to try to increase the territorial health investment fund. Unfortunately, they were not successful with that. What we did get was a tenyear agreement rather than a fiveyear agreement but we didn't end up with more money. So we are now in a position to sign the MOU. In the meantime, department staff have been working on an action plan which is due on July 1st and will be delivered by then. Thank you
Yeah, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I really feel for the Department of Health and Social Services and also for the people of the Northwest Territories for, you know, to have to take the time to do an action plan for less than probably what is forced growth for the entire Department of Health and Social Services. Seems kind of crazy that the federal government is screaming from the rooftops that they're doing all these favours for health care across the country. So I appreciate the Minister's acknowledgement that the department is doing an action plan for the federal government for this $12 million increase and that will be delivered on July 1st. But can the Minister share sorry, the specific programs that this invest into? Sorry, I'm readjusting my questions as I go here, Mr. Speaker, rather ineffectively at the moment but can the Minister speak to what programs that will be directly impacted by these dollars? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not program specific funding. There are four areas that the tailored bilaterals cover, and the spending has to be tied to health outcomes that are measured by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. There's some work going on now trying to standardize that reporting because not all jurisdictions collect the same information, and in some cases the collecting of the information is more onerous than the value of the contribution. So there's there's some work going on in that. But generally, what I recall is there is a home and community care section, there's a mental health and substance use section, and there are two more. I'm sorry, I don't remember off the top of my head what they are. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I got them open now here of what the expectation was from the federal government. And the Minister's right, there's home care, there's improving access to mental health, there's supporting health workers and reducing backlogs, and I just don't understand the position that health is being put in by the federal government to accomplish this with a $12 million increase. And so I'm wondering when the Minister speaks to that, this is really based on outcomes, health outcomes, and that this needs to be measured and reported to the federal government, how does the federal government have expectations that there is going to actually be improved health outcomes for the territory through an investment that really is not an investment in our health care system? And so I'm wondering what how does health intend to report on these outcomes and are they selffunding for these programs as well in order to focus more dollars on these programs as dictated by the federal government. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we will be doing is to minimize the amount of administration that goes with this money, since it is such a small amount, that we don't want to turn ourselves inside out for it, we already report a number of important statistics to CIHI, which are readily available to the public, on things like wait times, life expectancy, emergency room visits, and so on and so forth. So the amount of money we're receiving is going to not address any of the big problems that our health system faces but rather addresses some incremental problems. And it certainly is my intention in the time that I am in this role to continue arguing with Ottawa about the need to increase the amount of health funding that is coming to the NWT to meet our needs and make a real difference. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's comments about not turning themselves inside out in order to meet the reporting requirements of this. But it seems like almost in some way, shape, or form by doing this funding agreement that the federal government is actually dictating how and where the GNWT will be spending its health care dollars in exchange for such a small portion of money for that. And so I really appreciate that the health minister is, in fact, continuing to draw more money out of the federal government. One of the things that's interesting about this and where the federal government is working hard to kind of force the hand into these four or five focused areas of priorities that it sees as all of the provinces and territories having, where is the NWT and the residents of the Northwest Territories in that conversation? And so I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to whether or not there is an intent to involve the residents of the Northwest Territories in a conversation about where they want to see health care dollars focused? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for that. Each region has a regional wellness council with seven members, and they meet every other month or four times a year, and they provide direct feedback to the leadership council of the NTHSSA on what the health needs, gaps, and priorities are in their regions. So that organization, the leadership council, meets four times a year with the chairs of each of the regional wellness councils, and I meet with them every time they meet in order to hear directly from them about what their needs and priorities are. So that's our method for staying in touch with what people expect and want from the health system. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Tabling of documents. Colleagues, in accordance with section 21(1) of the Retiring Allowances Act, section 11.1 of the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, I hereby table the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Pension Administration Report - Retiring Allowances Act and Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, at March 31st, 2022.
