Thank you, Member. Minister of EIA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, I don't have that information at my fingertips. I'll be happy to get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, that's unfortunate. I had a couple of followup questions that I won't be able to go through it. But in particular, we have a number of nonprofit and charitable organizations who have been operating for many years in our territory and are delivering ongoing programs which will be needed for the foreseeable future. What can we do to decrease administrative burden and secure longterm funding for these organizations? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the past government, we did take the step of providing two- and three-year contribution agreements to a number of NGOs, which was a big step. You can't plan with just, you know, one year of topup funding assured. And I do recognize the importance of NGOs and the work that they do. I talk a lot about partnerships and the fact that the GNWT can't do it alone. We can't do everything alone whereas NGOs they have a lot of expertise. They do a lot of things the government can't. So going forward, we will have to work more closely with NGOs, strengthen that relationship, and ensure that these nonprofit organizations are fiscally sustainable. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is the plan and timeline for full implementation of all the recommendations from the strengthening the nonprofit and charitable sector report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And similar to the first question, I don't have that at my fingertips. I suspect that the priorities set by this Assembly may impact any timelines that do exist. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just in response to that answer, I ask has the department began to action this report, and is there an intention to action the report, or are they simply sitting on it and waiting for priorities to come from this Assembly? Thank you.
Thank you. No, it is my understanding that work is happening on the report. It's not just sitting on a shelf collecting dust being ignored. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my opening Member's statement, there's concern in Inuvik that the regional director position is not filled. The question is for the Premier, Mr. Speaker, why hasn't the department filled that role since the current person retired in 2020? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so the was decisions made in the previous government. I can't speak to those decisions, but I can say that, you know, as Minister of ECE I know I put a lot of jobs in Inuvik so, yes, I'm a big supporter of positions in communities and in the regions. And I'll say that it's both Members from Inuvik who have brought this to my attention, so it is definitely on my radar and something that I have initiated discussions with the department about. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Mr. Premier, for the answer. Does the department have a timeline for when they see this position filled, and is it something that is now actively being advertised?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And there is not an active competition. I think the department wants to look at all of our options, understanding that we are going to begin working with Indigenous governments and in a different way going forward. We want to ensure that the supports that we put in place are appropriate for that new way of doing business. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Mr. Premier. Given this important role, there are positions in the region, I'm sure in other communities as well, in other regions, will the Premier commit to having the department do an assessment of senior leadership positions in the region at a whole, in its entirety? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't want to task the department with a bunch of work at this point. Once we get those priorities in, then we're going to have the opportunity to do that work and we will be looking at positions all across the North, funded positions, unfunded positions, vacant positions, filled positions. We really want a good overview of the positions that we have and how they're working and how they're supporting the regions. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
In August of 2023, there was an announcement that the GNWT would improve the income assistance program and introduce income assistance program for seniors and persons with disabilities. And I'm wondering if the Minister can provide a status update of that work today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. There was a lot of excitement in August when this announcement was made and, unfortunately, these changes to the programs have been delayed due to some systems issues that are outside the department's control, and we're currently working with the Department of Finance to resolve these. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. Do we have an idea of which of the programs would be implemented first? Would it be the one that was deemed complete in August? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we were able to make some changes over at Education, Culture and Employment in 2023. At that time, we were able to do some exempting of income. That included monies from selfgovernment agreements, treaty agreements, land claim agreements, and impact benefit agreements. That also included compensation from residential school settlements, Indian Day School settlements, and 60s Scoop settlements. Also monies received on behalf of Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative and agricultural benefits from Indigenous governments, as well as some other monies from Indigenous governments as approved by the director. The piece beyond this that is being held up are the changes to all of the systems as far as increases to the financial benefits that are based on the northern basket measures and including removing the productive choices. However, I can say that while the productive choices are still required by income assistance, they are no longer reported monthly. Thank you.
Member from Mackenzie Delta.
My questions are directed to the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services. Will the Minister direct her staff to look at these existing programs in hopes of implementing them in the Northwest Territories?
Thank you, Member for Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the questions. Based on the past engagement of addiction in the Northwest Territories, residents want options and so hearing from the Member, these are some of the things that we heard during the sorry, when it went out to the public, like, for their sorry, for their input on addictions in the Northwest Territories. So the department is considering how best to meet the needs of the residents knowing what we've heard from them, and we know that one facility type is not going to meet the needs. And so these are options that we're looking into and, you know, I thank the Member for the information on the one in Whitehorse as right now I don't have the information and so it would be good, like, for the Member to be able to provide that information to me, and then I can give that to my staff. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response. Will the Minister be willing to collaborate with the Indigenous leaders to implement these family orientated programs that are in existence in other jurisdictions? Thank you.
Thank you to the Member for the question. And, yes, you know, I think that is how this government really wants to work, and that's how I kind of want to work within the department of health is getting that input and working in partnership with Indigenous governments. And as I've said, even in some the instances before becoming a Member is, you know, in order for us to do this properly, we need to be engaging with our Indigenous partners as majority of our people that are struggling with addictions in our communities, in Yellowknife, we see it, it's visible, it's our Indigenous people. So working with our Indigenous partners is key to coming up with the programs and stuff that we need. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past, we've been mainly targeting the individual. The families are the ones that are hurting at this time. So I would like to see this government target the families as well, where the whole family's counselled. Can the Minister give me a timeframe on when the department will be able to start the process of consultation to get these programs underway? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member. The process of consultation began under the last government and, yes, I'd like to continue this work, and I would like to be continuing the work with our Indigenous partners to fully understand what the needs are and, like the Member has said, in having family programs, if those are what is necessary, and that's what we're hearing from our Indigenous partners, then, you know, that's something that our department will take away and work with them. And if it's not us doing the programming and supporting them in how to run these types of programs, you know, and I think that's where the stage is right now. I don't have a timeline as to how this is going to be born, but it's key early on in this government, especially, you know, with our priority setting coming up that how fast this will move in this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
This approach is kind of sensitive area for me. Maybe if a family orientated counselling services was available or was available in the past, I would have definitely benefitted with my family. Will the Minister and her staff be willing to visit Whitehorse centre to get some information on the pros and cons of this family orientated counselling service? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm aware that as part of the work that we're doing the department is doing is exploring options for more addictions support. They're already in contact with colleagues both from Yukon and from Nunavut to see what sort they provide. As I mentioned before, I'm not familiar with this specific program but if I get the information from the Member, then I can forward that on to the department to get more details and, you know, that could be a possibility in the future that, you know, the department does go to and see what the program offers. But I am aware that there are other programs, especially for Indigenous people under like the Indigenous Service Canada has approved programs throughout Canada, and there are some approved programs that target families. So if the Member wants more information on that, I can provide that information to him. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So following up on my Member's statement earlier and given that the government has committed to oversee an afteraction review into the 2023 wildfire season and given the blind spots that I drew our attention to in our emergency planning response so far, so my question is for the Premier. Will this government be examining how the 2023 evacuations may have inadvertently increased risk or vulnerable people's exposure to risk during displacement to southern jurisdictions and to come up with a plan for how the government and its nonprofit agency partners will identify and mitigate those risks going forward in any future emergency response?
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. One question, please, not two. So if the Premier answers the one question, then you'll have a supplementary. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And what the Member is talking about is exactly what we need to make sure happens. We need to ensure that the things that went wrong, that we didn't prepare for, that we didn't know we needed to prepare for even, during the last number of evacuations are addressed and we do a better job going forward. The reviews will you know, maybe I'll just leave it at that and let the Member ask her other questions. I don't want to go on too much. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to know does the Premier believe that the government's own after-action reviews are well equipped to evaluate how well vulnerable populations and frontline organizations were supported during last year's evacuations, or would this be a task better suited to an independent inquiry?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I said, this is work we need to do. So they are I think they're well suited. I think they're designed to get that information. The reviews are going to include feedback from NGOs, the NGOs that were participating in the evacuation that were assisting the vulnerable populations. So we need to know the issues that they ran into, and we need to figure out how the government can better assist them going forward. One of the biggest issues that I saw during the evacuations was communicating and planning. Often people didn't have a plan. There wasn't a plan in place for a lot of these things. So getting the information, finding out exactly what happened, and putting measures in to ensure that we don't make the same mistakes again is essential, and that is the purpose of these reviews. And so, yes, I believe these reviews will get that and will help us address that in the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this is my final followup. What has this government done to ensure the timely reimbursement of nonprofit organizations who took on considerable expenses during the 2023 evacuations providing evacuation flights and ongoing supports to vulnerable populations given those agencies' already stretched budgets and resources?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I want to encourage everyone, including NGOs, to look to their insurance first. That's often faster than the government than many of these expenses are often eligible. But, you know, I come from Hay River. I've been dealing with constituents who have been working through this system for a number of years now. It is not fast. Everyone would like it to be faster. We're working through that. We're trying to get policies in place that will ensure that it is faster. So we are working on it, Mr. Speaker. I can assure you of that. Thank you.
Thank you, Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess there's no wonder why I had the record questions asked a couple Assemblies ago. Enthusiasm.
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, I'm getting numerous emails and calls regarding the evacuation travel support program and the fact that people have applied two, three, four months ago and still haven't received payments. I'd like to hear how the Minister is tracking these lack of payments; in other words, does she know who's applying for this program, and can she explain why so many people are waiting so long for their actual $750 payment? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Finance.
