Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today's questions will be directed to the Minister of Housing. So I'd like to start off by explaining or a little preamble to my question.
Recently I got asked, as many Members in Yellowknife here, to help the selection process of board members for the Yellowknife Housing Authority. It also came with a letter to inform us that the housing policy only allows people to be appointed to two terms on the board to up to a maximum of six years. Times have changed, Mr. Speaker, whereas many people are no longer interested in serving boards, and it's a struggle of getting people to do that. That said, I'd like to specifically ask the Minister what can she do to adjust the policy to open it up to allow people to continue beyond their twoterm limit as prescribed in the NWT Housing policy? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can consult with Housing NWT operation staff and the president to see if we can revise the policy for local housing associations.
Thank you, Minister of Housing NWT. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's been in the news recently that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs was recently ordered by the Information and Privacy Commissioner to provide disclosure to an access request. And I use the term "recently" loosely because they were six months behind their deadline.
Can the Minister respecting the privacy of the parties involved, can the Minister tell us why there was such an egregious delay in getting one of our citizens access to the information they rightfully deserve? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All I can tell you is on behalf of MACA, we have two staff that deal with access to information and they address those in the timely manner that they come in, and they work hard to try to get those processed through to get to the other departments. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, are these two fulltime access to information and protection privacy coordinators, or are they do they have other duties in the department? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA has two dedicated positions solely dealing with ATIPP requests. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is that enough given the slow response time and the increase in requests; is two enough? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a very good question. As I stated, speaking to my department they work hard to get those timelines achieved based on the two staff that they have and look forward to more discussion if need be. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Mr. Speaker, the department didn't respond or didn't request an extension when this matter was delayed. Can the Minister respond why his hardworking staff were unable to do so? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not aware of our department requesting an extension, and I'm not sure if that's part of that process. I'd have to confirm that through our department. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I can respect that changes to income assistance will help residents, I'm convinced that even more administrative barriers and burden can be reduced by implementing a basic income guarantee in the NWT. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of ECE commit to undertaking a feasibility study to study guaranteed basic income for the NWT similar to one that is underway in Nunavut? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This definitely would be quite a huge undertaking, and I'm excited to learn of Nunavut's undertaking of it and the study that they're currently doing. I know that the department has reached out to Nunavut to gain insights into the outcomes of their feasibility study so that we can learn from our sister territory as to what they're learning. But right now here in the territory, we've been doing, as the Member indicated, revisions to our income assistance program, and those revisions really well, they came with an extra $5 million that were put into the program. And what they've done is they've allowed us in the territory to set ourselves already apart from other Canadian jurisdictions in that our program looks at the actual cost of shelter and utilities, including fuel, to make sure that residents are being covered for what they need for their basic needs if they are on income assistance and they do need that additional support, whereas in other Canadian jurisdictions I know that these types of subsidies are capped at a certain level. And so I know that we're doing our part to try and acknowledge that life is different in the North and really make sure that we are supporting residents how we can in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. So one other thing I was wondering if the Minister could do is commit to review and discuss with myself, and perhaps the social development committee, the findings from the forthcoming implementation options developed by Alternatives North, which should be available in at least a draft form in the spring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my colleague to the right just reminded me to slow down as well, so thank you for that. I am always happy to speak with social development. Social development will always have a warm place in my heart, and I'm always happy to be invited. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this week so far we've heard a great deal on concerns for adequate funding for seniors. And I've asked a little bit about the income assistance program changes. I also want to recognize too that my colleague from Mackenzie Delta has a different perspective on this, and it's a conversation that really needs to be regionallybased and best fit. Yes, the question would be could the Minister speak to what pathfinding is available for residents who need ECE program supports, like income assistance and seniors home heating supports? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for acknowledging that not all communities are the same and not all expectations across the territory are the same. As far as pathfinding within the Government of the Northwest Territories, education, culture and employment has client navigators that help income assistance clients access the program and work through the program as well. These client navigators are found in most communities across the territory. And they're not only responsible for looking in just simply income assistance. These are people who know about programs in other NWT or GNWT departments, like, for example, housing, and can help their clients access those programs as well to be able to make sure that people are supported wholly as best they can from their position that they have.
The other piece that I wanted to bring up here, Mr. Speaker, is that there's also Pathfinders that are involved with integrated case management. That's now found under EIA. And also EIA has the government service officers who also act as Pathfinders within the system to make sure that people have access to the programs that they need and that they have the opportunity to learn about them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that information. My question is can the Minister confirm with her Cabinet colleagues and do a little bit more to promote these pathfinding pieces because often here on the other side of the House and I'm sure the Minister feels this way when she was a Regular Member as well we end up being those Pathfinders. So if folks on the Cabinet side could share those resources with us and maybe promote them a bit better in the public, I'm wondering if she can commit to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly, as Members of the Legislative Assembly, we spend a tremendous amount of time supporting residents learn about different programs across the GNWT, and I know that this is work that is also part of the homelessness strategy that lives right now within EIA with the Premier's office. And I absolutely can commit to providing information and also seeing what I can do from my part to make sure that information is accessible. For sure, I'm absolutely open to working with Members and welcome any ideas they have any time to make sure that people have access to the programs that are available within government. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my comments on the Colville Lake School visualize the building with six classes and two rooms and the [Translation unavailable] the doorway.
My first question to the Minister of ECE is has the Department of ECE been working with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation in Colville Lake on the design of a new school in the community? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member from the Sahtu for bringing up this project. The Standing Committee on Social Development in the last term had the opportunity to sit down with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation in order to learn about this project and hear from them, and so it's very nice to be able to be on this side and continue on with this project. So absolutely, yes, the department has been working with Behdzi Ahda' First Nation for the design of the new school in Colville Lake. And right now, ECE is working with a baseline that was determined by the school standards that were set back in 2020 sorry, the capital standards and criteria. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that update. My next question there, Mr. Speaker, is what progress have been put in place to move this project forward? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in terms of the progress of this project, so education, culture and employment has a contribution agreement with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation, and this contribution agreement agreed to fund the completion and submission of a schematic design and a class C construction estimate for the new school. And this also includes a geotechnical investigation of the proposed site for the project. The First Nation contracted an engineering and architectural consultant directly themselves to complete the work. And unfortunately, while the contribution agreement has expired, the schematic design and cost estimate has not yet been submitted to the department or received and so that's where the progress is or stands right now from the part of the department. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm glad for that response here, there is a contribution agreement in place. Agreements are really healthy for the results of the intent.
And my next question is what work has been done on the project; what financial commitments or preinvestments have been done to the project to date? Mahsi.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in addition to the contribution agreement that funded the design work, the geotechnical work has been completed and this included drilling five bore holes in the site that was selected by the community. In this process, there was a collection of soil samples that was done, and this was done in order to determine the type of foundation that would be required. This also included ground temperature monitoring installing ground temperature monitoring installation or instrumentation, sorry. Say that five times. Testing was also done on the soil samples, and there is a site evaluation report that came with that. In addition, Mr. Speaker, there is a draft concept design for the new school, and this draft concept design was produced by the consultant team and was based on input from the local DEA and school staff as well.
And I think it's worth mentioning here, Mr. Speaker, that there was also community engagement that was done through open house sessions in April of 2023. And there was representation from both the consultant team and ECE that was in the community for that, and the community was involved as well as school representatives and, of course, Behdzi Ahda' First Nation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear there's progress made, including the agreement. I assume that the agreement would be extended nevertheless my last question to the Minister is the Department of ECE working with the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation on alternative financing and/or mortgage ownership options for the new school? Mahsi.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that the previous Minister of Education, Culture and Employment was very open to looking at new ways to see this project go forward and really wanted to work with the community to see it to its fruition. The community initially presented several alternative options for this project, including a public/private partnership, build/lease, third party funding contributions, and also potentially negotiated contracts. At the time, the department indicated that they needed more information in order to consider moving away from kind of the conventional approach so that there was a clear understanding of what that would look like, Mr. Speaker. And an agreement was reached in the end in order for the department to fund the Behdzi Ahda' First Nation for the development of that schematic design that I spoke about, including a cost estimate, and this would provide that clarity that the government was looking for.
And I just want to say, Mr. Speaker, that I'm really happy that the Member has brought this up. It is definitely a project that I would like to see move forward, and I really look forward to working with the Member on seeing this project move forward and seeing a new school in Coville. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for ECE. In no way my questions or statement is belittling the recipients of this program; I just want a better lifestyle for these individuals.
Will the department look at changing its policies in regards to having the recipients for this program completing a productive choice before they're eligible to receive income support? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I think it will be an interesting week next week because we already have some kind of competing mindsets. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, the productive choices are still a requirement within the income assistance program. And back in 2020 when changes were starting to happen within the income assistance review, productive choices were switched to what's called a wellness selfcare productive choice, which means that there's no requirement of reporting. And the reason for this is when the department went out and did the review and they spoke with Indigenous governments, they spoke with NGOs and current and past clients, they spoke with departments and even the public to get feedback on everything, and there was really a split. But what people decided was that the intended goals of the productive choice were not being met, so at that point it was decided that there would be no reporting requirement and with the changes of the review going forward later this year, we will see no requirement whatsoever for productive choices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response from the Minister. Will the department look at developing training programs where these individuals can enroll and further their education and life skills to be less reliant on the system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Member's statement today, and I absolutely agree with the Member that all of our residents have great potential and that it is our job as their family, friends, and neighbours to ensure that they have the support to reach that potential if they want it and if they need it. Within the department of education, there are career counsellors, there are employability assessments and resume and cover letter development help if people want it. There's interview skill development, career action planning. There's job search help as well. There's also workforce development training dollars that people can access if they're looking just to do kind of an eightweek program. There's also student financial assistance. And then even within our schools too, before people leave their school system or the school system in the community, there are the career education advisers who really take great pride in their job and they go into communities, they go into schools, and they sit down with students and say, what do you want to do and how can I help you get there? And that's just an invaluable resource that our students have access to, and I would love to see them replicate it and grow and there to be more of them. So what I really hope that people hear right now today is there are resources out there and if there is something you want to do, the department of education wants to support you to get there. Thank you.
Thank you for the encouraging words, that's very promising. Providing the recipients with a cheque is not working in respect to the client spending the money on unethical resources. Can the department look at alternatives like working in collaboration with their local outlets where's to set up some sort of an account? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was something that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment did used to do at one point; however, with the NWT Human Rights Act, issuing payments through a voucher system is seen to be contrary to sections 5 and sections 11 of the NWT Human Rights Act. And so I am open to other suggestions from my colleagues, but I want to ensure that whatever we do is in line with the law and with the Human Rights Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe you stated that a review will be conducted sometime in the near future. I will be contacting my resource people and Indigenous leaders. Can you tell me when the review will be conducted? Thank you.
