Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I do appreciate the Premier's goodwill and openness to discussing this with him publicly. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier commit to openly and transparently engaging the public and Regular Members on a proposed approach for a fully arm's length review of the 2023 wildfires? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we have our own afteraction review that we are currently trying to start. I wish that the RFP would have gone out last week, and we wanted a bit more time to work with Members but that is going to happen imminently. And so that review is going forward. Happy to hear anything that Members have to say on that. I know that I was I know my answers on the floor of the House yesterday. That's what that that was the response I was told I was going to get on the floor of the House, but if there's more feedback that the Members have I'm happy to hear that. If there's specific feedback, I'm happy to hear that. In terms of the draft the order related to the public inquiry, the motion required or called for collaboration with AOC on that, and so I'm happy to have that discussion as well as we work on that order. Thank you.
Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly there does seem to be a bit more of a collaborative tone from the Premier today in the House than I saw immediately after the vote in the media yesterday.
Mr. Speaker, final question: Is it the Premier's position that we're still in a negotiation with privacy concerns? I'm just trying to get an understanding for why a draft terms of reference or scope of work couldn't just simply be made public so the public can assess it for themselves. I know when British Columbia did this, their draft terms of reference was on their website. Can the Premier give some substantiation for why it needs to be done in confidentiality? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, you know, there's procurement issues so I don't have an answer that I can that I think would be sufficient right now at my on the tip of my tongue. So I would have to get back to the Member with a written response. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these questions are regarding eviction process for public housing tenants. What is the eviction process for public housing tenants? Thank you.
Member from Monfwi. Minister of Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. I think this is an educational process because we deal with evictions, but it's few and far between with public housing. So public rental evictions are dealt with under the Residential Tenancies Act. So the local housing association makes a tenant aware of their violation, seeks the agreement with the tenant to resolve the issue. When all reasonable efforts are exhausted, the LHO issues a termination of tenancy notice and submits an application to the rental office. The rental office may try to remediate and may set a hearing process involving both the tenant and the landlord. The rental office makes a decision and may issue orders. The tenant is given an opportunity to appeal the decision. Orders, for example, an eviction order, are filed with the NWT Supreme Court. Housing NWT continues to try to work with tenants to address the issue of concern. If the tenant does not engage or if the concerns are addressed, then Housing NWT may make the decision to implement the eviction order. Housing NWT obtains support from the sheriff's office to serve the order and carry out the eviction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I got one of my answers from my previous questions in there, so thank you. Thank you for that. Are evictions handled differently by Housing NWT compared to a private landlord? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Housing NWT recognizes that it is a social agency and not just a landlord. So in many of the communities, public housing is one of the only options available to house people with lower incomes. This means that Housing NWT will, except in extraordinary cases, work much harder than a private landlord to maintain a tenancy rather than moving towards an eviction. These efforts include extra steps to communicate with the tenant and change the behaviours that can result in eviction. Except in the more severe cases, LHOs complete a tenant success plan checklist to ensure that all efforts are being made to maintain tenancy without moving to an eviction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What support does Housing NWT provide public housing tenants facing evictions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the supports that Housing NWT provides is they offer tenants opportunities to enter into payment plans if their issue is related to arrears. Housing NWT also reviews the rent calculations if there's a concern, if they have income changes. Say, they lost a job or they're starting another job with a different income level. So Housing NWT may refer tenants to other social services or health resources if the client is facing complaints from neighbours or is also to seek out additional assistance to avoid losing their home. And then Housing NWT also seeks out alternative housing options if available to support the tenant's needs. That's only if it's available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What can a public housing tenant do to avoid an eviction?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So for a tenant to avoid eviction, they can do the following things: The best thing a tenant can do is to maintain communication with the local housing association and then show that they're serious about complying with their tenancy agreement. That can be including adjusting their behaviours to reduce complaints about noise and disturbances, after 11 o'clock especially, and reducing or setting up a payment plan to pay down their debts to housing. If a rental officer hearing is set, it is important to attend and tell your story. So it's really important they attend the rental officer hearing. The rental officer provides an opportunity to say what they're willing to do to avoid the consequences. The rental office also considers that in writing with writing orders.
If a rental office order is issued, it's not too late. The LHO, so the local housing association, and Housing NWT is still willing to work with tenants to resolve the concerns. Only if a tenant continues to cause problems or not comply with their tenancy agreement does housing proceed with implementing the eviction order. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Housing. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of health. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what sort of preventative and proactive measures our government is taking to lower the rate of individuals with diabetes in the NWT? Thank you.
Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work being done in this area so, you know, I want to be able to provide some of the information, and I'll highlight, and then what I don't get to I'll provide that information to the Member, specifically to her riding as well.
So there's early planning for testing culturally grounded approaches to diabetes prevention and management, and this is currently being completed in partnership with the Tlicho government, Tlicho Community Services Agency, Deh Cho First Nations, and NTHSSA Deh Cho region. We've also implemented group nutrition education sessions in all regions for people diagnosed with prediabetes. Regionally, we've got diabetes education and care programs in Fort Smith, Inuvik, Hay River, and Yellowknife. There are an additional two initiatives underway under our primary health care reform designed to implement the implementation of an integrated care team which will provide clients with access to providers, all working at full scope, who are responsive to the client's needs in real time. On the land camps for diabetes management and prevention. Focus on intergenerational prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. And there's many more and I can provide those to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Health and Social Services provide a figure for how many people are living with diabetes in the NWT today? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we know that diabetes is a significant chronic disease in the Northwest Territories impacting approximately 10 percent of residents over the age 24, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister provide a dollar amount for how much the NWT healthcare system is paying to provide the proper healthcare treatment for people with diabetes in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, not at this time but I have my department looking into kind of a number of how we can get. But the main goal is to reduce the instance of diabetes and using money on preventative care, so we'll the department is trying to come up with some kind of numbers for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister share whether she considers diabetes to be an epidemic within the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, diabetes is a chronic disease, and it's a major problem for many NWT residents, specifically Indigenous people. This is why our priority is to work in partnership with individuals, families, communities, and to encourage healthy lifestyle choices and provide supportive disease management services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
All right, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, employment issues are varied throughout the Northwest Territories. There's not a onesizefitall solution. You know, there's those positions where we want to hire local employment, but sometimes we need skilled and foreign workers to come to our communities, whether it's Inuvik opening up or making sure the restaurant's opened. It's in Nahanni; we need a SAO. We need specialized skills sometimes in special places.
I'd like to ask the Minister what is she doing to support employers to bring in specialized skills, often referred to as skilled workers, into our northern communities. How is she supporting that and developing that opportunity?
Thank you, Member. Minister of ITI or ECE. Okay. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are like many jurisdictions across the country where we are relying on Canadian newcomers to help fill some of our employment gaps in our territory. Over the course of the so far this year, I asked for engagement to take place to see what people, including employers, wanted to see as far as immigration and an extended immigration strategy. So right now we are compiling that information to see how we can work with employers to better serve them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be able to elaborate on what type of hands on support does the department offer so employers can fill out these applications and potentially fill skilled worker openings? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECE has approximately three staff members who are accessible by phone and by email to members of the public and also to employers to be able to provide some direction and let them know different programs, different entry streams that are available, and then ultimately, though, the bulk of that work is done with the Canadian government. Thank you.
So is the thank you, Mr. Speaker. So is the Minister saying that the three staff in that particular section just tell employers, who are trying to create economic opportunities and growth in the North, to just go to the website? Is that their main role? Or do they actually spend some efforts with them helping them fill out the paperwork so they can process the paperwork properly? Because we all know how busy these employers are. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hope that any public servant that answers the phone is willing to field questions from the person on the other end of that phone. I know that, you know, paperwork can be intimidating and there can be a lot of it, and so I would hope that employers would be able to communicate what their needs are and staff of the public service would be able to let them know what they can do to support them, but this is definitely a tricky realm where it includes a lot of work from the federal government as well to make this happen. I know that there are employers in town who hire consultants to help them through the bulk of the process because it is a lengthy process as well. It's not a quick process. It's not one piece of paper. And so there are employers in town who have definitely invested a lot of time in figuring this out, and I'd be happy to act as a connector between those employers who are wanting to learn the process and learn the ins and outs and also with employers who have essentially, to the best of their ability, mastered this process. Thank you
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister recognizes this is a daunting process, if the Minister recognizes that it's challenging in the sense of that it affects a lot of people, Mr. Speaker, why isn't the Minister advocating that there is some actual handson people to help steward employers through this process? Because we know it is complicated and sometimes quite lengthy. So would she do this, or what will she advocate for?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I can say wholeheartedly I've been talking about immigration in this House for over four years and will continue to do so at the department level. I think that making sure that we have easy to use processes is really important, not only for enriching our communities but also for filling our labour shortages. So I'm committed to working on this not only with the department but also with employers of who I represent most. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have further questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding daycare.
So on February 9th, the Minister and the Department of ECE shared a very helpful package of information with Members on this side of the House that included detailed numbers broken down by NWT communities and regions about the number of child care providers, the number of spaces we have, and changes over the past decade or so. So will the Minister commit to sharing this information with the Early Childhood Association as they have been requesting? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm absolutely committed to being as transparent as possible and to ensuring that I'm working with the sector so that we're working together to create the number of spaces that are actually needed. And so as long as there's no information that would breach anybody's privacy, I'm happy to share information with the NWT Early Childhood Association. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Yellowknife North.
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Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My initial question is for the Minister of ECC. Proposed traditional cabins. Earlier this week, Mr. Speaker, the Minister and the Member of Inuvik Boot Lake had an exchange on leases, rents, for Indigenous users of the land. Can the Minister just clarify why the GNWT charges lease rents fees to Indigenous users? Mahsi.
From the Sahtu. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
