I always, you know, want the best for the communities and dealing directly with communities rather than regional is my preference. Does the Minister or her department know how much vacant units are in each of the communities that can be renovated and occupied as soon as possible in the Mackenzie Delta? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And with the reference to working directly with community governments, we can do that. We can talk, and we can have discussions.
In terms of vacant units and those that could be renovated and have a move-in phase, I mean, we can look at that and provide those numbers to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. Will the Minister look at working with the Indigenous governments and provide some financial resources to renovate some of these vacant units so some of these residents can have homes with their families?
Mr. Speaker, at this time I think that we'd be willing to work with anyone interested in advancing housing in the Northwest Territories. So if a local Indigenous government is willing to talk to us, meet with us, they have ideas, of course we'd be willing to work together. We do have some SEED money that we can partner with to look at potential federal funds, so we're willing to do that. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's great news. Can the Minister look at working with other departments, such as Education, Culture and Employment, to create projects where we can train some of our residents to gain work experience and at the same time provide them much needed housing within our communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of education could take this question as well. She's a big part of it, and she's the one advancing the work with the other departments.
But, yes, this is something that we talk about often, how we can work together as departments, looking at bringing in advancing capacity, looking at more apprenticeships throughout the North, and just the entire labour workforce, how we can help boost that -- the workforce throughout the North. So, yes, we're willing to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
My first question is does the Minister have any idea what currently is the rate of functional literacy amongst adults in the NWT?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for raising this. And, unfortunately, ECE does not have this type of data. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So does the government have any plans to conduct a new survey amongst adults to find out what literacy levels actually are? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 2012 was the first program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Literacy Survey. And the second such survey, in order to provide kind of the second baseline of what that would look like, was launched in 2022. Unfortunately, at that time it was identified that it would cost around $5 million for the territories across Canada to participate in that survey. So the three territories did not participate in the survey. And currently CMEC, along with Statistics Canada and the organization for economic cooperation and development and the three territories, are looking at other options to obtain this data, including the use of potentially an online version of this testing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in terms of children in our school system, does ECE monitor literacy levels amongst any or all of the grade levels to track trends over time to see if it's getting better or worse? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through our Alberta curriculum, when we were working with Alberta on all of our curriculum across the territory, ECE monitored literacy levels through the annual administration of the Alberta achievement tests. Those tests were done in, I believe, grade 6 and grade 9, so that we would have kind of a baseline and then you would follow students and be able to test them again and see where they were at. And those began in 2007.
With our transition to BC, we will eventually have the BC foundational skills assessments across grades 4 and 7 and graduation assessments across grade 10 and 12, which will assess student achievement and literacy and numeracy as well.
So one of the things that I think is important here is our Alberta achievement testing data trends showed little change over time and that contributed to our decision as well to switch to the BC curriculum. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So beyond switching to the BC curriculum, does the department have a plan to improve literacy amongst our NWT students? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently all of our regional district education councils and district education authorities each have their own literacy programs that they employ within their schools. In addition to that, our NWT adapted curriculum, through our English language arts curriculum, is also conducive to pedagogy for learning to read for our NWT students as well. ECE does plan to transition the adapted NWT version to BC's school curriculum and the implementation of BC's large-scale assessment tools as well. And these will be an integral part of improving student learning for the Northwest Territories. And so it allows us to really encourage deeper learning among students, and a lot of the success of that is based on project-based learning, which we know that students thrive in. And so I'm really excited to see the full kind of conversion to BC curriculum for all NWT students. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, changes to income assistance are on the way, but changes could happen now to improve the lives of NWT residents.
Will the Minister provide a ministerial directive that ensures ECE staff reduce the burden on clients by taking all measures to obtain the financial information that they have access to on behalf of clients? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member. I was taking notes and listening to the Member's statement and appreciate her sharing the lived experiences of members of her communities. Currently, the notice of assessment, if a client is unable to provide their notice of assessment to their client navigator, the client navigator is able to get the information directly from the Canada Revenue Agency. But, unfortunately, this is not available until after June. And so leading up to June, clients are required to provide proof of filing their taxes by April 30th and then able to also to work with their client navigators to access this information. Income assistance is a very heavily regulated and legislated program, and so it's not something where I'm able to provide a directive and break the law in order to do that. But I will work with the Member in order to find solutions with client navigators to be able work with constituents and residents to be able to do our best to access this information. Thank you.
Okay, well, I am surprised because I know that the income assistance program has access to clients' CRA notice of assessment. It's been in place for over ten years and they haven't been using it to lessen the burdens on clients to get all the necessary information. So will staff in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have the authority to locate a person's notice of assessment with CRA? Will the Minister ensure staff take the necessary steps to obtain this from the CRA on clients' behalf?
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, the client navigators will work in order to access that information through the CRA. Unfortunately, that information's not available until after June in that existing year and so there might be some information that the client navigators want to source for the existing month that they're in, so they might need to work with the resident in order to get that existing information. But absolutely, they can work with the resident in order to access that information through Canada Revenue Agency as well. Thank you.
Will the Minister ensure that families with disabilities are priority in the review of applications? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this summer is going to be the time where residents are going to see the launch of the new program for persons who are seniors and persons with disabilities for income assistance. So there has been a long wait for that new program to be activated, and currently staff are training on that new program.
One of the things that I think is really exciting about this as well is to acknowledge administrative burdens and to reduce administrative burdens, staff at ECE have already been using the new forms with their existing clientele, and they've been doing that for about a six-month period so that they can reduce the administrative program once that new income assistance program comes online with the new software as well.
And the other thing that I think is really important is persons with disabilities have doctors' notes on their files, and ECE has also been migrating those notes over to the new system as well in order to do their best to reduce the administrative burden for residents. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've been waiting for that program since last spring. It's almost a year now.
But, Mr. Speaker, people with disability living with challenges in their lives are forgotten people of our society, especially by this government. Therefore, will the Minister guarantee that people living with disability in the NWT are guaranteed income support? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Not everybody living with a disability in the territory would need income support. But those who apply and those who meet the criteria, absolutely would receive income support. And so I encourage anybody who is in a situation where they need some additional supports, to contact their client navigator or work with their MLA as well in order to receive that contact information. Because, absolutely, we want to make sure that we're supporting residents to the best of our ability. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My contribution to the time is I only have two questions.
As you know the Sahtu, like many other communities that are serviced by the MTS company, depend solely on the barging of goods and services and is a lifeline to sustaining these communities, including this government to the institution in these communities.
We are in a similar situation as last year with the recent cancellation notice given today on the barge and acknowledging that narrows down servicing the Sahtu communities along the waterway for seven out of 52 weeks for the whole year.
We have learned something with last year's cancellation. My question to the Minister of Infrastructure is what measures are taken for the fuel resupply and the inventory control considering the government cutoff at the end of March, and if we have enough fuel to last us until next winter road season? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Sahtu. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is certainly not a good day for water levels in the Northwest Territories and certainly not a happy day that we've had to cancel the barge season. Having seen last summer and the challenges that there were from having low water, to have to begin this season at the same point certainly makes it very challenging.
Having gone through last summer season being as challenging as it was, MTS made itself -- put itself in a position where this winter road season and, frankly having sat down with leadership, including the MLA from the region -- sat down and made sure that the plan for the winter roads, usage of the winter roads, would work around ensuring a full resupply to communities. So I can say not every community is resupplied by MTS or, rather, really, it's by the fuel services division who take responsibility. But for those communities that are, and so for instance this would include Fort Good Hope, Tulita, they are -- they were -- that was built into our planning for them. Fort Good Hope is coming now over the top along with several other communities. Again, having planned for this challenging year, bringing the resupply up from over the top and rather than up the Mackenzie from the South. We have others that relied on the winter road. So Deline, Colville Lake, they also were resupplied additionally this summer so that they can get to the winter resupply 2025 if they have to. That wasn't our first choice, but we already knew that it would be a challenging year.
So at this point in time, Mr. Speaker, with respect to fuel resupply, I'm happy to have the chance to assure communities.
And I'll just note Lutselk'e included, they are fine. That barge is going at this point. So at this moment in time, the communities for which the government is responsible do have enough to get through to the winter season will be getting a resupply this year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that reply and information here. We all learned something, and I thank the Minister for some heartful discussions we had prior to the winter road season closing back in our last sitting of February. Since then, we have delivered additional fuel with the assumption that there might not be any barge, so it was very comforting to know, looking back now, those plans were discussed, actions were taken, and the additional shipments of fuel went to some of these communities.
And my question to the Minister is, is there going to be inventory checks to see where we stand in terms of volume in the communities and the consumption of these communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that when we went through challenging times right around Christmas time and New Year's time, and we certainly were involved in terms of how to come at that moment when it was already of concern to do inventory of what was in each community. So I expect that we don't want to be in that position again. We'll be making sure that this time around, having come to the point where we know what our resupply was over the winter road season, that we can then monitor that over the course of time. Norman Wells, of course, does rely on Imperial Oil as being their provider, so. But, again, we all went through the challenges of this winter together, including Imperial Oil. So when we reach out to them and say, you know, we need to know your plans and your situation, I am, you know, hopeful that they have taken that to heart and that they will be doing the same in terms of understanding what their inventory's at and what their resupply plans are. But, again, as far as the communities that the fuel services division is responsible for, which are all of the nonmarket communities, we are going to -- we already had looked. We already have made sure that they were at a point that they will either be resupplied for up to the point of 2025 levels, and we'll be making sure to monitor that we not be surprised by anything between now and then and that we get through to that winter 2025 season or, again, for the communities that are getting from over the top, that they get that in due course and as expected and as scheduled. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And hopefully I can get to two sets of questions; we'll see how it goes, that would be great. My questions right now are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Will the Minister look into legislating nurse-to-patient ratios following the BC model? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the minimum nurse-to-patient ratio are best addressed through the standards of practice that are more easily changed rather than through legislation, which is a similar approach being taken with BC but they are using a policy directive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, I'll modify my question. Will the Minister look at a policy change that would increase nurse-to-patient ratios following the BC model? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is working to improve nurse-to-patient ratios right now in long-term care. However, due to nursing shortages it's important that we use realistic numbers because our staffing levels change so much in the Northwest Territories. And I just want to make sure that it's clear that nurse-to-patient ratios are already in place. This is why when we don't have enough staff, we can't perform essential tasks and sometimes we need to reduce services or temporarily close units because of a matter of patient safety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister look at increasing staffing and beds at Stanton? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NTHSSA has informed me and the Department of the increase in volume and acuity of patients in Stanton. The thought was that, you know, the -- after COVID, we would go back to pre-COVID in-patient, but what we're seeing are sicker patients and the acuity of these patients. And I understand since 2023, the number of patients has been steadily increasing. That's put pressure on the in-patient and emergency departments. It's led to longer wait times for patients, and it's significantly increasing the work staff load.
I also committed in this House in February that I would not decrease staffing in critical areas affected by the end of COVID funding where we will review the need for resources to ensure patient care and manageable workloads. And this work is underway and will be reviewed to determine how we can ensure services are available.
So I do hear the Member and I do hear the concerns from the staff that, you know, they are working, the staff load -- I mean, the workloads are -- the patients are sitting in emerg, they're not moving to units, they're sitting in Hay River, in Inuvik, and they're not moving. So we've got some work to do in this area. So I just want the people and the Members to know that this is being looked at. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister implement an urgent care walk-in service for four hours per day? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work is underway to make changes to the way we deliver primary care in Yellowknife with the goal of improving access. We've heard this from Members in the last sitting. While I will not commit to a specific walk-in clinic, I can assure the Members that we are working to improve access to the primary care in Yellowknife as well as other region as a priority as we know that we are opening up the new clinic in the Liwego'ati Building, which the downtown primary care clinic, and all of these accounts, like, when I talk about staffing workloads in the hospital, we also have to -- I want to, like, try to educate the public as well as they don't always have to go into the hospital. There is 8-1-1. That is a service that is -- so people can know if they need to go in. There's a nurse 24 hours a day that they can call 8-1-1. But they're also welcome to go in. Thank you.
