Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for this question. Currently, yes, nurses can train in the Northwest Territories to be obstetric nurses. How they do that, you know, there's multiple different ways. Back in the day when I trained, it was more of a mentorship, and you take certifications. Now it's a little bit more technical. So they do have to have hours. They do have to have a mentor. Currently, within our OBS, there are nurses receiving training and becoming fully competent in this specialized area. And as a result of this training, we have increased our capacity. And although the OBS unit still requires agency support to offset some of these vacancies, they're also allowing training of labour and delivery nurses in the need in this unit. So I just want to make sure that the Member knows that over the time that these nurses have been training as well is that the less and less we're becoming reliant on them in this unit. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. That's really great to hear. And to, you know, echo my colleague from Monfwi's statement earlier today, it's really good to hear that this Minister's supporting things over time and getting us there, and I hope she can get us there as quickly as possible. So to that end, is the Minister's department willing to invest further in training local NWT health care workers to increase their skill sets? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm we have things in place already, and I think the more and more we are starting to utilizing them to fill and train specialized nursing, we have a specialized nursing training program. We have the Targeted Academic Support Program. We have professional development initiative funding, which can all be accessed by current staff who wish to gain their certification to work in more specialized areas. And as mentioned, any RN who is interested to being trained in a specialty area can submit their request in a few different ways by applying to the specialized nursing training program or can reach out to their supervisor. And I am hopeful that we can repeat our successes in other areas that we have been able to eliminate agency nurses in the main hospital. And over the past year, through interventions like specialized nursing transition programs, which as a combination of recruitment efforts, has allowed us to eliminate agency nurses in our operating room, in the medicine units, and effectively reducing overall agency nurses by half of what it was at this time last year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement on the drug addictions here, my question here is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister explain in short the types of funding available for addictions recovery. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker and I thank the Member for raising this concern. You know, the more and more we talk about this, the more and more it becomes normalized, and we're able to work together to try and find solutions.
The Department of Health and Social Services, two programs currently available. We have the community suicide prevention fund and the community wellness and addiction recovery fund, which is a fund that we actually, from recommendations last government, was asked to be put together and have less it's more flexible for Indigenous governments to access.
The community suicide prevention fund supports the delivery of culturally safe programs focusing on prevention of suicide and increasing community wellness, reducing stigma, and the development of implementation of suicide prevention strategy.
Within the community wellness and addiction recovery fund, prioritizes Indigenous governments and supports to the delivery of communitybased mental wellness and addiction recovery programs that meet the unique needs of the respective communities. And as currently right now, we are currently accepting applications for the 20242025 fiscal year. And so I encourage, like, Members of this House to reach out to their Indigenous governments and Indigenous NGOs to access these dollars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the Minister for making those funds known and available to support the problems we have. It's very still disturbs me today on the outcomes that I've seen on my last session in the Sahtu.
My next question is on the O and M side of operations and designing your efforts to bring resolution to the problem is, to me, in various parts. My next is there O and M funding to support the operations of an ontheland treatment centre? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, the funding through the community wellness and addiction recovery fund is to support Indigenous governments to deliver communitybased mental health and addiction recovery programs unique to their needs, and Indigenous governments may absolutely choose to use their funding for O and M and ontheland programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks for the response to the Minister. Now let's move on to another little issue of supports here, employees, staffing.
Can the Minister elaborate or respond on support availability and into a secondment of counselling positions to assist the Sahtu Secretariat in designing and delivering this recovery program to address the drug and addictions issues they're facing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now I can't commit to a secondment but what I'm willing to do is work collaboratively with SSI and other Indigenous governments to implement programs to support mental wellness. I'm also committed to supporting Indigenous governments and communities advancing these wellness solutions that are grounded in cultural communities and their perspectives. I welcome the opportunity to learn more about the vision. And I know that the Member has got some work that they'll be doing next week in their region, and I look forward to hearing and seeing what's coming out of that. But I do want to say that this money under the community wellness addiction recovery fund, I said as I said, it was very flexible and so the if the SSI decided that they wanted to hire a counsellor with that money or they wanted to use it for on the land or they wanted to use it it's flexible for them to design their own way that they want it, and then the regional governments, and if they choose to, you know, there's even opportunities to go into multiyear funding agreements if they have a plan. But just to continue to work with our department, if you need more information. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. It's quite simple. Will the Minister of Infrastructure bring forward accessibility legislation for the NWT during the life of the 20th Assembly?
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the first things I asked the department to look at was building a building standards framework for the Northwest Territories. And that can certainly include an accessibility provision within it. That work's only just getting underway, obviously depending upon the passing of the budget, to determine what kind of ability our departments all have to conduct that work, but hopefully we will be in a position to achieve what's in our business plan which is a buildings standards framework and one that includes accessibility within its provisions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to get a bit of clarification, I believe the Minister said building standards framework. Is this going to be a Building Act, or are we talking about something different? Because I know the city of Yellowknife has been asking for a Building Act with accessibility standards built into it, so can the Minister provide some clarity on that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my hope that it is a Building Act. Again, at this point, it's in our business plan. It's part of the work that would happen with the department, subject to where we land in terms of our budgets here. But if we are in a position, that is my intention, is that we'll move forward. We have a working group formed now and hoping to get started the process of developing what would go into a Building Act for the Northwest Territories, including what kind of accessibility legislation it would include. That would be what comes in the next fiscal year, or over the course of the next fiscal year, leading ultimately up to the process that builds towards that Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister able to give the Assembly a timeline for this? When can the Assembly expect a legislative proposal to come forward within reasonable time that the Assembly would be able to establish this new legislation within our the term of the 20th? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have my business plans open in front of me right now. I think for the next fiscal year is the part that I have in mind and the first step already having been achieved is a working group. The next step is the work plan to scope out what should or potentially should be included in a building standards or a Building Act. And that, really, would be the first set of deliverables. Once we know the scope of what would be included, for example, including accessibility, that can determine the size and scope and timeline required for a full Act. I would certainly hope that we could get to the point of an LP soon thereafter, whether it would get all the way to being passed this Assembly or not, again, will depend on the scope and size of the Act. But it was certainly, as I said, one of the first asks I made when I had the opportunity to take on this portfolio. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Oral questions. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke about the issue about drugs throughout the Northwest Territories as coming through the borders. Mr. Speaker, my question would be to the Minister of Justice. Can the Minister of Justice shed light on why the South Slave no longer has a dedicated K-9 unit and when that service was lost? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The K-9 unit was established in Hay River after the death, the murder, of Constable Chris Worden. And it was stationed there until 2018. That was the time when the RCMP undertook a review of the situation, and they determined that it was not as effective to have the police dog in Hay River. It's a territorial asset. And so if there was an incident in the Sahtu, let's say, they would have to fly to Hay River, get the dog, and then head up. There's a number of other situations as well. I can leave it at that I guess, because things new things have come to light. But there's other issues like the inability of the RCMP to now just do, you know, quote unquote, random searches, you might not have the legal grounds to search someone. But, you know, you used to be able to go and sniff the dog around and see if got an indication if there was any contraband, any drugs, but you can no longer do things like that. So the value of having the dog in Hay River, according to the RCMP's analysis, wasn't there relative to having it in Yellowknife where it was easier to deploy to other places in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is our only current K-9 unit based in Yellowknife able to serve the needs of the entire Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I can assure the Member that, you know, I'm the Minister of Justice and I'm from Hay River, so these are not questions that I have not asked before. I've had conversations with my colleagues and with the commanding officer about this because I you know, I have that same sense as anyone else. Like, who doesn't want a police dog in their community, especially when you're feeling the effects of drugs. So the having the K-9 based in Yellowknife allows it to be quickly more quickly deployed to locations where it needs, whether that is in the South Slave or elsewhere, and it is often sent down to the South Slave. It also allows for enhanced or I guess easier training. There are requirements in place where the handlers and the dogs need training together at the same time. And so if the dog was outside of Yellowknife, it would have to fly into Yellowknife along with the handler, do the training, and fly back. So you'd be looking at three, four days out of the community every single week. So there are circumstances like that as well. There's also been issues with, I think, burnout with the RCMP who just have the one handler who is doing the majority of the work, the one's based in Yellowknife. So, you know, there's a multitude of issues here. And I'll say, if I had an unlimited budget, I'd have two dogs and two handlers in Hay River as well, but that's not the situation we're in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Minister for responding. Knowing what we know now about the drug problems in the Northwest Territories that impacts our homes and our communities, will the Minister take a look at reviewing this whole K-9 unit needed for Hay River and commit to funding that if possible. It's urgently needed here now in the Northwest Territories with the crisis we have and the drug problems. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have discussed this with the RCMP. They are not making that request for an additional K-9 unit so it's hard for me to force it on them if they're not asking for it. That being said, the landscape has changed. The ability for the dogs to go and do random searches of people essentially is not there anymore. And so we need to look at what other tools we can utilize that are going to be more effective given the new legal environment that we're living in. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you. I hear what the Minister is saying and, again, you know, we do have problems that are hitting home, and I'm deeply concerned about it as a Member. Is there so if we can fund it and we don't have the money, how can we address this issue to better monitor the drug problems as coming through the borders in the South Slave region here into the Northwest Territories; what can we do different? And can we maybe have a meeting with the RCMP and have them to look at this issue again and see if we could look at funding this again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is the commanding officer the former commanding officer is now gone but we have an acting commanding officer in that role, and I don't believe that the standing committee has met with that new commanding officer. So I recommend that they reach out and they request a meeting. I think that would be valuable to have these discussions, you know, with the people who would actually be, you know, working with the dogs. But to the Member's question, what can we do to disrupt the drug trade? Mr. Speaker, we're trying. The RCMP have a new strategy. I spoke about it yesterday. We've seen a significant, significant increase in the amount of drugs seized, the amount of charges. We're looking at new legislation. So we are taking steps to address this because, as I've said many times, I recognize the severity of the issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. Can the Minister speak to what value the Office of the Children's Lawyer has added since its establishment in 2011, including the value of the support it has offered to the roster of lawyers who take on cases advocating for children? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the children's lawyer provided great value, of course. That position is now vacant. But the person who was in there did a lot of work and it's very appreciated, those efforts. The children's lawyer would meet regularly with the panel of children's lawyers. So there's the Office of the Children's Lawyer, and they essentially oversee a panel of lawyers in various places in the territory, I believe one is also in Edmonton, and they assign cases to those panel lawyers. They would also provide some professional development opportunities, do research, keep up to date on what's happening in the world of children's law. They updated the they were responsible for updating the policy manual for the office. They were responsible or they oversaw the migration of all the data collected by the office into the new legal aid information data base. So they performed a number of different roles. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I understand that the manual for the Office of the Children's Lawyer has been completed. But can the Minister explain how often that manual is supposed to continue to be updated and reviewed and who would be best suited to complete that work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The manual needs to be updated as new there's new developments in best practices and case law and things like that. And so in the future, it's possible that the those roles will be done by other members of the other lawyers in the Legal Aid Commission. We do have a number of lawyers who specialize in family law who deal with children's law. There's opportunities for those staff to have professional development opportunities to learn more about children's law. I'm sure they get notifications in their inbox when there are significant cases that impact the world of children's law. So there is capacity among the other lawyers to undertake that work when needed. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the agenda for this government includes amending the Child and Family Services Act to address the 19th Assembly's Standing Committee on Social Development's recommendations and to align the Act with the federal Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children and youth. So how does the Minister propose to gain specialized advice about the legal rights of children as part of its review of the Child and Family Services Act, or propose changes to related acts, such as the Children's Law Act or the Family Law Act. So how does the Minister propose to gain advice on as we review the Acts during this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As with any initiative, I expect that the relevant department will undertake a thorough review and reach out to experts as needed. I just want to reassure everyone that the Northwest Territories has no shortage of lawyers. I think we have four times the number of lawyers per capita compared to the rest of Canada. There's plenty of legal advice out there for the taking. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question just would be does the Minister know how many lawyers we have that specifically specialize in children's or law I don't know if children's law is a thing, but law that specifically pertains to the legal rights of children? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there are seven panel lawyers who are regularly assigned files by the children's lawyer. So that's just within the territory and those are just the panel lawyers. And I'm not sure how many other lawyers in the territory also have expertise in that area. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are directed to the Minister of Infrastructure, and it's about security. What does the Department of Infrastructure have any policies built around security of buildings for staff and clients? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Infrastructure does have some buildings where we are the owner, other buildings where we are a lessee. And in some cases, we would support other departments. So I'm not sure if the Member's referring to which of those types of situations. We certainly do have a lot of situations where we have had recently retained security firms to perhaps support particular buildings that are within our purview. And as far as policies, I can certainly get back to the Member. If there's a specific policy, there would have been an procurement process that went out in order to identify having security staff when that is deemed appropriate or necessary. Thank you.
