Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is exactly part of the conversation that's being had with officials, again both in ITI and Infrastructure right now, and the purpose of the conversation is to sort out what businesses, what entities had the opportunity to take on insurance. I know MTS was pushing the importance of having insurance to help support in the event that there was a low water level and a reduction in barge service being unfortunately the situation of having now no barge service. You know, who had that opportunity, who maybe made choices not to take on the opportunity, what impacts are there to residents who might be, you know, once removed from the parties who were, in fact, they were relying on. So sorting some of that out, we want to ensure that if there's going to be subsidies using public dollars, that we're doing that in a way that actually identifies need and that actually is appropriate and equitable to those who, in fact, need it as compared to others who might not need it or who have made choices as a result of the situation. So, again, it's not a no, Mr. Speaker. It's a question of wanting to ensure that we put public dollars in a way that actually supports those who are going to need it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that information. Moving on, I'm glad to hear that this Minister is making comments or statements to the previous Minister on Friday that we're taking an all-of-government approach. It really is a collective one to address this issue, and a major one. Can the Minister provide a subsidy to ensure the air cargo rate does not exceed above 60 cents per pound as proposed by the air barge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, I appreciate the Member's being not only a strong advocate but has actually been an important liaison for information and coordination on this issue going back as early as the winter when we were dealing with winter resupply.
Mr. Speaker, there's a few different things going on. For one, Norman Wells does not have the same fuel resources or (audio) sources. They are supplied by the private sector. Whereas, Deline and Tulita are supplied through the fuel services division of the Department of Infrastructure. There's private sector usage, private sector businesses, and then residents who might be relying on them.
So I am conscious, and I know my colleague is as well of the urgency of the matter. We just want to make sure that if we're going to use public dollars that we're doing that in a way that actually responds to the needs of residents and businesses who are unable to mitigate, who don't have any other alternatives, and who, in fact, have the need. I can say there are sufficient fuel levels in the communities that are resupplied by fuel services division that will get through to the winter resupply. And so, again, we want to make sure that if we're using public dollars, we're putting them to the places where they are, in fact, needed now. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Moving on to my last question, the ultimate solution for all this, as we previously mentioned and we all agree, is our all-season road. But in the meantime, we got to stay alive.
My last question here, can the Minister implement a fuel subsidy to mitigate the high costs of diesel and jet fuel in the Sahtu communities? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I didn't mean to get ahead of myself, or perhaps ahead of the Member, but there are different fuel service circumstances pertaining to different communities in the Sahtu obviously. Deline and Tulita, as I said, those right now are being supplied through fuel services division of the Department of Infrastructure. Norman Wells is coordinated by the private sector. So Imperial Oil, I can say early on we're wanting to put them on alert and notice that we had some concerns around the water levels. I'm not sure what strategies they may or may not be employing. Obviously, Imperial Oil has fairly significant resources available to it in order to supply their customers whereas fuel services division on this winter resupply did take an effort to ensure we had sufficient supplies to the winter road knowing that we were likely facing a low water season even without the situation we are in now. So if, in fact, the fuel subsidy is what's going to be the best way to support residents and businesses or whether some other sorts of rate subsidy or some other sort of cargo subsidy, that is an active conversation between both our departments and the regional governments and regional businesses. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. The competition for gravel and other resources is good for the consumer. Will the Department of Infrastructure look at options to get at this gravel within Tsiigehtchic for the benefit of the region and especially for the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I would suggest is I can work with MACA to determine if this is a community government need or ECE if this is, in fact, a land resource or permitting need to help identify what, in fact, it is that might be holding up the community of Tsiigehtchic from being able to apply or seek opportunity to access gravel resources. So I'll certainly commit to go and work with my colleagues through Infrastructure and through their offices, figure out where the barriers or bottlenecks might be, and work then directly with the community to see if they can move themselves forward on what they need. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are other benefits getting at and using this specific gravel source for training opportunities, for the Dempster Highway, and also the local economy. Will the Minister look at other stakeholders and try to make this venture a reality for the benefit of the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I bring in two more departments to my last answer of ECC or ECE and ITI, perhaps the commitment I ought to be making is to have an opportunity to sit down with the community of Tsiigehtchic and identify again exactly where it is or what it is that they are not accessing and they're having difficulty accessing. I had checked in with the department after hearing the Member's statement, and we have access to provide gravel for what is required from our end, but there's obviously a disconnect in what they need. So perhaps the commitment is to sit down with them and see what they need and then see who from the Government of the Northwest Territories can help fulfill that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You beat me to my third question there. Will the Minister consider talking to the local government if their request came directly from the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
(audio).
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister consider joining the Ministers' tour of the Mackenzie Delta on July 16th and 17th and get back to me with a response as soon as possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I happen to know the answer to this because when the Minister beside me agreed to go on the tour, she handed off an obligation to me on that particular week. So for her to go there, I'm going somewhere else. But let's -- I commit to finding a date as soon as possible hopefully in the next six weeks or eight weeks where I can also head on my own up to the region. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had question for Premier, but he's not here. So I will wait until tomorrow. But I will ask Health and Social Services questions regarding child welfare system.
We do not recognize people are not in the House. We just go that way. So just for future, please don't recognize if somebody's not in the House. Thank you, Member from Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. Mr. Speaker, the child welfare system in the NWT has 98 percent of children in care. How many of those children became a permanent ward of the state? How many of those children were adopted while in foster care? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services, I think you got two in there.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the level of detail that the Member is asking. But what I would like to provide the Member is that knowing that we have a large number of children in care and, you know, and we did a lot of work on child and family services in the last government, and as I was part of that work as Regular Members, one of the things that I don't think a lot of us from that time walked away from was knowing where the children were. So I can provide some of the information that the Member is asking, but I also want to share that a large portion of the children that are in care have been -- the families either have -- are under voluntary service agreements, which then they can be supported. So a lot of those children are still with their families at home but now are being able to be supported by child and family services. And when those children aren't at home because they're supporting the family and, say, family members have to go for treatment or for other things that they may be struggling with to bring that family back together, another large portion of those children are now been in placements either with their extended family or with another Indigenous family within the community or most likely in the community. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for that information. Mr. Speaker, why is the department -- I heard this from countless people, a lot of people are saying this. Why is the department still putting Indigenous children into homes with different nationalities and different cultures from their own? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our old foster care system, you know, there wasn't -- from all of the information that I've been provided and the work that's been done within child and family services is to work with the family to find now somebody who is either within the family, next of kin, a close relative, another Indigenous person. But those families also have to, you know, go through the foster family. We have not a lot of Indigenous foster families, and the more Indigenous foster families and the more family members, when they know that there's children that are possibly, you know, that may be needing to support their own family can become foster families and be flexible, like, within child and family services to say that, you know, like, we'll take on our -- like, your nieces, our nephews, our cousins' children, and child and family services will work with those families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. This is another question families have been asking, too, is they want to know what is the department doing to reunite children, children in care with families, those who are possible? I know there are some that it's beyond their control; I'm not talking about that. Permanent ward as the last report. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department continues to follow up with families, you know, to try to meet them where they're at and to see what steps need to be put in place in order to have the children reunited into the home. And if there's specific instances where the Member, you know, has families that are feeling that this is not being done, I would encourage those families, you know, to reach out to my office. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ECC. Can the Minister tell me what supports are available to cabin owners as they clean up the charred and damaged properties that once were their cabins? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Minister for ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, there are programs, the Harvesters Fire Damage Assistance Program, which supports harvesters across the NWT with fire damage. However, that program does not speak directly to the Member's question and it doesn't have a provision for clean-up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since they don't have a provision for clean-up. How about for assistance for cabins that were burned? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program covers costs up to $40,000 for harvesters to get them back on the land, back to their traditional economy lifestyle, and that could include the recovery of damage to a cabin. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I have a little bit more of a different question then. My next question is what constitutes harvesters? Like, what do they have to be harvesting to be considered a harvester? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the parameters of the program indicate a harvester must have 20 percent of their annual income -- or 25 percent of their annual income come directly from the result of harvesting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you. 20 percent of their annual income from harvesting, is that like harvesting fur, wood, fish? Cutting -- like, cutting wood? Picking mushrooms and doing stuff like that, is that what that means? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't want to speak directly to all of the specifics because I don't want to miss anything. But I will certainly provide that information back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 55-19(2), Report on Bill 85: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, deputy Premier. Tabling of documents. Minister of ITI.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table to the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 64-19(2), Report on Bill 84: An Act to Amend the Business Development and Investment Corporation Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of ITI. Tabling of documents. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table a petition titled Stop the Closure of the Men's Unit in Fort Smith, NWT, which does not strictly conform with our rules to be submitted as a petition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Tabling of documents. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
