Debates of June 12, 2024 (day 26)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, this is something that is in our business plan. The review will be done within the next 12 months. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister share how extensive that review will be and explain what sorts of changes will be considered? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to provide some more information to the Member in written form about how extensive we are looking at the review. As of today, I'm not quite sure where things are in the process but I can commit to provide that to her. And some of the things that I can -- that I know will be considered are the recommendations made by the rental officer in their annual report, and those will go back a number of years. So there's many recommendations already that the department will be looking at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what the concerns that the department has or that the government has overall regarding the potential negative impacts that rent control may impose on the private housing market. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. So this did come up in the last Assembly, as the Member mentioned. I was at that time the Minister of Justice as well. And when the topic of rent control came up when there was a motion in the House, we heard from industry, and we heard their concerns, and we heard about the uncertainty that something like rent control brings to investment. And so one of the things that I want to do in this government is bring more certainty to our policies, processes, laws and regulations, to help attract investment. And so what we need to do to lower the cost of rent is to address the demand and the supply issues that we're facing. So we need more homes. We need more apartments. We need more houses. We need more homes across the entire housing continuum. And somebody has to build those homes. They're not all going to be GNWT social housing. We need a significant number of market units as well, and we are reliant on the private industry to build those. And so I want to provide assurances to the private industry that we are not going to put roadblocks up that would prevent them from being certain of their investments. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the answer. With that in mind with what he just said, can the Minister commit to making rent control regime included or part of the Residential Tenancy Act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm sure the Member knows my answer based on what I just said but no, I cannot make that commitment. During the review of the Residential Tenancies Act, there will be opportunities for public feedback, and we will take that feedback and we will fully consider it. And so I expect that some of that feedback will be around rent control. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ECC. Can the Minister update this Assembly on the latest situation with Suncor reporting runoff water testing above compliance parameters, which include rough timelines as to when more information will be available and if residents downstream from this incident in the South Slave region have to take any precautions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister for Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on June 9th, Suncor was notified that a routine preliminary lab test results on one of the discharge ponds was outside the company approval parameters. As a result of this, there was a notification that was identified through our transboundary water agreement. And the current situation as we are -- additional testing is underway to validate the original test results, and we anticipate that we should receive those slowly and they will be shared once available. And at this time, no additional action is required from residents downstream of the release. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 1998, the Mackenzie Valley Risk Management Act was created, which gave way to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board and Mackenzie Valley Impact Review Board. In the Yukon, they have the YESAB board, in Nunavut they have the NIRB board. Alberta, they have the Environment and Protection and Enhancement Act and the Alberta Water Act.

Mr. Speaker, my question will be is can the Minister work with the federal government to work on new legislation to protect residents in the Northwest Territories as downstream users from the development in Alberta? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is currently work being done within Alberta and with the federal minister from ECCC in regards to guiding regulations around release of tailings waters from the oil sands projects, and the Department of Environment and Climate Change is engaged in those discussions at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At what point in time are we going to start continuing to get more information like this as downstream users here in Northwest Territories? In my riding, we have high cancer rates and we got to figure a way this one out where Alberta consults with the Government of the Northwest Territories. We already do it through an agreement we have with Alberta, and we do it through the impact review board, but at the same time Alberta doesn't include us in their approval process as they go through the environment assessment for those projects. So I'm wondering can we continue to build new relationships with the Government of Canada to build new legislation to oversee the -- to make sure that our interests and the downstream users in Northwest Territories are protected? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, that work is currently underway both at the federal level as well as within the province of Alberta. There were questions that were raised by the Government of the Northwest Territories through Environment and Climate Change to which we've had responses from the Alberta government in relation to release of water from the tailings ponds. We're currently evaluating some of the responses and will be continuing that conversation on those proposed changes to legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECC. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that they got this notice from Alberta and it's coming to the hands of you as a Minister and sharing it with the House here today, how do we prevent further spills like this in Alberta and what can we do different on the interim basis until new legislation comes in? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, we don't have control over activities that happen within Alberta. I'm very pleased to stand up and say that the transboundary water agreement that Alberta and the Northwest Territories have was activated, as outlined within that agreement, so the notification was timely. In response to that notification by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, we responded quickly to get that information out to the Indigenous governments as well as the communities across the Northwest Territories, and we will continue to relay that information as updates come to the department to ensure that everyone is kept up to speed, and if there are any significant changes, there will be that notification. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of housing. So as it stands now, the Ne'Rahten Development Limited corporation in Fort Good Hope is contracted by Housing NWT to deliver the maintenance and repair programs within the community. Does Housing NWT see other opportunities to tie in and support efforts in Fort Good Hope as they strive to take back more control over both construction and maintenance of housing in the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT sees many opportunities with Fort Good Hope, with the K’asho Got’ine Housing Society. We're happy to report that Housing NWT has a really good working relationship with the housing societies and has had multiple contracts in place for the delivery of maintenance and repair programs for private homes in the most recent years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does Housing NWT see opportunities to support this kind of concept of a housing construction centre in other NWT communities besides Fort Good Hope? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think this opportunity that has been driven by the local housing society is a really great opportunity that all communities should consider. And Housing NWT came forward as a partner in assisting them with the application for the funding allocation that they recently received. So this is a possibility in all ridings and all communities. It's just that the work has to be done in partnership with Housing NWT but also locally, they have to be driven by the work. So the possibility is there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So to what extent does Housing NWT issue its maintenance and repair contracts to local development corporations and businesses like it does in Fort Good Hope, you know, in other communities in the territory as opposed to issuing those kind of contracts to contractors from outside the region or outside the territory? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Housing NWT, with our results, is approximately 95 percent of all contracting opportunities go to local or NWT businesses. We follow the GNWT procurement policy, and we also follow the business incentive policy. Housing NWT has local housing organizations in 23 communities which each have their own local staff leading maintenance and repair work on housing assets. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And to that end, to increase local capacity how many people who have gone through the Housing NWT apprenticeship program have actually been journey certified? And what is Housing NWT doing to ensure this number is increasing even more rapidly in coming years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is critical work that we have to do throughout the North. We have to gain capacity. We have to build capacity in our communities. And these need to be local people and local jobs. That's how we're going to do it. And this is how we're going to build, like, the North, and it's working locally and having that local capacity. So the work that Housing NWT does in partnership with Education, Culture and Employment is critical work that we have to do going forward. And over the last number of years, Housing NWT, with the local housing associations, has supported 64 apprenticeships over the last number of years. So thank you, Mr. Speaker

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to present the petition dealing with the matter of improved fertility and family planning supports in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the petition contains a total of 368 signatures collected on change.org. Of those signatures, 189 are from residents of the Northwest Territories. And, Mr. Speaker, the petitioners request that the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories direct the Minister of Finance to work within a whole-of-government approach to investigate the following:

The impacts to the territory of a declining birth rate and how it may impact population growth;

The increased demand for fertility treatments for individuals and families to conceive in the Northwest Territories; and

The feasibility of providing fertility treatments at no upfront cost to the Government of the Northwest Territories by providing a territorial tax credit for individuals undergoing fertility treatments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1st to March 31st, 2024); and, Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 170-20(1): Regulation of E-Scooters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Tabling of documents. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table two documents today: A letter dated June 11th, 2024, from Fertility Matters Canada regarding the Case for Support for Fertility and Family Building Care in the Northwest Territories; and, a survey by the Midwives Association of the NWT titled NWT Residents' Opinions on Midwifery 2024. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Tabling of documents. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table a statement of consistency for Bill 8-20(1), An Act to Amend the Student SFA Act. And I'll just say the final statement notes it complies with section 35, which is very important. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the rate of violent crime is on the rise in the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP have publicly acknowledged the link between drugs and unprecedented homicides in the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP have publicly stated they appear to be the only resource to deal with mental health emergencies;

AND WHEREAS the RCMP responding to a mental health crisis is time consuming and uses significant valuable RCMP resources that could be managed by a worker trained to respond to mental health crises;

AND WHEREAS support for Northwest Territories-trained social workers through Aurora College, mental health and addictions education programming that emphasizes on skills that help those deal with mental health crises and challenges, can be an opportunity to help Northerners helping Northerners;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Range Lake, that the Government of the Northwest Territories work in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to implement a crisis intervention team through a partnership that supports the response to mental health emergencies at an appropriately staffed level in order to maintain 24/7 support;

AND FURTHERMORE, the purpose of the crisis intervention workers is to enhance the response and reduce police contact in mental health-related emergencies and allow the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to focus their efforts on disrupting the drug trade in the Northwest Territories;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion within 120 days.

Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. To the motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to my colleagues for having this motion and on certainly supporting it to get it at least to this phase of the process. That said, Mr. Speaker, I've spoken at length about how important our RCMP are, and that's absolutely true, and I'll never change that, Mr. Speaker. At the same time, I'll also say that the RCMP, as they've acknowledged in this motion, and they've said themselves, you know, they're not social workers, and sometimes when the call comes in and they're the only one answering the phone, they cannot unanswer that phone. They can't let it ring and ring and hope somebody else will take it. It's unfortunate, but the situation is that. They are the last person to call and they can't turn around and say, call somebody else. So they end up showing up at many calls that aren't typically orientated on the type of service they are. I mean, there's a saying, as they say, if you're a hammer all you see is nails. Well, police officers are police officers to fight crime. I don't classify most of these mental health challenges as true crime. I think people are -- some people are in distress. Some of these situations are dynamic and fluid. They don't require a police officer. But unfortunately, if you call the police, you're going to get a police response.

The nature of this motion really is saying things like we want different type of people to talk to people, and we want people to talk to people. We want social workers, as an example, to work with somebody who is in some type of distress. I mean, showing up with cuffs and a truck and all of the other tools and utilities is the wrong impression when someone is having a difficult time. There is a time and place for those types of responses, absolutely. The stat given, I even highlighted it today in a different type of process in my Member's statement, where I pointed out 2,268 calls to shelters over a two-year window only resulted in 3 percent in actual charges. Again, that reaffirms or underscores the fact that the police really aren't there to respond to police-related emergencies. Again, they're probably called because of different challenges, shelters, and different types of situations where it's difficult to manage and they have no one else to call for help hence they call the RCMP.

My heart goes out to the job and sometimes the thankless jobs that they do. But, you know, if they're called because someone's not allowed in because a shelter's reached its capacity, it's after hours and they can't let them in, I mean, when the police are called, that's not a crime. I mean, it's a crime they can't get in and stay warm. It's truly a crime that they have nowhere to go. That's the real crime. But, I mean, when we call the police officer to show up, they have to put it on the books that they have a call. All they do is -- all the public sees is the police officers picking up someone who probably just needs somewhere to go. And I'm actually feeling frustrated saying this stuff, Mr. Speaker. I mean, you know, this is awful. You know, they don't like to wear these statistics. You know, as a matter of fact, you know, I get the feeling, you know, they feel very uncomfortable that they have to respond to these types of calls. But when they pick someone up in a condition that can't enter the shelter and, you know, we know addictions consumes a lot of people and a lot of families in terrible ways. But when they have to pick someone up, the resources are tied up with that individual because they just can't drop them off at the hospital. The hospital won't take them if they're in a very difficult state. In other words, the conditions of the addictions are managing their current situation. They can't drop them off down the street and say hey, we'll just drop you off in this area and be good, right? No, they can't. They have to take full carriage of that individual until they're able to manage themselves or their safety is no longer at risk or the public's safety is no longer at risk.

So ultimately, Mr. Speaker, it frustrates me seeing this happen. It frustrates me knowing sometimes we just have nowhere for them to go. And, again, maybe that's the crisis here, you know. It's a multifaceted issue, and I have every belief that the government can help rise to this challenge. We're never going to solve all the problems, but we certainly have to chip away at them and that's what I always say when I'm here being relentless. Like, I'm relentless. I don't care how many times you say no, I'll keep coming back because I'm fighting for that one yes. And that one yes builds to two, and two yeses build to three and, all of a sudden, we're changing the nature of our community.

So, Mr. Speaker, I get a really burning feeling inside and frustration and upset every time I think about that this is the way society currently thinks is best to manage people. I think it's probably almost the worst way to manage people. And I even mentioned it in committee one day, like, I would throw myself in front of the police door and not allow someone to say, well, we don't know where to put them, let's put them in an open-door cell. Like, that is the worst place to put people in crisis in trouble. They need somewhere to go. So not only this speaks to we have to find better ways to work with people, we have to find better ways to help people. And that's really what it's saying in different ways.

And I know the government knows this, and I know the Minister knows this, and I know the Minister cares about these things, and there's no comment here that the government doesn't care, and there's certainly no comment here that, you know, they ignore this issue. It's just we now have to find a new way of doing business. And on that note, Mr. Speaker, I'll leave what I've said so far is to open up discussion. I mean, I'm looking forward to hearing what my colleagues will say. But this truly is an issue throughout the territory, not just here. And unless I forget, I'll make sure I ask for a recorded vote now, so it's not forgotten. But I look forward to the opportunity, like I said, to hear my colleagues and their struggles and maybe even their solutions to this particular issue. And I'll close off debate at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.