Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today is to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. The Sahtu regional office plays a major role in assisting cabin owners, title owners on lands within that region. How many vacancies are there in that regional office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Sahtu. Minister of ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there have been a high rate of turnover in staff in the Sahtu over the last year post merger. Currently, there are six vacancies within the department, and one that will be filled shortly with a casual in the short term. And there's active recruiting going on to fill the other positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that information here. What are the department plans for recruitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, there's been high turnover and the department is actively recruiting staff for these positions. Part of that has been advertising the positions multiple times in some instances and working to ensure that we are trying to engage with people within the area, the local area, to attempt to fill those positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister looking at temporary transfers from other jurisdictions or other regional office, say at the Inuvik office, to bring personnel down to help with the services required by various residents of the Sahtu? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we pursue filling these vacant positions, we have been using the staff from -- the regional staff from the -- my apologies, sorry. There are ECC staff in the region that have the capacity to assist with the work on the lands files. As well as the staff are getting support from regional staff in other locations to assist with that work. Some of the work is also being supported by staff from headquarters in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, earlier I shared my constituent's experience getting lab work. Seconds after delivering that statement, the text messages started rolling in. Mr. Speaker, it's clear the new process is not working well for people. Can the Minister commit to reviewing this new process and bringing forward solutions which will improve access to this essential service? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with any new process that rolls out, I think in any department, there are always some difficulties. The process right now currently and the concern is that there are slots available for booked appointments. There's a number of people that they can do as same-day appointments, and then what happens is is that if you arrive earlier enough on time they'll let you know that they've only got enough space for walk-ins and they don't want you to -- like, they'll tell you that. And so it's not that there isn't walk-ins. And so we're not going to review the program. We are implementing the program. Yes, there are some struggles along the way so there will be some public communique going out on this later on this week or early next week. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that there's going to be some communication. I was hoping for a commitment to maybe review this. Mr. Speaker, why was this change made? I haven't been receiving any complaints about this service in the past and now all of a sudden, we're receiving a lot of complaints. We seem to have broken something by trying to fix it, Mr. Speaker. What was it that brought about this change? How have we gotten to the point where we've reduced access to a service when our priority is to improve it?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, you know, this is a new program, so we've gone out publicly saying this is a new program. What this program has done is over the past month that it's been rolled out, we have seen 200 more patients this last month than we normally do in the lab in Yellowknife and so because there's changes, because, you know, there's certain things -- before we were getting a lot more complaints that there wasn't some structure, there wasn't time to book appointments, there wasn't same-day appointments in the lab, so right now what they're working on is ensuring that there's going to be some changes and so that there's more options and ways to book online and things like that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it seems like there's been an attempt to increase access to service, as I said before, and it seems like it has created a backlog or something's going on here. Mr. Speaker, is there a reason we can't simply return to the process we were already using and appear to be working for people? Is there, maybe, an explanation as to why there's suddenly been this surge in people requiring the service? If the Minister can give any information to the public to help us understand what's going on here, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process is going to continue the way it is. I hear the Member. I know constituents when things are changing and when they're not able to access something immediately that there might be -- but we have heard lots of other positives as well. And so not very many reach out to their MLAs when things are positive. So, you know, so that's the issue here. And so we are monitoring it. We are increasing -- the numbers have been increasing in Yellowknife for access. So like I said, there are 200 more in the last month than there is normally. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say I don't think that it's simply requiring people to wait in line, clammer for availability for a few available spots, it just doesn't seem to be working. Mr. Speaker, I would like to -- I haven't gotten a commitment from the Minister. I would like the Minister to commit to at least have a look at this. Is there anything that we can do differently as opposed to doubling down on something that clearly isn't working right now. Maybe it's growing pains. But can we have a look at this, make sure that we're doing everything we can to ensure that access to health care, which is our priority, is actually taking place in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, the program is ongoing. There are small changes that are being implemented as we move along. You know, we'll continue to hear from the Members and the constituents but from the other side too is that people are grateful that they're able to have appointments, they can preschedule them, they're triaging those that are going in early in the morning that are fasting. You know, there's different things that are going on. They're working with their -- you know, within the authority to make sure that prioritizing blood work gets booked in. So there are a lot of things that are changing as they're hearing from the residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke today about the recommendations from the Ministers' forum on addictions and wellness and community wellness from 2013. And there were certain ideas in there that I wondered if the Minister of health could provide us insights whether the government has looked at them and addressed them.
So one was recommendation number 11, review and revise existing processes within the health and social services system for referring youth to treatment in order to ensure that addictions treatment is accessible for all youth.
I should also say that these weren't sort of official actions that were taken up by the government, but they were recommendations that were made. So I'm wondering if this has been looked at by the government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I don't have the level of that detail here as per each recommendation. You know, that is going to take some time to compile any of that data. And so I will take the question on notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of health and social services. The Minister has taken your set of questions on notice. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of MACA. Can the Minister explain why the GNWT does not want to accept assistance from the federal government under the disaster assistance administration to support housing units in Enterprise? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the thing to remember here is the disaster assistance program is a federal program. And just to be clear, it clearly states in the policy, for the disaster assistance policy, that it is not an insurance program. Residents who have no insurance that have been affected by the wildfire are being taken care of. They are being housed by the program. So they are being housed until -- I believe right now until the end of August pending some more communication with the DFAA.
I will add, though, Mr. Speaker, that we have to remember that the wildfire -- fire insurance is readily available and overland flood insurance is not readily available. And that sometimes confuses people on why some assistance might be coming or not. So to the question, I guess, for the most part, that DFAA does not supply housing for rebuild homes for uninsured properties. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister explain the considerations and discussions that have occurred with the federal Minister for Public Safety regarding support for Enterprise? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've had lots of discussion with the department. MACA had lots of communications with the department and the public safety staff. I've personally spoke to the public safety Minister. And I think we've exhausted all avenues in regards to assisting uninsured properties in Enterprise. Just keep in mind that they are being housed through disaster assistance support. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. Has the Minister discussed the long-term options for temporary housing units constructed in Enterprise with the federal Minister? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I have. And currently, as I stated, they are being housed through the disaster assistance program. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi. Can the Minister explain the role of the pathfinder assigned to assist displaced residents. What does the pathfinder do to help displaced residents? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The pathfinders are the GNWT resources people on the ground to assist residents who may be involved in an emergency like flooding and fires. Their goal is to help the residents navigate the GNWT system and assist them in finding resources to help them during the time in need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Mandate Letters for the Executive Council of the 20th Legislative Assembly; and, GNWT Search and Rescue System Review Final Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Tabling of documents. Minister for ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee report 62-19(2), Report on the Review of Bill 74: Forest Act; and, NWT Surface Rights Board 2024-2025 Operating Budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Tabling of documents. Minister of ITI.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Prosper NWT 2024-2025 Corporate Plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Tabling of documents. Minister for Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act and Smoking Control and Reduction Act Three-Year Annual Report 2020-2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
