Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank to the Minister for that commitment there. I look forward to the results of that commitment on the review. Currently, as mentioned in my statement, we have 24 vacant funded vacancies.
My next question there, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister support medical escort assistant to that position as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to have to talk more with the Member as to what role that would be, and the way I'm interpreting it is it would be somebody that we would hire on to travel with people as escorts. But there are many family members that -- and people, residents, that would want their family too. So I guess we would have to review to see if that's what the Member is asking for, but I can commit to having further discussions to understand what that would mean. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement, and earlier as well, there's 24 funded vacancies. Will the Minister work with the other departments to see if those positions within the respective department will be filled? If not, is there a possibility of transferring that PY funds in the creation of a Sahtu regional medical travel coordinator? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the vacant positions within other departments, you know, health and social services is an enormous department, it is the largest department, and if I -- if I start eating up all of their vacant positions that they may be trying to recruit for or having trouble recruit for, I don't think my colleagues would be too happy with me. But what I can do is, like I mentioned to the Member, is I can commit to looking at what the needs are of the people of the Sahtu. I travelled with the Member. I heard a lot of different scenarios with -- along the lines of medical travel. So that is one thing that I will continue to highlight during our review to ensure that support is in place throughout the territory where it's needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to say thank you to the Minister for looking at filling those two positions, possibly three. Mahsi.
Colleagues, please use this oral questions to ask questions. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier around the health care sustainability unit. So the first question is does the Premier view the mandate of the health care sustainability unit as primarily to cut services that are non-core, seen as perhaps unnecessary or too fancy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don't see the primary mandate of the health care system sustainability unit to be cutting of services. The health care system sustainability unit is going to be tasked -- is tasked with establishing a core services inventory for the insured and non-insured programs and services and quantifying their financial impact and their operational needs.
It's going to identify inefficiencies, duplications of resources, and unnecessary processes in health care operations, and recommend changes to enhance the overall efficiency.
It's going to establish continuous improvement cycle -- establish a continuous improvement cycle that includes a monitoring and evaluation framework that demonstrates how progress is being made and how it -- how it's being made in a sustainable way and how it will be measured.
It will evaluate the current programs to identify sustainable service levels, and it will work with the department and health authorities to enhance service delivery and develop cost effective health care solutions.
So this unit is -- has been created so we can actually get a handle on the health care system, know what we're doing, know how much it costs, and then figure out how to do it better and more efficient so that we can achieve this Assembly's priority of ensuring basic -- access to basic health care for all residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so there has been a lot of emphasis in the Premier's statements about the unit being focused on figuring out which health programs and services are core. So maybe the Premier could enlighten us as to some examples of services that the Premier would consider to be non-core. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So that's the work that this unit is going to do. I'll say the majority of what the health authorities do, the programs and services they deliver, they're necessary. They're not optional. You know, we're not going to send people who need dialysis all down south to the provinces to get their treatment. The types of services that residents need in the territory and that we can reasonably expect to deliver in the territory, we want to continue doing that. But the fact is that there's programming across the department -- or across the authorities that it could be duplicative, it could be inefficient, it could be a remnant of an old federal program that we no longer have the money for and doesn't align with our priorities. So we want to ensure that we get a good view of what's actually happening and making sure that it's efficient and making sure that we're monitoring that it's efficient. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So can the Premier clarify whether the work of the health care sustainability unit will include workforce planning. So that could include how many clinicians and which kinds of clinicians we'll need to deliver integrated care to all NWT residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So looking at the inventory of programs and services and how those programs and services are operating and what their operational needs are is part of that work, and the number of staff, number of physicians, clinicians you need to do your work falls squarely in that, so that is part of the work. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So finally, can the Premier commit to making the work of the unit public, including ongoing progress reports that we can expect here in -- to be given to Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So without knowing exactly what the unit is going to encounter in their investigations because they're investigating -- they're looking into all of the data that's been collected over the years, all of the reports that have been published, they're hearing from frontline staff, from others within the department and the authorities. I can't say that we'll make everything public but I can definitely commit to providing regular updates to the Members and to the public through this House and other forums over the course of this initiative so that people can see what's happening and hold us accountable if what we're doing is not working. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of health. Who is the authority making the decisions on medical escorts being approved? Thank you.
So, Member, are you asking for the health and social services --
-- yes.
Okay, thank you. Sorry, I thought I heard housing, my fault. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, non-medical escorts are recommended by the health practitioner and may be approved by the medical travel officer if their request for medical escorts meets the criteria in the respective policy. And so the Northwest Territories -- the Government of the Northwest Territories, we have a policy that lays out what a non-medical escort for when people are travelling for insured services and then there's also -- like, I mean, this is where we can get complicated and then if it was -- it doesn't meet the GNWT, there is an option to -- if they're Indigenous, we could put a request through NIHB but then that would go to NIHB, and we would have to wait for an approval from them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How many non-medical escort requests have been denied for elders requiring assistance in the last year?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I look at what non-medical escorts that have been denied, I don't have that data. I can find out if the department tracks that data as to breaking it down to who was denied or what the reason was denied or -- and when I look at -- when they say denied, it's they don't meet the criteria. So within the medical travel policy, some people may not meet the criteria, or the person who's recommending the non-medical escort may not put in detail and are aware of the policy so that they need to ensure that they document what those reasons are so that the medical travel staff can do the proper approval. But what I will do is I will commit to the Member on this information if we do have that information available. Thank you.
Colleagues, before I go back to the Deh Cho, Member from Deh Cho, I'd like to recognize representatives from the Office of the Auditor General in the Assembly today, Andrew Hays, Shawn McEleny, and Emily Ann Devalle. So welcome to our Assembly. Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to review the policy to ensure it is being followed properly? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, yes, the plan is for the review of the medical travel policy and some of these areas that the Members have raised are a part of the review of the policy. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from the Deh Cho.
I don't have any more questions, sorry. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is consensus in the Northwest Territories for Indigenous governments to govern themselves. And in the selection of the Premier this year, we talked about making it happen within the next 50 years. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier update the Assembly on the progress made this year towards improving self-determination as we approach the end of this first year of this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, that's a big question, what's been, what progress has been made towards self-determination. It's not an easy path, as everyone is well aware, but this government, we've released a mandate that makes very clear that we intend to work with Indigenous governments as partners, not as, you know, vassals of the state. So we've done our best to implement that work. The Council of Leaders meetings have been, I think, more successful every time that we've met. We recently travelled to Ottawa with a number of Indigenous leaders to lobby on shared priorities. And I think that when you do that, you're empowering, from the GNWT's perspective, we are working with the Indigenous governments that so their voice is also heard. They're helping determine the resources that are coming to the territory by going to Ottawa together with them. And just in case I misspoke, we didn't bring Indigenous governments to Ottawa. We went together as the Council of Leaders. So that's one area.
Earlier today, we heard about the project finance for permanence that the government and a number of Indigenous governments have been working on together, and that's a way to advance self-determination. We are working together with Indigenous governments on implementing or creating an action plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, so that work is ongoing. So those are a few examples of the work that's happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier. The 1992 Bourque report made it clear that the work towards self-determination and decentralization couldn't be accomplished without constitutional reform. The Bourque report lays out much of the groundwork needed towards more equitable future for Indigenous governing. My question to the Premier is does is the Premier agree on the relevancy of the recommendation of the Bourque report provides, and does he support revisiting the updating -- revisiting and updating the report's recommendation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I've been furiously trying to find the Bourque report online. It's not that easy to find so I don't have it at my fingertips right now. But from what I've heard in the territory, the path forward is settling land claims. That's what I'm hearing from the Indigenous governments. I am interested in looking at the report. Whenever I hear about constitutional reform, I think that that would take all of our efforts and all of our focus would be on that and we wouldn't be achieving other things that might be more close -- closer in reach for us. So I'll leave it at that, and I'll have a look at the report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier. During the previous Assembly, a special committee on reconciliation and Indigenous affairs was struck to study the implementation of UNDRIP.
My question to the Premier, will the Premier commit to striking a similar committee or a comparable working group that can work alongside the Council of Leaders to maximize Indigenous and self-government in the Northwest Territories and to ensure the working group establishes proper consultation and engagement on the subject? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act does require the Government of the Northwest Territories to work with Indigenous governments, and there is a working group actually struck right now that is working on developing that action plan. So that work with Indigenous governments is happening. I'm not sure if the Member's speaking of a group of MLAs, but we're definitely working with the Indigenous governments. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier, for your response. Can the Premier commit to providing more transparency around the process of obtaining greater self-government and decentralization of services and provide regular timelines and updates on the work towards these goals? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I need a little more specificity in that request. That's a lot of reporting. We will have reporting through the UNDRIP Implementation Act plan. You know, we have a Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight attending the Council of Leaders meetings. We do share negotiation updates with the Members. But if there's something that we can do, if the Member has something specific in mind, I'm happy to work with him and see what else we can make public. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to follow up a little bit further on the questions I asked earlier. I was wondering if the Minister of ECC would commit to a year for getting this process done, so having target the amendments to the waters regs by the October session of 2025. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This is a collaborative exercise that we work very closely with the ICGS in how we move this forward. So the department, although we may have the wish to be as timely as possible, we need to consider all of the other participants in the process and ensure that we're communicating and we're collaborating to achieve the best results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the Minister doesn't want to preclude anything that happens at the IGC, but I just want to note that, you know, this is something that we've been -- that I've been raising since right at the beginning after we got elected, and we're already a year in. If we commit to 2025, we'll be two years in for a process that was supposed to be targeted and quick. So that's why I'm trying to push the Minister to commit to something. Could the Minister commit to working with the parties to set a date and come back to Members with a timeline that they think is realistic? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I will certainly reach out to the department and ensure that we are having the appropriate conversations with our partners to determine the best path forward, and hopefully that will result in a timeline that I can return to the Member in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
