Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And probably a question more suited for the industry Minister because I know that work has been going on in this area, especially up in the Beaufort Delta region, and there's a lot of hope about what that could bring. The resource that we have right now is that a lot of the world's attention is on is critical minerals. And so I'm having lots of conversations at the first Ministers' meetings that I just mentioned as well as virtually everywhere I go, because we recognize we need secure supply chains in Canada. If there are tariffs from the United States, that disrupts supply chains. We have tariffs with China. We can't necessarily always rely on China to provide what we need. And so now is the time that we as a country need to come together and ensure that we have sustainable supply chains so that we can create prosperity for Canada. We can do mining here. We can do refining here. We can do manufacturing here. And we can have the innovation industry to develop those products that we're manufacturing. We can do it all in Canada, Mr. Speaker. And there's a real push underway right now to make that happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Premier withhold the NWT's critical minerals from American -- from imports or exports to America? Thank you. Tariffs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a decision of the federal government, and the federal government has said everything's on the table. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be asking questions for the Premier. I'd like to reflect back my questions towards my Member's statement regarding NATO's 2 percent spending requirement. And for the record, I believe, if I'm correct, Canada currently commits 1.37 percent of our GDP towards it so we're -- that's billions of dollars falling short of that commitment. So my question for the Premier, Mr. Speaker, is simply what is the government doing on the projects and initiatives I had pointed out in my speech with respect to the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Bathurst port, including the expansion of northern airways to suit the F35s, to get northern investment -- or sorry, national investment in our northern economy. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So an update on F35 facilities, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and the Bathurst port, so that's quite a bit of information. I don't think I can get it all to the Member here. But I've met with the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Northern Affairs, and these are what the topics that we talk about. I have these same conversations with my northern Premier colleagues, and together we push for infrastructure development in the North. And I know that the Prime Minister is listening and has unprompted -- reiterated those comments back. And so I know that is on their mind, and they recognize the importance of this. And so we are always pushing these projects. I'll leave it there. I won't get too far into the details of, you know, where we are with these projects. Timelines and things like that is probably better suited for a different Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, listening is great, but it doesn't put food on the table. It doesn't put gas in the car. It doesn't buy Christmas presents, etcetera, Mr. Speaker. So I'm going to ask the Premier what type of campaign is the territorial government doing through his department of executive to launch and suggest this is the best investment opportunity for the North, but it's also the best investment for them to help meet their 2 percent requirements. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, the eyes of the world are on the North now and the discussions about Arctic security, defence, have taken up an inordinate amount of my time. I can say I did not expect this when I became Premier of the Northwest Territories I'd be having these national discussions and international discussions, but the fact is we are. And so what I can do from my end as a politician is talk to the politicians who are making decisions about what we need for infrastructure. And so we have provided detailed information to the federal government about the types of projects that we want to advance. When it comes to military installations, that's federal government jurisdiction, but I have told the federal government we need to work with them on those. We need to ensure that any military facilities in the North provides benefits to the North and that the Indigenous governments on whose land those facilities are need to be part of those discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Premier what type of proactive aggressive campaign are we selling? When the territorial government went so far as building the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, it wasn't just cap in hand saying we'll wait until they do this. Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Premier is he willing to look at either striking a formal committee to get Members, including Cabinet, to work on an aggressive campaign to sell these types of initiatives. Because if we sit here and do nothing, that's exactly what we'll get, being polite, but we'll be overlooked. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a team to sell these projects to the federal government. It's your Executive Council, it's Cabinet, and we do it every single day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Well, first of all, Mr. Speaker, this is the first time I've heard of this Cabinet team that's been selling this. I've not seen in one year any result to that. Hence I'll ask the question, would the Premier be willing to form a working group with some Regular Members so we can help push this initiative collectively and territorially so we don't miss this billion dollar opportunity. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member wants to put a framework around this amorphous idea of pushing for billion-dollar opportunities, I'd be happy to have a look at that and consider how we can use that, but I'm not going to spearhead the Member's initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. On the Public Lands Act, last spring I brought this forward. Today I'm asking questions on the progress. My first question there, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister share what regulatory drafting progress has been made to date? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Public Lands Act was passed in the 19th Legislative Assembly. Regulations are required to bring the Act into force. This government is committed to working collaboratively with our Indigenous government partners through the Intergovernmental Council on the development of the lands and resource legislation and regulation. The Public Lands Act and regulation is one of the pieces of legislation that is moving through the process right now. There's currently a technical working group under the Intergovernmental Council Secretariat which includes representatives from NWT Indigenous governments and organizations and the GNWT working together collaboratively to develop regulations under the Public Lands Act. There are a few issues that still remain outstanding to the technical working group, and they are being discussed and considered by the group at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that update. My second question on the same subject on the Public Lands Act, can the Minister update the Assembly on the next steps on the process? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Our hope is to reach consensus with the technical working group very soon which will allow us to proceed to the next steps in the process. Once the technical working group has reached consensus, the next step would be to reengage with the technical advisory panel made of interested public stakeholder groups, and the proposed regulations would be discussed at that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that information. I'm sure our audience are listening.
My third question is on the timeline for the completion of this; can the Minister share that. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we work through this process, like I said at the technical working group level and as we move on to the final stages, our hope is to have this work completed and have the draft final regulations prepared by the late to end of summer of 2025. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just to clarify, I misspoke earlier. I meant that I would be asking questions of the Minister of ECE at a later time; she's clearly not here today. But my questions for today are for the Minister of health.
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of health have information regarding how many people receiving out-of-territory care are due to lack of ability of an in-home caregiver as opposed to complex needs that simply can't be addressed in the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we currently don't have that specific data as I don't have that data. But I can tell you that there are 147 NWT residents receiving out-of-territory care. There are also 55 clients within the Northwest Territories receiving supportive living services. To be eligible for out-of-territory supportive living program, there must be evidence that their support needs cannot be met within the Northwest Territories. But I can confirm that the department is undertaking an analysis of the support needs of the out-of-territory clients to inform models and resources needed for in-territory supportive living services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And certainly I look forward to seeing the results of that further investigation. Mr. Speaker, how much is the GNWT currently spending on sending clients for short-term or respite-related stays in the south? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the territory currently does not send short-term respite stays. They're not part of the out-of-territory supportive living program; therefore, no funds are being spent on this. There are, however, oftentimes when families have, you know, reached capacity and when they're providing services and sometimes, you know, those needs are so complex that end up -- you know, there's an admission into our health care system, into our hospitals, but there isn't a short-term out-of-territory program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I do appreciate that clarification. Mr. Speaker, has the GNWT explored options before for programs such as income supports or grants for families supporting persons with disabilities to organize their own in-home services or respite care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the model of individualized funding for supportive living has been identified as a recommendation in the supportive living review of 2023. The department has established a working group to examine the resources that would be required to establish these types of options for Northwest Territories' residents, and this work is in progress. 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 would like to see, as part of that work, an analysis of whether the territory could save some of the money that's being spent on out-of-territory service for the reasons I spoke to today. Does the Minister have a timeline for the Assembly as to when she expects to see the conclusion of this investigation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can get back to the Member of an update or a timeline of this review. I would like to, however, say that a lot of the things that were in the review, the supportive living review of 2023, those that have been done have been able to be completed internally and so this review is some of the stuff that's being done internally to analyze those clients that are out of territory, you know, bringing them back if they're -- what that might look like. But, again, many of the things that have -- the recommendations that have been accepted of this report also need funding to go along to implement. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. So one of this Assembly's priorities is improving access to primary care. Just so everyone's clear, primary care is the first place people go for health advice and care, whether that's a community health centre or a family doctor. So has this government defined anywhere what exactly improving access to primary care means to us and what we're trying to accomplish? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say, you know, I've had ongoing conversations with the Member and, you know, every time we have this dialogue, you know, there are more things that come to light. And so having these conversations here in this House but also having this conversation with my counterparts last week in Halifax with all of the federal, provincial, territorial Ministers, you know, and saying health care across Canada is changing, and it's not just changing in Canada and Northwest Territories; it's changing around the world. So people having to access care, you know, we're trying to -- we're moving away from the traditional model of having one family doctor for life is no longer realistic. The demands for family physicians at an all-time high right across Canada so, you know, over the life of this Legislative Assembly, our priority is equitable access to health care particularly, you know, we have a high number of non-Indigenous clients who are on the higher end of chronic disease rates throughout our territory. So we are organizing our system so that every resident has access to the care that they need to reach their full health and wellness potential while the system actively works to remove barriers to this equitable access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, so that's a good start in terms of our overarching goals. But, for example, the primary care reform carried out in Yellowknife, at least, last year seems to have been done as kind of a trial, something we'll try out and see if it works. But has anyone defined what exactly our primary care reform was trying to accomplish and how will we know if this trial has worked if we don't have indicators or targets about what it was supposed to accomplish? How will we know if our primary care reform is working? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the primary care reform is the overall providing of care to all residents in the Northwest Territories. As the Member has stated, in Yellowknife there has been some changes within the program itself. It went from primary care teams of ten, which did not include -- all of those teams did not include physicians on every team. Some of them didn't include community health nurses on those teams. Those teams didn't include LPNs. They didn't include the holistic wellness worker. So what happened was is that there was too many teams spread out too thin and so what they've done now is they've amalgamated the four teams in Yellowknife, and they've created it so that every team has a physician, every team has a CHR, every team has an LPN, there's administrative, there's holistic. And every person in the Northwest Territories, in Yellowknife, that needs to access and is assigned to these teams as -- you know, as they access the care, that they will see the person on the team that is -- meets, you know, whatever their need is so the level of care so that every practitioner there is working at the scope of their practice, they're all professionals in their workforce, and it's not one over the other. And so those that are seeing the physicians are those that are needing to see physicians with the chronic diseases and the complex cases that physicians are working with at their scope of practice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
So do we have a way of checking in after a year or two years with patients in Yellowknife to see if what the Minister described has actually happened, whether people are able to access the right practitioner at the right scope? So do we have a way of checking in with both patients as to whether it's working well and with the practitioners themselves to see if the theory of how this system is supposed to work is actually working for people at the end of the day? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every year, I believe, the health authority does quality patient -- they do surveys. So patients coming in, they can take the surveys, they're offered the surveys. There's online. You can call quality risk if there's concerns.
One of the things that we have to take into consideration when we're measuring all of the programs in health, you know, we measure them with our outcomes. And so when we have our statistics, you know, through CIHI, like, we can see whether or not our chronic diseases are increasing or decreasing. The access to physician care, you know, we'll -- we get those updates but to be -- to have the specific detail that the Member is asking for, I can bring that back to NTHSSA to see what internally that they are doing to audit that, the changes in their system, and I can commit to bringing that back to the Members for their review. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. I'll try this again. Member from Yellowknife North. Final supplementary.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as the Minister alluded to earlier, we need to always remember that primary care is happening in every community, every community health centre across the territory, so how has our primary care reform that's taken place taken into consideration how community health centres operations will be impacted or where the opportunities are for better supports and connections between doctors and practitioners in regional centres and the community health nurses in small communities. How has that been part of the reform process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
