Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I'd like to cite my questions towards my Member's statement today and where I talked about the advancement of a potential conversation of renaming the Northwest Territories. So I'd like to specifically ask the Premier, who also is -- who works with the Council of Leaders.
Mr. Speaker, would the Premier be interested in raising the issue with the Council of Leaders to get their thoughts and opinions on is it time to start having this conversation about naming the Northwest Territories -- or I should say renaming the Northwest Territories to a name that's more reflective of its people? Thank you.
Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a Member of the Council of Leaders, I would say that the resources of the GNWT are better spent elsewhere at this time given all of the challenges that we have. That being said, I'll start having some informal conversations with some of the other leaders at the table and go from there. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would say I'm not sure I should say thank you or maybe should start over and say what did that answer actually mean. So what does informal conversations mean? I'm simply asking for can the Premier put it on the agenda for something for folks to consume and consider and maybe get some feedback on it? I'm not looking for a special task force where we line up hundreds of processes and administration. Because if there's no appetite at the Council of Leaders for this kind of conversation, maybe now is not the right now. That said, it may be something for the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have an appetite to direct GNWT resources to this. This is the kind of initiative that would take significant consultation, in-person consultation in every community in the Northwest Territories, and so I'm the one who doesn't want to do this. I'll just put that out there. What I mean by having informal conversations with some of the leaders at the Council of Leaders table is I'll have informal conversations with them, and I'll see. If there's real opposition, then there's no point in putting it through the formal process of going to the secretariat and getting it up to the leaders' table just so we can all say that we don't want to do this. Thank you.
Mr. Premier. Member from Yellowknife Centre. Final supplementary.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe then I'll ask this: Can I get some sense as to when the next Council of Leaders meeting is; furthermore -- because Members are really not involved in any of that stuff so we don't really know what happens at that esoteric table of conversations until much later. That said, can he make sure he informs me when the next Council of Leaders meeting is. Furthermore, can he also let me know when or who he's spoken to about this so I get a sense that at least the conversation is being had, and we can then take it wherever it goes next. Thank you.
Thank you. Later this month there is a short phone or video meeting with the Council of Leaders just to prepare for the meeting in June. It's mid-June, I believe. I will report back to the Member directly on the results of any conversations. I don't want to necessarily commit to putting people's names to those conversations unless those people want to have their names shared with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to my Member's statement this morning on the Nova apartment building in Inuvik, I'd like to ask the Minister, I guess my first question will be has the Minister actually had an opportunity, or her senior staff an opportunity, to visit the Nova apartments in Inuvik? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I've been in the building. I've had a number of family members live in the building. I understand the concerns coming from the MLA. Good thing to know, though, in the past week we've had the president for Housing NWT visit the building to look at it for herself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, and I thank the Minister for that, and I think it's amazing that the president has been up there, can see for herself what's happening up there. And, Mr. Speaker, this is no way a slight on the property owner or the developer up there. We're happy to have that building in our community.
I guess my next question is, then, so will the Minister commit to looking at putting these -- I know in some units, particularly in Yellowknife, I know in some apartment buildings they have security in there because we're dealing with a building where the door is often wide open, where there's things happening in the building, in the hallways, that shouldn't be. Will the Minister commit to looking at having full-time security in that building to ensure that the residents who are in there are safe? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the president, Housing NWT, visiting the building, what she's proposed to do is meet with the landlords, the leaseholders, and have a discussion about safety and security in the building, amping that up because of all the illegal activities happening within the unit and the concerns from the tenants. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Excellent, that's great news, great to hear. Can the Minister kind of put some timelines around when she anticipates the president and the owners of the building will be meeting to kind of start putting that plan in place and then follow up obviously with what comes from that plan? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the urgency of this concern and considering the activities within the housing -- or the building itself, I've asked the president of Housing NWT to have a discussion over the next month. So hopefully we'll hear something within the next few weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance. Is the Minister familiar with how many insurance companies that provide coverage in the NWT are increasing their property insurance rates beyond regular average increases prior to the 2023 wildfire season? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that to my information there's 150 individual insurers that are licensed under the Insurance Act. As for what each or every one of them may or may not be doing with increasing rates, I don't have that information. The Insurance Act gives me the ability -- or gives the department the ability to regulate but not necessarily to control the commercial side of what these organizations do. That said, Mr. Speaker, we are, as a government, a member of a number of different groups across Canada, and rates are rising across the country so can certainly say that that does appear to accord with what we are hearing as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the Minister has kind of predicted what I want to ask next. But are there any policy or legislative labours at our disposal to lessen increases whatsoever across the board in the GNWT, not just in her purview? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And no, unfortunately, there's not. Again, we are the regulating body that ensures about the provision of insurance and how -- you know, how the behaviour of the insurance companies or the brokers might be but not a control over their commercial market and what the commercial market might be doing to prices. That said, Mr. Speaker, we do set the rate for the cost of having your insurance. I mean, there's a tax that's levied on insurance companies. We have kept that rate low. We have a 1 percent only for fire insurance, and we've kept ours at 3 percent on the main premium which is lower than Yukon or Alberta. So doing -- that's a small drop in the bucket, though, to be honest, Mr. Speaker. We have also, in the last couple of years, looked at taking on some of the schools into the GNWT's package which helps them manage their insurance rates. But in terms of residential insurance or small businesses, there's not levers in our hands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister for Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, good news, the Standing Committee on Government Operations is scheduled to review amendments to this act in the life of this Assembly. Is the Minister willing to review if there could be amendments to this act or speak with her colleague at MACA to consider consumer protections going forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's early days to know what may or may not be in the review of a piece of legislation and, of course, always happy to consider amendments. I can say that we are members of the Canadian insurance services regulatory organization, meaning the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators and the General Insurance Statistical Agency. I mention all of those because as this process moves forward, I'll certainly look for the opportunity to see if there's any best practices happening. Again, cost increases are happening everywhere, and it's an issue that's coming up, so if there's opportunity to learn from others or to utilize other practices, I'd be happy to share that information and to put it forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I noted earlier today, I'm concerned about the continued misalignment between the Minister and the Aurora College board. Mr. Speaker, why aren't the department and the board coordinating and planning something like the CLC closures, polytechnic transition. How does the Minister plan to address this issue of misalignment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I absolutely hear the Member, and I agree that the goal is to have a strategic plan go out where, you know, we're answering all of the questions that we know that residents are going to have about the forward looking of a program and what the future holds. Ultimately, ECE will remain responsible at the end of the day for ensuring that residents have access to quality programs that support education and employment, and so right now, the work that ECE is doing is gaining clarity on, you know, what parts of adult learning and basic education Aurora College will continue to fill so that we can plan from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, just on the review of the CLCs themselves, I understand that when the facility's master plan was being put together, there was actually quite a bit of a review of the CLCs specifically and that a report was produced talking about everything that was heard during the review of the CLCs. Will the Minister commit to release that report so the public can better understand what's going on, better understand what's behind the decisions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my goal is to always say yes, especially when it comes to transparency. I will note that this report was commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure so I will say yes with a caveat of being able to make sure that there isn't any privacy concerns from the Department of Infrastructure or concerns about any commercial information given that they are the owners of the report. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I think that's going to be helpful information for the public to have.
So just on the issue of misalignment, I mean, is the Minister working with the board, working with the college president to improve the relationship to ensure that we have alignment going forward? I understand the Minister may be releasing a mandate for the college soon, or certainly should be. What are we doing to improve this relationship, to ensure that we have alignment on the goals that we're trying to achieve and everybody's pulling in the same direction? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am one who is eager to share my -- even my personal cell phone number with the people that I want to be working closely with. That is something that the chairperson certainly has. We also have a joint mandate agreement and the ability to get together on a regular basis and definitely try to get together on a regular basis or as much as possible.
In regards to the Member's comment about a mandate agreement, that is something that will be released within the coming week, and Members do have an embargoed copy within their inbox today.
And then in addition to the question around, you know, going forward what will happen, there is a draft communication protocol document between myself and the chairperson of Aurora College that I will continue to pursue to get signed by both parties. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the ECE minister. Were residents in small communities consulted about the closure of the Aurora College's community learning centres? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Deh Cho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't speak to the methodology that Aurora College took in coming to this conclusion and what kind of engagement that they did do. But given that it was very much a shock for the Northwest Territories when this information was released, I would venture to say that many people didn't feel that they felt that they knew that this was coming. Thank you.
Thank you. Does the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have a plan to address the need for academic upgrading and basic literacy programming in small communities, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no concrete plan at this time until we determine some clarity around what (audio) continue to hold. There is an existing MOU and contribution agreement for Aurora College to deliver adult learning and basic education through the community learning centres. So if that is not an MOU that they intend to continue, ultimately ECE will still remain responsible for ensuring that there are education and employment opportunities within small communities, and so that work is yet to come. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me will the funding that was allocated for community learning centres be reinvested into opportunities for adult learners in the NWT, for specifically small communities. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So within that MOU that I spoke of, it is a contribution agreement that does go to Aurora College to be able to deliver the adult learning and basic education throughout the CLCs throughout the Northwest Territories, so that funding ultimately would -- any that was not used through the contribution agreement and the MOU with Aurora College would then come back to the department of education, and the department of education would still have the responsibility for ensuring that we're enhancing those opportunities within communities. Thank you.
