Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, how do residents find out if they're eligible? How are they going to find out how to apply for this program or if they're eligible for it and how they go about receiving this benefit? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in sort of an unusual approach, perhaps, the federal government is -- they issue invitation letters. So anyone who is eligible does receive, in the mail, a letter from ISED, I-S-E-D. That's the industry, science economic development. So people do need to be watching their mail for these letters. Those letters were going out over the fall and into December of last year. If someone thinks they are eligible, so if they fall into one of those categories, there is a process. It's on ISED's website about what to do if you lose your letter. And so, Mr. Speaker, I won't read all that out here, but perhaps what we'll do is just make sure that we can share that on social media channels and would certainly welcome people to share that information. So it's not -- the matter's not closed if you've lost your letter or thrown it away, but there would be a process that folks would have to follow to get themselves back on the radar of this federal opportunity. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Final supplementary.
Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Infrastructure. So the Arctic Energy Alliance has experienced major funding reductions in recent years and struggle to meet the huge demand from NWT residents, businesses, and community governments for its programs and services. And as of October of 2024, they had actually run out of money for their energy rebate programs and were no longer accepting applications. So given the reductions in federal money for energy efficiency rebate programs, has the GNWT considered stepping in with territorial money to support those programs, especially where this could directly save the GNWT money in subsidy payments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we were quite disappointed to see the federal cuts to the low carbon economy funding that had a significant impact on the Department of Infrastructure and on our energy programs and particularly with respect to the funding that's provided to Arctic Energy Alliance. So it was a significant impact on our budget. We have not -- we don't have other or additional independent funds necessarily to come up with in areas where we could realign. Obviously the department's budgets are under review right now, and certainly I would look forward to answering some questions in that regard. But there was not a new source of funding identified, so we don't -- other than what is being presented in mains estimates that are before the committee, we don't have any new sources of funding from which to draw. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So there's also been a huge demand to Arctic Energy Alliance for home energy evaluations to find efficiencies that could save homeowners money, but there's been a huge backlog, especially since COVID, due to a shortage of certified energy advisers. So what role could the GNWT play in helping to train or bring in more energy advisers to help address this backlog? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, Mr. Speaker, without being able to source some additional funding, it's difficult to come up at this point in time with a simple answer or simple solution. We certainly do look forward to continuing to work closely with Arctic Energy Alliance. They're a critical partner in terms of delivering programs in this space.
Mr. Speaker, I'd already actually spoken to the Member with respect to setting up my own meeting to make sure that we can do what we can to work directly with Arctic Energy Alliance, identify where the shortcomings are, identify if there's particular communities that have specific needs, and then perhaps, you know, firstly and certainly advocate more effectively when we are advocating together, and if there's an opportunity to work, even within schools or within our own training programs for our staff, certainly be open to do that. But if it's an independent budget line item, again, Mr. Speaker, what's in our budget proposal right now is on the floor, and it is -- it's unfortunately a bit what it is without -- with the significant drop in federal funding. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I mean, one area that the GNWT did manage to find funds in the last year was for Arctic Energy Alliance to work with homeowners in Norman Wells to look for energy efficiency opportunities. So I wonder if the Minister could explain what successes or lessons learned have come from that initiative which we were able to find funding for this past year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do have a bit of information with respect to some of the work that was underway in Norman Wells. I don't know that we have a full evaluation done or an analysis done, which would certainly be helpful in order to determine what that might look like for others. But there was a program that was undertaken with Arctic Energy Alliance staff for a winterization walkthrough. It really is an opportunity to help, particularly folks from low or medium-income households, understand some simple solutions. So examples in that regard would just be even insulating window plastic which can have a fairly significant impact on heating costs. Weather stripping around doors, similarly, was something that came out of this which, again, they're simple solutions, Mr. Speaker, but sometimes those simple solutions don't cost very much; people just need to be educated. So, again, happy to follow back up, see if there's other specific items that came after that initiative in Norman Wells, and we'll make sure to get that out so that others can benefit from that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard from a constituent today who had to wait nine -- or sorry, had to wait 11 months for an ultrasound appointment. He tells me that it's a 9 to 10 monthly wait for a routine ultrasound. We've recently changed the appointment system here in Yellowknife. It was supposed to speed this up. We heard early reports that we were getting more people into appointments, not less. Why are we continuing to experience such a great backlog for people who are just trying to get routine appointments like this? We're not talking about major surgeries; we're talking about an ultrasound. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of health provide an answer?
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the first time that this has been brought to my attention, so I don't have any answers for the Member at this time on wait times for ultrasound. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, earlier when these changes were made, the Minister was able to provide some details on how many more people were being seen. It seemed like an improvement. Does she have any updated numbers for the House today? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have that level of detail for that specific area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm also being told that people have to -- are being told in the departments when they want to change appointments or if they need to change appointments with the doctors, they have to call the central booking mechanism, whether that be a phone call or an email or something like that. Why are we making it more cumbersome? Isn't there a way to do this more or less on the fly; why are we adding extra steps for patients when they're trying to access health care? Should we not be making it simpler, let people talk to their doctors, they're health care providers, and change appointments as needed? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So for switching the line of questioning with how accessing the primary care clinic, there is a process that there -- that each clinic runs throughout the whole of the Northwest Territories. How it is in Yellowknife, you know, the process of the accessing the walk-in clinic or creating a same-day appointment downtown, if it's primary care clinic you have to go through the primary care receptionist. If there's more detail or if there's a certain concern, I would have -- gladly have the Member bring that to my office and so we can figure out what the issue is. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my statement there, my first question to the Minister for housing, can the Minister confirm the housing-related materials, or the inventory destined for the Sahtu over the winter road season. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The volume of material being shipped over the winter road. So Housing NWT's contractor anticipates approximately six dedicated loads for two new housing construction projects that Housing NWT has underway in the Sahtu communities. The first is the Tulita seniors' duplex. This modular duplex is now on the winter road and headed to Tulita. The second project involves two hybrid modular duplexes for Deline. The construction materials for this project are now in the community. The hybrid core components will be delivered via the winter road shortly. So no delays are anticipated at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister. That's wonderful news here. It really provides comfort knowing that the end is in sight there for material delivery.
My next question there, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain how many home repair projects are reserved for the Sahtu and if the materials are going to be shipped on this winter road season? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the question. In terms of home repair projects for the Sahtu, I don't have those exact numbers on hand, but I can provide that information to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is more of a comment. I was going to say I look forward to working with the Minister on getting the information so that we can relay that information on mobilization of materials to the Sahtu leadership. So I will be working with the Minister over the coming days. Mahsi.
Colleagues, it's oral questions, not opportunity to do Members' statements or follow-up. Please follow the process. Thank you very much.
Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement earlier on the building standards code, can the Minister provide if, indeed, the department has begun to work on having their very own buildings standards code for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an area of quite a lot of interest to me as well, and I was very pleased that the department was willing to undertake this area when -- beginning of this government. It is not only the Department of Infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. It involves municipal and community affairs, housing, as well as infrastructure. I can say that we certainly have come together as multiple departments. There is a working group in place, and what the next step is is to really put in place some recommendations of what it will look like to bring all the different pieces together to have a consolidated framework from the National Building Code and one that can be made-in-the North and applied for in the North and relevant to the North. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that; that is excellent news. Can the Minister tell me in the meantime, I guess any guidance that is offered if you do have a developer certainly in one of the regions that are reaching out, looking for that kind of information, is there anything currently set up in place that can offer some guidance to contractors or even individuals looking to build. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly don't want people to think there's not something in place. As of April of 2021, the Good Building Practice for Northern Facilities Fourth Edition was released by the department, and certainly would expect and consider it appropriate for all private developers in other levels of government and really any other non-GNWT bodies to be using this as their reference place. It does, in it, describe and explain what the model codes are and gives some guidance as to what we have found to be appropriate and workable for northern infrastructure. So certainly do want to point people to that document while we are working to have our very own set of codes in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you. And that's good news, if something. Certainly not something enforceable like I know we will have once the -- as the Minister's committed to, we do get our own set of building standards codes. Can the Minister commit to internally what kind of timelines they're looking at to hopefully have this completed? Is this something we can expect to have by the end of this legislature or what the timelines be on that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how about if I commit to having a plan for a plan? I don't have a final date at this moment in time, but I certainly have asked that we, as the 20th Assembly, walk out of here with that in place. So that certainly is my goal at this time. Our next step is for the working group to put forward their recommendations of what it will look like and with that, I expect we'll have a more firm timeline. But, again, it's certainly my hope for this at this moment that we are walking out of the 20th Assembly with this in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member's statement, I'd like to direct my questions to the Minister of Infrastructure.
With the warmer weather upon us and the conditions of the Dempster Highway worsening there, I applaud the Minister on her infrastructure improvements project but there was no mention of Highway No. 8 in the upgrades or regular maintenance. What is the department doing at the present time to ensure the safety of the users of the Dempster Highway between Rengleng River and Inuvik? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do maintain a watch on all our highways, and members of the public can access that through the Drive NWT website. It is now being kept up to date almost immediately or instantly. So certainly do want to point people to that as a resource.
With respect to Highway No. 8, I have -- my latest update for the highway in its entirety is that it was in a fair state. We do have a grader out doing some ice blading from Tsiigehtchic to Rengleng River. And, again, Mr. Speaker, certainly do appreciate getting updates from folks who are driving. Again, we -- in addition to the Drive NWT website, it is always helpful to hear from folks directly. But, again, right now, latest is that it's in fair conditions and, again, a grader out on part of it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the tanker in question that went off the highway at the section around Rengleng River, there's signage on both sides of the river asking vehicles to slow down, and the signage is about 50 metres from the area where it's pretty bad, and the bigger trucks require more time to slow down but these signs are too close to the area. Will the Minister advise the regional department to make changes where these signs are further away from that section to give the bigger trucks more time to slow down? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's the first specific comment I've received on signage placement. I'm very happy to take that away. I'm familiar with this particular incident of this tanker. I've heard some other reasons as to what the potential cause of that might have been, but I'm also fairly aware that there's likely to be some investigation of the matter. So just want to temper that it may not have been the speed, it may not have been conditions. But absolutely, with signage, I will certainly take that away, and let's work with those who are on that stretch of highway and the region to determine the best possible placements for signage. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the regional department working with the Minister's department on daily inspections of the highway from the NWT border to Tuktoyaktuk to give updates on where work might be required for safety reasons? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do conduct daily inspections on the highway network. You know, exactly where staff might be on any one given day, I don't want to be overcommitting. I would acknowledge that we don't necessarily have enough staff to be on every stretch of highway all the way from the border throughout the Beaufort Delta region, but there are staff out on those highways on a regular basis. So I believe I have suggested before we can try to keep Members better up to date in terms of where we're trying to be, and I'll try to see if I can get a specific schedule to the extent that we have one and at least share it with Members, if not publicly. Thank you.
