Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had the great privilege of travelling to some of the Monfwi communities in the previous term with the Member and have committed as well to doing the same this year and would be more than happy to follow the Member's leads on any conversations that the Member would like to see happen in the community while we are there. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'd just like to welcome the Minister of ECE back as well. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, yesterday --
Member. Member, do not recognize people that were not in the House. People are here, and that's what we need to appreciate. That's what we're working with. Not the people who were not here. Okay, thank you. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you for that, Mr. Speaker. It was very enlightening.
Yesterday, due to the ECE Minister's absence, the infrastructure Minister heard my concerns, instead spoke about whether a planning study to replace the Kaw Tay Whee School and gymnasium, which was supposed to take place in 2019, had occurred. She needed time to find the answer to that question. Is the ECE Minister aware now if that study went through? If so, is she ready to act on its recommendations and get a new school for Dettah? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly I would like to acknowledge the Member's statement from the beginning of the day today. We have 49 schools in the Northwest Territories, and they were large -- our infrastructure across the territory, including arenas, housing, and the rest, was largely built at the same time. So we certainly go through all of our schools and infrastructure and have to make difficult decisions on prioritization and look first and foremost at safety and accessibility, and then from there determine what we need to start with. But I certainly hear the Member that it is a continued concern for his community. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding the addition of the new school and gymnasium to K'alemi Dene School in 2021, an assessment for the project was considered but not selected. Can the Minister commit to commitment to getting a new -- five new classroom and a gymnasium and a community hall for the K'alemi Dene School addition onto this year's capital plan if possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we do is we sit down, we send out a survey to all of our education bodies and speak with them about what their needs are, and at that time education bodies, the DECs and DEAs, are able to identify what it is that they are requiring and where they're at. We also work with the Department of Infrastructure and go through the condition ratings of the schools. And then we also, to be quite honest, look at the priorities of the Assembly. I can tell you that education and having safe spaces for school -- for students across the territory is absolutely a priority of mine, as I know it is many of my colleagues.
In regards to our small capital, just as an example, there were 75 needs identified across the territory for small capital, and we have multiple schools, and leadership from multiple communities identified their schools as wanting to be next up. And so we have to ensure that there is some evidence-based and data that goes along with that when these decisions are made to ensure that we're prioritizing safety of students and accessibility of students to their education facilities at the end of the day. And if I could, Mr. Speaker, I would have a very long list, just like the Members that I would want to do everything at the same time, but I know that that's not a reality in our territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Years of denying or deferring the upgrades to learning and recreation facilities, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation students need their education and without proper facilities, it violates their treaty rights for education. Yesterday, the infrastructure Minister had not heard about these concerns from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, but previous MLAs have brought this up as far back as 2018.
My question is the education Minister clearly stated that the department were aware of these concerns every time they put together the capital plan. Will the Minister work -- sorry, will the Minister commit to working with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation leadership and DEA to start addressing their needs? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those conversations occur on an annual basis when we go through our capital planning process. And I can also confirm for the Member that I have had conversations with the N'dilo DEA chair in regards to infrastructure as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a 2016 study, which evaluated dozens of patients before and after body contouring and excess skin removal surgeries, found significant improvements in physical function and mobility and that prior to their operations, daily tasks were extremely difficult for these patients. I have a constituent in this circumstance. I have been spending quite a bit of time working with the Minister's office to no avail. There are no expectations for this person's -- this individual's case. Will the Minister correct this policy, which doesn't make any kind of common sense, and bring an exception forward for my constituent? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I don't want to go into too much detail but I had this -- or there's been -- there's a BF on this with the Member and the answer -- you know, there are surgeries that happen and insured services -- the insured services parts were billed. There are parts of the surgeries that are not considered as insured services and therefore those pieces get billed to the patient. And that stands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, exceptions for this kind of care have been made in the past. A patient with a very similar situation, who was not initially insured in Manitoba, has appealed this successfully but this has not been taken into account by our health and social services authority or policies and programs. Will the Minister review this case -- or this case in Manitoba, similar cases across the country, and make changes to the policy to allow an exception to my constituent? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there have been many other things that have been on the floor of this House that are not covered under insured services. If we start to open up every single piece that is -- you know, that is going to be an exception or made an exception. This was put through the process and the decision, again, still stands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Mr. Speaker, I'm not asking for all cosmetic surgeries to be covered. I'm asking for an exemption to be made based on this patient's specific situation. The Minister doesn't want to change the definition of what is and what isn't cosmetic, can she not move towards a system that ensures cosmetic surgeries based on patient-specific evaluation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, this is not work that we are doing within the department. 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 Education, Culture and Employment. So the Literacy Outreach Centre is in danger of shutting down if it can't find classroom space to operate, new funding, and new partners. Has the Minister or ECE staff had a chance to meet yet with the staff who have been running the Literacy Outreach Centre, either Inclusion NWT staff or Aurora College staff, as well as with any other interested partners to help find a path forward for the centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that conversations have begun but they are certainly not finalized, and there is still more work to be done. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit that by the end of this fiscal year, she will not only figure out how much money ECE has been allocating to Aurora College for the Literacy Outreach Centre but reallocate that funding to other partners who may want to carry on with the program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can do better. At the end of the fiscal. Aurora College annually operates the literacy outreach programs with $350,000 in funding. In addition to that, Inclusion NWT receives $85,000 annually in funding. So I can confirm the first part of that.
The second part of that, which is figuring out what to do next, is what is currently underway with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, but that program will still operate until the end of June. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that the Minister has managed to do the work to find the amount that we're talking about here. Will the Minister commit, if there is another partner that steps up to continue the program, to reallocating those funds away from Aurora College to that partner, that $350,000 that's currently going to Aurora College? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I think what needs to be -- there's a few things that need to be ironed out first, and that is what the future looks like before we can start allocating funding to different entities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the midst of the dumbest trade war in perhaps global history, northern businesses are very concerned, and I know the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment is chair of the internal -- sorry, the committee on internal trade. We heard a statement about it earlier. How is the Minister going to ensure that measures like the BIP program, that are very successful in protecting northern businesses and supporting northern businesses, continue as trade barriers come down across the country? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister for ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. So our BIP program is currently one of our exceptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, and there's no plan to take away that exception that we currently have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. That is reassuring. Mr. Speaker, what changes are being contemplated? I know we have I think around 18 -- anyways, in the teens of exceptions in the Canada Free Trade Agreement. So what are we looking at eliminating here in the Northwest Territories?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We currently have 12. The first 11 are on things like our business incentive program, they're on things like our resources, like fisheries and oil, and then there's one of them that is a future one so it's not for resources today. The things that we are looking at doing resolve more around labour mobility and barriers that we have in that realm. And then the other piece, Mr. Speaker, is around regulatory harmonization. So a great example of that is the work that's currently being done at the reconciliation table around the trucking pilot, and all jurisdictions right across Canada have doubled down on that commitment to that table because that's one of our biggest gains to be had right now as a country, is ensuring that goods are moving around the country in an affordable way and that we don't have unnecessary administrative burden or unnecessary additions of cost to how we're moving foods and goods -- sorry, goods and services around the country. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. And on the matter of trucking, we have trucking businesses in the Northwest Territories. They have access to these kinds of fast passes to get through provincial borders without paying dues they can reconcile at the end of the month. It expedites the whole process. Unfortunately, we can't certify that process here in the Northwest Territories, so businesses are looking -- have to base their operations outside of the Northwest Territories. Alberta seems to be the case in most areas. Is this something the Minister can correct and allow northern-based trucking companies and moving companies to get their certifications for cross-border programs like this here in the Northwest Territories so we aren't losing businesses to southern jurisdictions? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So absolutely, mutual recognition is something that we're fully committed to for the NWT's part of our participation within the committee on internal trade. And this also works into my colleague of infrastructure and the work that her department is doing. And so certainly we are absolutely committed to doing this work and are in the process of working towards it on that reconciliation and cooperation table. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the subject of business supports, the Government of Yukon announced yesterday, I believe -- may have been announced before but I just saw it yesterday -- a million dollar fund to help Yukon-based businesses adjust to any additional costs caused by tariffs, the illegal and unjustified tariffs from the Americans. Is -- what are we doing to support our own businesses? I don't see a fund in this budget. I have heard no announcements. This seems like a good idea. Is the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment considering bringing forward a similar fund that is flexible, supports northern businesses, keeps jobs in the North, and protects northern businesses? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is certainly watching what's happening. They've got a close working relationship with our Chambers of Commerce, industry representatives, as well as business associations in the Northwest Territories. I think it's crucial at this time that we're very open and honest about what the impacts are. We don't have an indication of doing -- or sorry, we don't have a plan right now of launching a program because I think it's really important that we see what the impacts are. There are a lot of businesses that are looking to changing who they currently source items for and switching to Canadian suppliers, which I think is incredibly important in this. But until we know what the impacts are, it's hard for us to design a program that actually gets to the crux of what some of those challenges will be. And until we also see the responses from the Canadian government, we need to ensure we're not duplicating efforts as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mean, I'm curious as to why the Yukon feels they need to do this, but maybe that's something the Minister could speak to her territorial counterparts. I'm sure businesses would be assured by that. There are a number of other things we can do by eliminating the red tape, reducing fees and services, make it cheaper to do business for northern businesses and Canadian businesses. Will the Minister undertake to do that work, to find ways she can cut those fees and barriers to doing business in the Northwest Territories to protect Canada's interest in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That certainly is the work being done at the committee on internal trade, and the NWT is a very active partner in that table in regards to, you know, why one jurisdiction might react differently than another. We all have different trading partners, we all have different trading activities and different investments in it, and so how we react across the country is certainly going to be different, but at the end of the day we are certainly very committed to being part of Team Canada right across the board, but our pathways to success in that may look different. Thank you.
