Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a responsibility to make sure that high school students in the Northwest Territories have access to an equitable, high-quality education that prepares them to be contributing members to our communities. We owe it to our young people to provide an environment that supports wellness, inspires a sense of identity, and builds on their strengths, because we know it means a greater chance for success both in academics and in life.
Mr. Speaker, Members are aware of some of our work to date to implement education renewal and, in particular, to meet our mandate commitments to developing options to increase the approaches available to students that lead to graduation, to improve graduation rates, and to provide greater linkages to post-secondary schooling. This work is closely linked to the goals of the Skills4Success Strategic Framework and action plan, 2016-2020, which include increasing skills with relevant education and training, and bridging education and employment gaps with targeted supports.
We have been acting decisively on this commitment because data, research, and northern voices are telling us the same thing: Northwest Territories students need to be better prepared for post-secondary education, work, and life upon completion of high school.
Mr. Speaker, our new approaches include:
• new high school pathways that offer a wider range of options for high school completion;
• increasing the number of academic grade 10-12 courses available to small community students by expanding Northern Distance Learning;
• career and education advisors who will help students choose an educational path that meets their goals while making them aware of in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them; and,
• increasing access to youth mental wellness specialists in schools and communities through the Child and Youth Care counsellor initiative in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, high school pathways will provide grade 10-12 students with more options that are engaging, individualized, flexible, and aligned with each student’s plans for their future. The outcome we expect will be an increase in the number of students who successfully complete high school, who continue on to post-secondary or training pursuits, and who are ready for employment.
Northern Distance Learning is also being expanded. The initiative started in the Beaufort Delta and is currently facilitated for several communities by experienced teachers in Inuvik’s East Three Secondary School. Learning through video interfaces will increase the number of grade 10-12 academically inclined students who can stay in their home community, where they have family supports, and still take academic or dash-one courses.
Mr. Speaker, through the Education Renewal and Skills4Success initiatives, we have learned that students and youth also need specialized career and educational advice and supports so that they can make informed decisions about their future. With more than 78 per cent of Northwest Territories jobs requiring a post-secondary education, we must do a better job of connecting them to the labour market because their success is critical to the North’s economic success.
Students and 18- to 24-year-old youths out of school will soon have additional support from career and education advisors, who will help them as they discover their career interests, learn about Northwest Territories jobs in demand, and understand how to acquire the education and experience to obtain those jobs.
This team of advisors will begin their work in the second semester of the 2018-2019 school year. They will advise students as they select a post-secondary pathway and plan ahead by providing information on the right mix of high school courses and marks to meet the eligibility criteria of post-secondary and training institutions. Career and education advisors will promote skilled trades as first-choice careers, encourage students to consider apprenticeships in trades and certified occupations, and assist with finding financial supports.
Mr. Speaker, mental wellness issues gravely affect the lives of a large number of our children and youth. I believe that student academic achievement needs to be built upon a foundation of mental health and wellness. Worldwide research supports this perspective. The educational changes we are making will have a better chance of success with the introduction of child and youth care counsellors in our schools and communities during the next four years. These counsellors will help create a safe and supportive environment to promote the mental wellness of children and youth, which we expect will lead to improved academic outcomes, as well.
All of these changes require the support of education authorities, teachers, parents, students, Indigenous governments, and employers if they are to be successful. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment will engage all of these stakeholders as we move forward.
Mr. Speaker, these changes will happen over the next 18 months, starting with the career and education advisors and child and youth care counsellors, followed by the expansion of Northern Distance Learning and the High School Pathways implementation.
Mr. Speaker, any one of these programs would improve the success of our high school students. Taken together, as part of the comprehensive Education Renewal and Skills4Success action plans, they will provide equitable, flexible, and supportive education that prepares northern youth for life, post-secondary education, and employment.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, [English translation not provided].
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about a $1.1 billion class action lawsuit that was filed last month by former patients at Indian hospitals in Canada. These facilities were racially segregated general hospitals that were built between 1945 and 1981 to enhance policies of assimilation in order to replace traditional, Indigenous healing with western biomedicine. However, the Canadian government justified the construction of these facilities as a way to isolate the spread of tuberculosis and other diseases.
Mr. Speaker, these institutions were not hospitals. They were an extension of the residential school system and Sixties Scoop, as they admitted Indigenous adults and children alike who were taken from their communities and families and sent to these facilities. Once there, they were subjected to substandard medical care; medical experiences without patients' knowledge or consent; instances of sexual and physical abuse; constant denigration of their culture, language, and heritage; and overcrowded and understaffed facilities.
There were also many cases, Mr. Speaker, were Indigenous women were forced to undergo sterilization procedures, which was a colonial practice the federal government utilized as a way to limit and reduce the population of Indigenous peoples across Canada. Moreover, patients were routinely detained, isolated, and even restrained to their beds.
Mr. Speaker, my aunt worked in a hospital in Fort Resolution until she, herself, got sick. At one time, she escorted 29 TB patients from Fort Resolution to the hospital in Fort Smith because the 100bed hospital in Fort Resolution was full.
Mr. Speaker, I also had a friend who witnessed a TB patient from Behchoko or Fort Ray, as it was known at the time, that what was chained to a bed and was beaten by another TB patient.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I am told by elders that the government made a rule that, if treaty people did not have a clear xray, they wouldn't get their annual $5 payment.
Overall, Mr. Speaker, the people who were admitted to these hospitals were treated with the utmost disrespect. People from surrounding communities who passed away were buried without informing the families.
Mr. Speaker, there were dozens of these institutes across the country which admitted thousands of Indigenous peoples, including people here, in the NWT. In an article released last week in News/North, they listed 29 "Indian hospitals" that they reported existed in Canada. However, I was told by one of my constituents that two hospitals in the NWT were omitted from that list. Those facilities were St. Anne's Hospital in Fort Smith and St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Resolution. Marci cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I spoke about the proposed shovelready LNG pilot project. I would like to follow up today to talk about what I see as the direct benefits of this proposal.
Mr. Speaker, by looking at this pilot project and using the NWT gas, there would be a justification of recommissioning the Cameron Hills gas field located within the Northwest Territories that has currently been shut in and is not producing. By doing this, it means more royalties and taxes on natural gas produced and processed within the NWT.
This proposal could reduce the government's financial burden for the subsidies distributed to power consumers through the Territorial Support Program.
Mr. Speaker, the company proposal includes supplying a fully integrated LNG solution and fronting the proposed capital expenditures, inclusive of supply of power generation equipment as an option, and they can reduce the current power costs and benefit consumers in the North.
Each LNG truck delivers the equivalent of up to 16 trucks, thus reducing diesel consumption for fuel deliveries and traffic on local roads. LNG reduces the carbon footprint for energy source deliveries and would further reduce energy costs by up to 40 per cent for power generation.
Mr. Speaker, LNG within the NWT would be the first sustainable longterm and affordable energy source for the people of the Northwest Territories, thereby reducing diesel fuel.
LNG-sourced energy from the NWT would protect from future price spikes of oil, propane, and diesel.
Mr. Speaker, LNG could potentially reduce the impact from the imminent federal and territorial carbon tax implementation. LNG would drastically reduce the carbon emissions and greenhouse gases for existing power generation and can be used as a potential future heating source.
LNG could qualify the NWT for green credits and additional federal funding or our ability to facilitate the sale of carbon credits.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, this would support and create local employment. It would help reduce the cost of living for the three communities in the beginning, but, as it expands, we could see a huge reduction for all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, monsieur le President. Here, in the Northwest Territories, most of our citizens do fairly well in comparison to other Canadians when it comes to costfree and reasonable access to prescription drugs. We know that, in the South, one in five Canadians never fills the prescription given by their caregiver because they do not have the money. In 2015, Canada's prescription drug spending as a share of gross domestic product was the fifth-highest among 31 OECD countries. Canada spends more on prescription drugs because we pay higher prices for them, not because we need or buy more.
One important aspect is who is not covered for prescriptions. Indigenous peoples are covered under NIHB, and, though it has its limitations, this is a good start. NonIndigenous and Metis people who have specified conditions or are 60 years or more are covered under Extended Health Benefits. What about the working poor or those who are on income assistance and not Indigenous? What about our students who are no longer covered by their parents' plans? Anyone who is not covered by a workbased plan, NHIB, or Extended Health Benefits struggles to purchase prescriptions, and they may join the one in five Canadians who cannot always fill prescriptions. This is a disgrace and needs to be changed. It also results in higher costs for our healthcare system as people show up for emergency care as prescriptions are not filled and conditions get worse.
Another major issue here and across Canada and, indeed, the world is the rising cost of prescription drugs, both as a proportion of the healthcare budget and the costs of the drugs themselves. Today, federal, provincial, and territorial governments bulk-buy medications under the PanCanadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which has resulted in an estimated $1.28 billion in combined annual savings. This very limited bulk purchasing model has saved money but has only minimally lowered drug costs. Refinements to this system are needed to make it more effective, and Canada needs to stop signing socalled free-trade agreements that vastly extend patent protection for drugs and corporations that make drugs.
We need to work towards a national pharmacare program. The Canadian Labour Congress has done some work on this, and I will table a document later today about it. GNWT needs to stand in solidarity for a national pharmacare plan. I will have questions for the Health Minister later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to remind the honourable Members of this House that, although we occupy these seats for now, we are holding them in trust for future generations.
Young people in the Northwest Territories and Canada live in very different circumstances than I did or my parents did or my grandparents, and those changing circumstances give a different perspective. It is a perspective that decision makers are often disconnected with, which is why we must work very diligently to connect with young Canadians and young Northerners and to understand their perspectives on the issues of the day.
I think we could take further steps to bring legislation such as bills to classrooms to allow the students to weigh in, to establish a youth council, to give them a voice or the Premier's ear, so to speak, on important policy issues that come forward by this government but essentially connect to them because they are the only stakeholders in the Northwest Territories who do not have a voice because they cannot vote. That does not mean their voice is not important.
I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Youth about whether any of the suggestions that have been brought before this House to strengthen the role of young people in an advisory capacity for this government have been looked at, worked on, or are rolling forward. Again, it is imperative that we listen to the next generation of leaders and that we understand their perspective on the issues of the day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year, at about this time, I raised the issue of overflow at Georgetown at kilometre 140 of the Dempsey highway. I suggested that a heat trace line be installed to prevent freezing of the culvert there. I believe the Minister of Infrastructure had his department look into what could be done.
Judging from this year's overflow, it appears that work on this matter did not go beyond looking into it. The water was flowing until ice built up in the culvert. Now water simply builds up on the south side of the highway until it flows over the road and along the side the road, flooding out Georgetown.
As I noted last year, it was a safety issue, and it continues to be a safety issue today.
The cause seems to be changes on the highway and impacts of climate change. The issue was raised in Tsiigehtchic's Land Use Plan as far back as 2009.
The 2010 Gwichya Gwich'in Climate Change Adaptation Planning Project report refers to the possibility that highway culverts were shifted by permafrost or incorrectly installed.
Mr. Speaker, blocked highway culverts are the responsibility of the Department of Infrastructure. Nine years after this problem was identified by the community, it remains uncorrected, and I am beginning to think the department is frozen as solid as the culverts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions later today.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In today's YK Paper, the unemployment rate in the Northwest Territories increased to 8.7 per cent, up from 7 per cent last year, fourth-highest in Canada and much higher in our small communities. This is an indicator to government's decrease in revenues and without industry, as well.
Mr. Speaker, one of the positive supporting action initiatives is the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Small Community Employment Support Program. We can all agree, without government support and without industry projects, this only increases challenges to the household income and contributes to the social family problems.
Mr. Speaker, although this program can be viewed as a small economic contributor for increased employment, the principle is making a meaningful contribution.
Mr. Speaker, later I will have questions to the Minister of ECE on program funding details. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during this budget session, we've heard from the Finance Minister about the shortfall in revenues, and how that's killing our aspirations for improving services and programs for residents. The rhetoric from the Executive portrays this as a twist of fate, like hail on the crops, a hardship to be endured until the return of better days. It's not.
What we've learned from two recent reports on the need for a just return of non-renewable resources is that the loss of revenue can be corrected. Andrew Bauer in his 2017 report "NWT Mineral Sector Review and Benchmarking" and Dr. Don Hubert in his report "Many Ways to Lose a Billion" demonstrate that Canada, and particularly the NWT, are selling their resources far too cheaply, and that reasonable increases in resource royalties are justifiable and needed.
These guys aren't amateurs, Mr. Speaker. They are both internationally recognized experts in and commentators on governmental resource royalty and taxation regimes.
Neither has much good to say about royalty practices such as those prevalent here. Bauer's report describes the NWT as one of the most "charitable" places in the world for mining companies due to the government's generous deductions on royalties and corporate income taxes." While the NWT is only collecting 20 to 30 per cent of mining profits, he cites examples of other countries, such as South Africa, Peru, and Western Australia, which collect up to 80 per cent. He refers to our take as paltry.
The Hubert report is equally critical. Dr. Hubert points out that royalties and taxes are often considered low in the rank of resource development benefits such as GDP growth, community investment, employment, and new infrastructure; but, he says, it's the royalties and taxes that actually offer governments the best opportunity to capture benefits on the one-time opportunity to profit from non-renewable wealth. Hubert outlines a host of revenue killers including tax breaks and holidays, under-reported project revenues, and over-reported costs, and he points out how governments must be both wary and savvy to get the best return. His overlying message is that it's the job of corporations to minimize their costs, but it's the job of governments to reasonably maximize citizens' benefits.
I will have questions for the Minister. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost of living in the north is a significant obstacle to the growth we are trying to achieve as a territory. Yellowknife is our capital city, home to half of the NWT's residents. Yet those 50 per cent of NWT citizens are asked to carry an even higher burden than other residents most of the time. In two short years as an MLA, I have learned a lot about the various things that drive up the cost of living here in Yellowknife.
The Alberta carbon tax has put increased costs on all goods transported into the territory. Our own forthcoming carbon tax will increase that even more.
It now costs more to fly in and out of Yellowknife airport due to new landing fees.
The Power Corporation has increased its rates by 33 per cent over the last six years, with another 4 per cent coming this year. Mr. Speaker, that's nearly 40 per cent in seven years.
Lease fees and permit fees for lands have gone up in some instances by over 100 per cent, and now the government wants to add a new land transfer tax on people buying homes.
Mr. Speaker, I know the cost of living in the small communities is higher than in Yellowknife, but Yellowknife residents pay more to subsidize people in those communities. Maybe that is unavoidable; maybe that is our duty as the capital city.
How long can this trend continue, Mr. Speaker? The government has the intention of increasing our population by 2,000, but why would they come here?
We know that our biggest private sector employers, the diamond mines, fly workers in from away. Workers could live here, but they choose not to because it's too expensive.
Now, Mr. Speaker, our own government is proposing a tax that will punish Yellowknifers even more for choosing to live here, for making a commitment to live in the North. A land transfer tax will disproportionately punish Yellowknifers for deciding to commit to living, working, and raising their families here.
That their own government, our government, would consider a new tax on the residents of the NWT, Mr. Speaker, that is just unfair, and it does not serve our mandate commitments for economic growth.
It is especially disheartening to hear from a resident who has decided, after years of living here, the he must uproot his family and move away, specifically because of how much it costs to live here. I got that email just last week, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, a land transfer tax will punish the very residents this government is committed to keeping in the North, and it will punish our government by reducing federal transfer funding. Mr. Speaker, it's a bad idea, and it should not go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently the Minister of Health and Social Services announced that the GNWT had finalized a bilateral agreement on health funding with the Government of Canada.
According to this announcement, the department will invest federal funding of about $6.7 million in mental health, addictions services, and home and community care.
For that last category, Northerners will see that money going to the implementation of InterRAl, a system for assessing long-term care needs, and the development of a Paid Family Community Caregiver Pilot Project.
This captured my attention, Mr. Speaker, because, like other places in the NWT, the communities of Nunakput are facing significant challenges in meeting homecare and elder care needs.
For example, Mr. Speaker, the community of Sachs Harbour used to have a dedicated resident homecare worker. That person served the elders in the community, helping them to age in place and to access the health services that, as Northerners, they have a right to. In communities like Sachs Harbour, positions like these can also help elders navigate the healthcare system, aiding in translation, and explaining prescriptions and complicated government procedures that some elders do not understand.
What I would like to see as well as my constituents, Mr. Speaker, is to see the reinstatement of this position in Sachs Harbour.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions to explore how the Minister and I can work
together to enhance the home and community care needs in Nunakput. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's great to see all the youth in the gallery here today. I do believe that we have some youth from the grade 6-7 Weledeh classes. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly. I hope you had a good tour this morning.
I also believe we have some exchange students from Quebec who are here. Welcome to the North and welcome to Yellowknife and the Legislative Assembly, as well as students from William McDonald. This is Education Week, as I have mentioned, Mr. Speaker, and I'd like to thank all the educators for all the work that you do. Mahsi cho.
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to recognize two Pages from Yellowknife South, Alden Tumoth and Ryder Ouellette-Landry, and also all the other Pages for their good work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my niece, Neve Short. She is visiting us here today from the William McDonald School. [English translation not provided.] Merci, Monsieur le President.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. [English translation not provided.] I would like to welcome the students from William McDonald school -- it's in my riding of Frame Lake -- and their exchange students from Quebec. Merci, Monsieur le President.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize the students from my past school, Weledeh School, that is located in the riding of Yellowknife North, and welcome all the other students that are here today. Thank you for coming.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce Renald Chiasson. He's a constituent of Yellowknife Centre, and he's been serving us as a Page for the last few weeks. I'd like to thank him for being here and to thank all the pages for their work. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about homecare services in Nunakput. Mr. Speaker, it's exciting to see the finalization of this bilateral agreement between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada, to bring home community care funding to the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is: when does the Minister expect that our communities can start to engage with the planned paid-caregiver pilot? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are going to be working over the next couple of months to create a number of options that we can go out and pilot with, either community caregiver or family support giver at a community level. We are hoping to have the pilots designed, at least for initial goaround, later in 2018. We are hoping to go out and start doing some piloting in 2018. I am happy to have conversations with the MLAs across the way, to help us set some priorities for where we might want to pilot some of these options. We know we want to pilot them in a variety of different communities: small communities, large communities, medium communities. So we are hoping to start that in the fall of 2018.
It's good to see that programs like this are starting to roll out across the territory. Mr. Speaker, in the interim and in the future, to provide a strong professional foundation to home and community care, what other actions will the Minister take to improve homecare, especially in our smallest and most remote communities? What are the options there?
Mr. Speaker, there's a number of things that are going on. In the last budget cycle, we had some additional dollars approved to create some more homecare positions across the Northwest Territories. Eleven positions were created, and a number of them were in small communities throughout the Northwest Territories. Most of them are filled. There are still a couple that we are out recruiting for.
At the same time, I committed to doing a homecare review of the entire Northwest Territories to assess the level of care that is provided in all communities, all regions, all areas of the Northwest Territories. The preliminary work has been done on that. We are developing the plan to move forward on that. We are hoping to get that work done during this upcoming fiscal year so that we can determine whether or not we are adequately resourced for homecare, home support workers across the territories.
In the meantime, we have a number of partners that we are working with, and work being done in the departments and the authorities, to support things like Elders in Motion, to provide palliative care. There are footcare options available in different communities throughout the Northwest Territories, through partners; chronic disease prevention and management. We've got vision screening that's done throughout the Northwest Territories. There are all sorts of types of things we are doing.
I think there are great partners out there, the NWT Seniors' Society and others, as well as different communitybased organizations. We are trying to work together as best we can to make sure those supports are available.
