Debates of May 25, 2018 (day 29)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, I spoke about Inuit and Indigenous peoples’ participation in the development of Arctic policies. My questions are for the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Premier is: what is the Premier doing to ensure that Arctic Indigenous peoples’ priorities are brought to the forefront when engaging with the federal government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has advocated for the inclusion of Northwest Territories Indigenous governments, including the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and work around the Arctic Policy Framework.

At the Intergovernmental Council meeting in December of 2017, I agreed that the Government of the Northwest Territories would work collaboratively with Indigenous governments to develop a northern approach to the framework, including the Northwest Territories chapter.

Government of Northwest Territories officials held a roundtable discussion with Indigenous governments in January 2018 to get initial thoughts on the Arctic Policy Framework and what should go into a Northwest Territories chapter. We have also received written submissions and continue to meet with Indigenous governments.

When it comes to Arctic marine shipping and other Arctic policies, we are not involved significantly as a subnational government. The federal government guards their responsibilities very seriously, and we have minimal input into Arctic marine policy framework.

I should add that Arctic Indigenous peoples have more representation in international venues, such as the Arctic Council where they are permanent participants, than our own government does. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the response. It is good to see that the Premier and the GNWT is looking at all Indigenous groups, not just in the NWT, but looking at the relevance and the issues and concerns from other regions.

Mr. Speaker, my second question is: what has the GNWT's involvement been on the development of the Arctic Policy Framework?

The Government of the Northwest Territories is currently co-chairing the Provincial-Territorial Official Working Group of the Arctic Policy Framework. Drafting is underway for the front end of the Arctic Policy Framework and is being shared with Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, including the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

I thank the Premier for that. Mr. Speaker, my final question for the Premier: when we talk about Indigenous peoples, we talk about Indigenous knowledge and everything like that, as well. Language was here, as well. Mr. Speaker, how has the GNWT ensured that Indigenous knowledge is considered in the development of the Arctic Policy Framework?

A priority identified by the Northwest Territories Indigenous governments at the roundtable session in 2018 was the importance of the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in the Arctic Policy Framework. That priority has been shared with Canada, and we advocate for language that emphasizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge.

Indigenous governments and organizations across the North have also been vocal about the need for language around Indigenous knowledge during the roundtable sessions held by Canada.

I should add that Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami has the advantage of their own chapter. They also have input into the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter, the Northwest Territories chapter and also the Nunavut chapter, if they seek to do so.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Question 292-18(3):

Mandate of Minister of Education, Culture and Employment

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In my statement, I addressed three of my priorities. I would now like to hear what her priorities are for the next 18 months. Mahsi.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to start with saying I found it very interesting that the MLA actually expressed her mandates for education, culture and employment because, in my personal opinion, we need more women in leadership. Nothing against our Premier, I love our Premier, but wouldn't it be wonderful to see a woman Premier that could actually give mandates out to departments? I would like to start with that.

What are my mandates? Of course, I do have to listen to our Premier because I do respect him and I like the man very much. He has actually given me a direction that I have to abide by. I also recognize that I have to abide by the mandate commitments that were made at the beginning of this Assembly by all of us, together.

Personally, what I want to do on top of that, recognizing yesterday too that a really wise statement was said, that, when there are too many priorities, you have no priority, I took heed to that last night and I thought about that because that is true. However, I'm a workaholic, and I'm going to move forward.

What I would like to see done besides the mandates from the Premier, the mandates from the House, is I think we need to focus on early childhood development. One of the mandates is getting daycares into the communities. We have problems with drop-outs. We have problems with kids getting into schools, so I would like to see a daycare like a school, that becomes a hub for a community. I have already given direction to look at a pilot with that. If I can, the basic would be putting in a daycare into a community setting. The ideal would be putting a child development centre into a school setting. That's one thing I'm working on.

We need to look at our JK to 12, actually. We have children that are dropping out, so we need to look at what's going on. I'm a big supporter of the Pathways Program. I'm liking that we are going to be strengthening it to actually work with younger children so that we give them the choices and the options when they finish school and we talk to them about the skills they will need and the courses, the curriculum that they will need to be able to succeed in their future.

Post-secondary, definitely, it's been on the table for not only this Assembly, many Assemblies. We need to make sure that, not only our post-secondary, that every education support we have is based on best practices, that we look at making sure that we do cross-jurisdictional, we have measurable outcomes, we have evaluations in place. That's a priority for me.

Languages, absolutely need to do that. I was honoured to have the language officials here today because we need to strengthen them.

Income security, we need to look at that productive choice things. We need to look at self-employment in small communities and, if I can, move that into a productive choice. Because, in small communities, we have no employment, so let's see if we can look at self-employment options in our productive choices.

Masi. I see more of a written question coming out.

---Laughter

I appreciate the Minister's sincere efforts to answer my questions, and I'm really pleased that there is some overlap in our concerns. I want to look at childcare. I heard her say that she's got a pilot project. That's all well and good, but the mandate calls for not only accessible childcare but affordable childcare, so how is the Minister going to make childcare more affordable?

Before I took the new position actually, the previous Minister was working diligently at that. There were increases to the daycare providers, licensed daycare homes that were provided, a large increase for infants, a smaller increase for the older ages up to three, and then a small but still an increase for the after-school children. The junior kindergarten also is huge for parents. I had my own concerns about it when it was going through, and I'm happy to say that those concerns have been alleviated. Parents are saying it is working. They are saving money. Affordability is being addressed. We gave increases to junior kindergarten. A lot of parents are excited.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to discussing the Aurora College foundational review. I wonder if the Minister can give us a sense of how and when that is going to happen in public.

The Aurora College foundational review is one piece of the puzzle. The big thing is our post-secondary education. This is not something that should become political in he-said-she-said and what are you going to do about it. This is our future. This is critical, so I have made a commitment, and I would like to say, if I'm allowed, and I might get slapped on the hand after, but the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development is onboard as well.

We need to work as a whole government on this one, so I am not going to be the Minister to stand up and say, "This is what I am doing." I am going to be the Minister that says, "Let's work together to make sure that these are the best post-secondary options for our youth for our future, for our grandchildren, and many to come." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am going to ask that question again because I didn't hear an answer in it. What I asked specifically about the review is if the Minister could give us a sense of how and when we are going to discuss that document.

I apologize. The Member is correct. I should have been a little more blunt. I'm excited about the possibilities.

The document, the Aurora College Foundational Report, will be tabled next week. We are already in the process, so it will become public next week. We are already in the process of working with the standing committee on the review and how we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Question 293-18(3):

Child and Youth Care Counsellor Positions

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the last budget process, we talked about new positions called the children and youth council position, and we are very excited about it. However, there seems to be some confusion about a person's qualifications. Can the Minister briefly describe what qualifications these positions need to do the job? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the qualifications for the child and youth care counsellors and clinical supervisors are an extension of the current structure of the Community Counselling Program, where the knowledge, skills, and abilities (which are really the key to the job) are typically acquired through a Master's level education. This has been the case from the early stages of this current initiative. We have taken timely action to actively recruit for these positions. Information packages have been sent to post-secondary institutions with applicable programs, as well as Northwest Territories students enrolled in those programs. I'm pleased to report that these efforts have already resulted in a high level of interest from individuals enrolled in Master's programs from across the country, including individuals from the North who are excited at the possibility of returning to provide these new services.

I thank the Minister for that answer. It's great to hear all these things. Good things are happening, but can he please explain how they come up with the requirement of having a Master's degree for these positions?

Mr. Speaker, the child and youth counsellor initiative was developed at the table of the Interdevelopmental Child and Youth Mental Wellness Action Planning Working Group, a group put together to help us lead this initiative. The work of this group was guided by the feedback of Northwest Territories youth, who expressed that they wanted access to specialized mental health supports to assist them in the very serious and very complex challenges they are facing. In addition, they spoke clearly and strongly about the challenges of living in small communities and feeling apprehensive about accessing services because of perceived lack of privacy and confidentiality. The youth also spoke of the need to have professionals to talk to who are not necessarily related to them and/or friends or partners of their families.

The job description of the counsellors has been drafted on the needs expressed by the youth during these discussions. The qualifications for the positions are based on the requirements of the job and the professional knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to fulfill those requirements. Following GNWT protocol for drafting job descriptions, it has been determined that a Master's level education in counselling-related fields, such as clinical social work or psychology or educational psychology or even art therapy and other related jobs, is a typical way of an incumbent entering the field in today's market. As such, in our job descriptions, we identified the knowledge, skills, and abilities which are key, as well as how these skills are typically acquired, which, if you're entering the field today, is often through Master's preparation

I thank the Minister for that answer. When looking at the requirements of all these positions, you need a Master's of Social Work degree. We are looking at 49 positions, so that has a huge impact on it. It also has caused a huge issue for staff presently in these counselling positions who have years of experience, know the youth, but they don't have a Master's degree. Then I'm hearing rumors through the grapevine that, you know, that they're not even going to be looking at these positions here. So, can the Minister ensure that these people are getting a fair opportunity to do the job? I'm not asking him to give the job, but I want him to give the fair opportunity to do that.

I truly appreciate the Member's concerns as well as the concerns of some of the staff out there. The department has taken action to actively recruit for these positions, as I've previously indicated. I anticipate that the positions will be posted in the very near future and am hopeful that we will receive applications from many qualified individuals. Mr. Speaker, while a Master's level education is identified within the job description, as is the case with all GNWT competitions, equivalencies will absolutely be considered. A Master's degree is one way that an individual may develop the knowledge, skills, and ability as outlined in the job description. Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, we are looking for individuals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to provide the high-quality counselling services that the youth are demanding. Decisions will be made on competencies to perform the job, not just the educational qualifications that typically lead to these knowledge, skills, and abilities. So we will be working with our current employees, and, where appropriate, they will have opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer because we can reassure our staff out there and the people that are doing a great job. I mean, I know in my riding and my colleague's riding from Deh Cho, we have two really good people out there that are doing a great job and doing really good work with our youth, and so I appreciate that. Can the Minister explain, though, we have a Master's degree for both the supervisor and the counsellor's position. What's the difference? I would have assumed that, you know, you'd have a social work degree and then you'd have the Master's degree actually supervising that. So can the Minister explain what the different roles are with these two positions, and the qualifications?

Mr. Speaker, clinical supervisors are also professional counsellors requiring the same level of knowledge, skills, and abilities typically acquired through a Master's level education, as I've previously indicated, similar to the counsellors. However, they are also typically senior counsellors who, in addition to the counselling education and experience, have often undertaken additional training in management or supervisory areas that allow them to have the knowledge, skills, and ability to provide that supervisory responsibility and/or leadership responsibility. So, yes, they both need to have the Master's, typically have the Master's in counselling, but they also need additional skills in order to provide that supervisory and management responsibility. So it's the same plus, if you will. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Question 294-18(3):

Status of Fort Mcpherson Elders Facility

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister: what were the reasons for the recent halt of work to the elders' home in Fort McPherson? Thank you.

Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of it is the building seasons that we have to do work up in the high Arctic. There were also some discovered structural design issues with that, and we had to do a new design, get a new consultant to develop a design, and then get that to us at the Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, you know this is a serious issue, but it's kind of funny because these issues were identified during the negotiations with the new contractors, and I'm glad that the department woke up and smelled the coffee and realized that this work needed to be done. So I'd like to ask the Minister: when can we see construction starting up again for the summer months?

On Monday, the NWT Housing Corporation is going to be meeting with the current contractor as well as the structural engineers to look at the redesign, and, as soon as the ferry opens and the road opens, we'll start working on that building again.

Mr. Speaker, I know this put a little delay in the construction, but I'd like to ask the Minister: are we still on target to complete the elders' home for the fall?

Yes, we're still on target for this fall. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.