Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to a competent public service that is representative of the people it serves. As Members would be aware, the GNWT has a variety of tools to achieve this goal including the Affirmative Action Policy that offers priority hiring to candidates belonging to eligible designated groups that are under-represented within the public service. Recently, the Human Resources Branch of the Department of Finance added two new diversity and inclusion initiatives aimed at further shrinking the gap of under-represented groups and make it easier for Indigenous northerners to access training and gain valuable on-the-job experience with the GNWT.
The Indigenous Career Gateway Program is intended for the Northwest Territories residents who are designated Indigenous Aboriginal Persons under the GNWT Affirmative Action Policy and interested in careers with the territorial government. The Department of Finance will work closely with departments to create entry-level positions and to develop individualized training plans for applicants who may not meet all the qualifications for typical positions posted. These individuals will be provided with a training plan that will help them acquire the skills and qualifications to gain valuable work experience that is often required for long-term employment with the GNWT.
This initiative, Mr. Speaker, supports the GNWT's priority to develop and maintain a diverse workforce that is representative of all the people it serves. In order to make this program as accessible as possible, interested applicants will be able to apply directly through the GNWT Careers website.
In addition, the GNWT has launched the Indigenous Management Development and Training Program. This program will help provide current Indigenous Aboriginal employees with necessary skills, training and work experience for career advancement.
The Department of Finance will provide financial support to departments, beyond existing training and education programs, to further the career objectives of Indigenous employees. Interested employees will be encouraged to work with their managers to identify education and training opportunities that could be supported through this new initiative. This program will also be an important tool as we address the challenges of our aging workforce and the need for additional succession planning.
Mr. Speaker, our people are the territory's greatest resource. Investing in the skills and qualifications of Northerners provides employment for our people and benefits all residents of the NWT. We all share the goal of our public service being representative of the population we serve. The reality is that work within the public service is getting more and more technical. Growth areas like healthcare-related occupations and scientific and technology based jobs all require support to ensure residents have the skills and abilities to take advantage of these opportunities.
To achieve our overall goal, we need more than hiring preferences. We need to develop the skills and experience of our population and to focus on the development of our existing workforce to help achieve their career goals. These two new initiatives help build on our existing programs and services, including developmental transfer assignments, our Leadership Develop program, and other training and education supports, the internship program, the summer student program, and the regional recruitment program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Ministers' statements. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, protecting our children from abuse and neglect and providing services aimed at keeping families healthy, safe and intact are fundamental priorities of this government. This is a priority for me personally, as well. Since joining the Legislative Assembly in 2007, both as a Regular Member and as a Minister, I have worked to ensure our Child and Family Services System is built around the philosophy that the best supports for children are strong and resilient families.
Our government has actively supported this philosophy through investments in early childhood development, strengthening our response to mental health and addictions, supports for on-the-land programming, addressing poverty, and engaging with communities in the development of community wellness plans. With the collaboration of our partners, we have also taken proactive steps to shape a better future for children, families, and communities served by the Child and Family Services System.
Mr. Speaker, the director of Child and Family Services, as part of their responsibility under the Child and Family Services Act, produces an annual report that details the activities undertaken over the year in this important program area. The report also outlines a number of key trends in the Child and Family Services System over a 10-year period. This offers a transparent process to track the progress and to help identify areas in need of focused attention. Mr. Speaker, later today I will table the 2017-2018 Annual Report of the Director of Child and Family Services.
Mr. Speaker, the 2017-2018 Annual Report shows a broad range of statistical data and trends relating to the number of children and families who have had interactions with our system through either child protection or prevention services. I would like to highlight some of these trends for you, which can be found in more detail in the report:
The rate of children under 16 years old receiving services is decreasing, whereas the rate of children 16 -18 years old receiving services is increasing;
The proportion of children removed from their home is decreasing;
The rate of voluntary service agreements is increasing; and
The rate of children in permanent care is decreasing.
Mr. Speaker, the report shows that, over the past 10 years, more children are remaining in the care of their parents while families receive services. For example, in 2008-2009, only 19 per cent of children were receiving services in the home, but in 2017-2018, 30 per cent of children received services while remaining in the care of their families. Supporting families to keep them together is a priority, and these figures show that we are successfully doing this more often now than we did before.
On April 1, 2016, as a result of changes to the Child and Family Services Act, extended support services agreements were introduced so that youth reaching the age of 19 who had been in permanent care could continue to receive needed support services as young adults, up to the age of 23. The number of youth taking up these services has steadily grown, and, in 2017-2018, 78 per cent of young adults leaving permanent custody chose to sign on to receive continued supports and services. In total there were 27 young adults who had voluntarily signed an extended support services agreement in 2017-2018.
Mr. Speaker, plan-of-care agreements are also used by the Child and Family Services System with families in which there is a child protection concern and the family wants to work collaboratively to address the concern. In 2017-2018, 37 per cent of children receiving services were subject to plan-of-care agreements, and this number has remained steady over the past decade.
One area that has increased significantly over the past 10 years, Mr. Speaker, is the rate of children and families receiving support through voluntary services agreements. Voluntary services agreements are designed to strengthen families and support the healthy development and wellness of children and youth. In 2017-2018, 27 per cent of all children receiving services did so through a voluntary service agreement.
Mr. Speaker, over the past several years, we have been focusing on building a culture of quality and improving services and outcomes for children and their families in the Child and Family Services System by engaging in an internal audit process. The 2017-2018 Annual Report includes a summary of the most recent annual internal audit.
It is clear through our internal audit results that workers are focusing on prevention services, as we have a high volume of voluntary service agreements, support service agreements, and extended support service agreements. Child and Family Services workers have noted that these agreements build positive relationships with families and encourage them to reach out when they need support services.
The internal audit also shows areas where we clearly need to improve, as there were insufficient compliance rates on many audited items across the Child and Family Services System. Interviews with lawful caregivers and children are not consistently being done in accordance with our policies and standards. Critical information for assessing the suitability of foster care services is not always completed or up to date. File organization and documentation also needs improvement.
Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge our weaknesses, and we are moving towards improving the system and supporting Child and Family Services workers' capacity to effectively deliver services that meet the needs of children and families requiring child and family services.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, the report includes a summary of major developments and future directions for the Child and Family Services System. This section of the report helps to inform our residents about the work going into system-wide improvement, including the implementation of new standards and practices.
Mr. Speaker, this work is primarily guided by Building Stronger Families: An Action Plan to Transform Child and Family Services, which was released in 2014 and is now going into its fifth year of implementation. The Building Stronger Families Action Plan was developed in response to an external audit of the Child and Family Services System in 2014.
Mr. Speaker, through Building Stronger Families, we have taken action to transform and improve the quality of child and family services for our children, youth, and their families. This includes the introduction of tools to support staff decision-making and case management, as well as improvements to system-wide information systems. These actions, as well as other work to train and support front line staff, strengthen our quality assurance processes to ensure that continuous improvement is embedded in our Child and Family Services System. While we have put in place the building blocks for a stronger system, I recognize that there are still significant challenges we need to address.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Child and Family Services workers. They are required to intervene in extremely difficult and complex situations, their workload is high, and staff is called upon to balance the overarching need to protect children and youth from abuse and/or neglect, while paying close attention to other critically important principles and values, including the importance of keeping a child within their family or extended family.
Child and Family Services workers need the support of supervisors, managers, and senior managers, and they also rely on an array of resources, including but not limited to foster families, extended families, and specialized care providers and supports. I would like to thank our staff for their work over the past year, which was well represented in the 2017-2018 Annual Report.
Mr. Speaker, while there are many challenges ahead for the Child and Family Services System, I have no doubt that we will continue to progress as a system, and as a society, to make a real difference in the lives of children, youth, and families in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife voters have chosen strong, business-oriented leadership for their city council. I am looking forward to working with them for community prosperity, not only in economic terms, but also for healing and recovery for our most vulnerable residents. Previous city councils have been valuable partners with the GNWT and non-profit organizations offering services to this population, and I hope that will continue.
Services to the downtown population of intoxicated individuals took a huge step forward last month when the sobering centre and day shelter opened together under one roof in my riding. The new combined facility is more than just a place out of the cold. In addition to expanded services for bathrooms, showers, and laundry, it is the new storefront access to health and social services programs, offering help to those ready to deal with addictions and find a way off the street. This is a huge and welcome shift.
With additional staff on site, clients can access programs for healing, anger management, and healthy relationships, as well as take part in activities. The combined location provides a focal point for partnerships with the city's outreach program, the RCMP, and the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, among others. All of this flows from an understanding that our fellow citizens are suffering and that non-judgmental support can reduce the harms of addictions, poverty, and homelessness.
I realize that high levels of street intoxication are a concern to all of us. As the MLA for Yellowknife's downtown riding, I field a lot of public concerns. I want to remind people that these problems are not the result of the presence of the day shelter, and that services must be offered where clients are found. The first day shelter was created as an effective response to a lack of a safe place to warm up, eat, and use the bathroom. Since the opening of the new centre, efforts have been made to tune up coordination of services to effectively direct clients to the centre.
I congratulate the Minister of Health and Social Services for championing the need for continually improved services and getting the program resources that are so hard to find. I will have questions for the Minister on where we go from here. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we live in a time when technology is changing many aspects of life. In many areas, this is beneficial, but elsewhere it is causing significant disruption, in particular the loss of jobs. Mining is a good example. What was once a dirty industry by every measure is now cutting-edge through the use of innovation and technology.
Mr. Speaker, some of the world's largest mining companies, including Rio Tinto, are moving to what is termed "intelligent mining." Automation is taking over underground excavators, and electric vehicles are being used. A process called X-ray diffraction is replacing core drilling to conduct metallurgic sampling to follow mineral veins. At the surface, the ore is being sorted by both sensor- and magnet-based applications, which separate the valuable product from the waste.
So what does our future look like, Mr. Speaker? As we look ahead, we need to embrace and fulfill our critical infrastructure needs, but we also need to look beyond traditional bricks and mortar and invest meaningfully in our future workforce.
Significant effort has already been undertaken by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment through the Skills 4 Success program. It identifies thousands of jobs that will be required in the coming years. In order to match the innovative ways of industry, these jobs will require a new assortment of skills.
More than half the occupations in the NWT as we know them today will undergo a significant skills overhaul in the next 10 years.
The gap between the demands of the future workplace and the skills of our current workforce is daunting. The NWT as a whole, including other orders of government along with business and industry, need to recognize this shared challenge. We must address it in order to equip our next generation workforce with the skills they need to find the jobs of tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, our future economic prosperity is not simply about retraining. It's about cultivating lifelong learning. This is how we will build a future for the next generation of Northerners. As technology and innovation continue to evolve, our willingness to understand, adapt, and inspire must follow.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that investing today in the skills that will unlock future prosperity is the smart way to prepare our young people for the future. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Advancing our Sahtu healthcare, Mr. Speaker, the official opening for the Sahtu Regional Health and Long-Term Care Facility by Minister Abernethy for Health and Social Services and Minister Schumann for the Infrastructure Department was held on August 27th in Norman Wells.
Mr. Speaker, over the past couple of months our region's medical clients and elders have come to realize improved primary healthcare and a modernized single accommodation. Mr. Speaker, the region has seen significant positions from this modern building, and the long-term care wings will accommodate 16 clients with two reservations.
Mr. Speaker, to date, one wing is fully operational. It is truly overwhelming to see the smiles of our elders when visiting this nice facility. More importantly, as we draw closer to the winter road season, neighbouring community relatives can easily visit their loved ones.
Mr. Speaker, on the issue of operational progress, later I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on the second wing. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the contributions of candidates to our local elections. Yesterday, many communities in the Northwest Territories had their polling days, and it was amazing to see the results, particularly because so many women were elected. The Legislative Assembly has made getting women into politics and changing our dismal statistics a key priority of our mandate and a key priority of the 18th Assembly; and if yesterday's results were anything to look at, I think we are starting to turn the corner in the Northwest Territories and seeing more women rise to positions of leadership within their communities.
Mr. Speaker, I will highlight a few of our newly elected women leaders in the territory. Here in the city of Yellowknife, Rebecca Alty was elected mayor of Yellowknife. She is joined on the council by Shauna Morgan, Cynthia Mufandaedza, and Stacie Smith. That represents three out of eight total council seats, which is 30 per cent of the council, which meets the goals that many democracies have put for themselves in transformative change for women's leadership in politics. I really commend all those councillors for coming forward.
It doesn't stop in just the capital city, Mr. Speaker. In Fort Smith, Mayor Lynn Napier-Buckley has been re-elected, another woman leader. Jessica Cox, Ann Pischinger, and Louise Beaulieu are all elected to council as well; another 30 per cent margin. So they have met their goal, as well.
In Hay River, Kandis Jameson has been acclaimed, and Linda Duford, Emily Chambers, and Sandra Lester have all been elected to council. That's another three out of eight, so we're doing really well, Mr. Speaker.
In Fort Simpson, Liza McPherson, Marie Lafferty, and Celine Antoine have all been elected, and in Inuvik, Nathasha Kulikowski has become the new mayor, along with Alana Mero and Reygan Solotki on council.
Mr. Speaker, these are great results and really encouraging for our future, and I hope we can look forward to a 19th Assembly when we see more women being successful in contesting ridings and bringing their input, their views, and their diversity and inclusion into this Chamber. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. When a constituent talked to me in the summer with concerns about wait times for audiology services, I did a little research and there is definitely cause for concern.
Data supplied to me by the Minister of Health and Social Services shows a trend of mounting demand and longer waiting times. In April 2014, there were 10 adult patients waiting for up to week. A year later, 152 patients were waiting 26 weeks. Wow. As of April this year, 180 patients were waiting 38 weeks.
As bad as the adult backlog is for audiology, it's even worse for children. The wait times for children have ballooned from 16 weeks in April 2014 to 70 weeks in April 2018, with 64 children on the wait list. Imagine 70 weeks waiting for an appointment. A child can go an entire school year without being tested or assisted with hearing difficulties. This is totally unacceptable.
It is my understanding that our audiology services are also provided to some western Nunavut communities. Travel clinics are also held in nine NWT communities. Other patients travel to Yellowknife or Inuvik for testing. When positions are full, we should have a staff of three audiologists and/or hearing aid practitioners. Not surprisingly, a combination of staff vacancies seems to have triggered the backlog, and it's been difficult to cut wait times when demand for services has also increased by almost 25 per cent over the last eight years.
The Minister has informed me that there should be a significant improvement in wait times with the staffing of the vacant position in Inuvik. I'm not holding my breath, and felt compelled to raise the issue of wait times for audiology here today.
I have a couple of suggestions for the Minister to consider, given the wait times for audiology. Firstly, could the funds not expended for vacant positions be spent on locums?
Secondly, I was surprised to learn that we have a huge audiology service backlog dating back to 2014-2015. Obviously, there is a need for greater disclosure of wait times across all medical services to ensure accountability and better focus our limited resources.
Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on the unacceptably high wait times for audiology services and how we can improve public disclosure and planning for wait times across all of our medical services. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'd like to talk about environmental conservation in the Northwest Territories and the need to include Indigenous governments in this effort. Earlier this year the federal government earmarked in its budget an unprecedented amount of money that is geared toward environmental conservation; $1.3 billion over five years, to be exact. This investment is reflective of the federal government's pledge to safeguard at least 17 per cent of Canada's lands and waterways by 2020.
Mr. Speaker, it is a very welcomed investment that our environment desperately needs; however, in order to fulfill these conservation targets, all sectors of our society and all levels of government must step up to help with these efforts. That means that our country cannot afford to have any of our partners sit this one out.
Thankfully, Mr. Speaker, our federal government can recognize that and is acting accordingly, because part of the planned use for this billion dollar-plus investment is to work closer with Indigenous governments in a way that both addresses reconciliation and provides further protections to Canada's most vital ecosystems.
Mr. Speaker, Indigenous-led conservation efforts are reshaping Canadians' understanding and practice of environmental conservation, because the importance of Indigenous knowledge has never been in a stronger position. This has been demonstrated across the country, from the creation of the Great Bear Rainforest on the coast of British Columbia to the creation of the Torngat Mountain National Park in Labrador. Moreover, closer to home, efforts are being put forward within the NWT. We see this with the creation of the Edehzhie protected area in the Deh Cho and the Thaidene Nene national park near Lutselk'e and the Ni Hat'ni Dene from Lutselk'e.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is perfectly positioned to work with the federal government to train guardians of the land. Both governments can work together at the renewable resource officer-level, even supporting education of guardians and park officers alongside renewable resource officers at Aurora College in Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, I feel it is the right time to bring guardians into the NWT, to safeguard land and water and to support industry by providing certainty and ensuring that all sectors of resource development projects are environmentally responsible and sustainable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday I had the honour of attending the grand opening of the brand new Marine Training Centre in Hay River. There has been some secrecy surrounding the centre, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I checked out the facility, I spoke with the staff, and, Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to say that it's the real deal.
Even though people have inhabited the area since time immemorial, the town of Hay River, as it exists today, exists because of marine shipping and commercial fishing. With both industries experiencing a resurgence, the training centre couldn't come at a better time.
It is operated by the Nunavut Fishers and Marine Training Consortium, a non-profit organization, which has its headquarters in Iqaluit and has been doing this type of work for years.
The centre is located in the old NTCL headquarters on Vale Island. That building sat vacant for many years, but now the centre is bringing new life into the area. The first floor has been completely renovated and looks brand new. The classrooms are bright and roomy, with plenty of space to spread out nautical charts. There are multiple bridge simulators, each housed in their own room, that can create a variety of environments. The two I saw demonstrated were New York Harbour and the ferry crossing at Tsiigehtchic. They also have a full array of brand new gear and one small craft, and a larger, multipurpose craft to assist with hands-on training may be on the way in the near future.
I talked to the staff, and they were all very excited about the grand opening. They have many decades of on-the-water experience between them, and they bring that into the classroom. What impressed me the most is that they're aware that not everyone learns the same way, and they're able to adapt their teaching styles, even teaching basic life skills, if needed.
Even though they just had their grand opening, they've actually been offering courses for the past few months, and not just in Hay River. They have put them on or have courses planned for the Hay River Reserve, Fort Resolution, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk.
Current and upcoming courses include Fishing Master IV, Small Vessel Operator Proficiency, Marine Basic First Aid, and the Bridge Watch Rating program, which allows those with little to no marine experience to become certified deckhands; and more courses than that, actually, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the courses are all free of charge.
Now, if this statement sounds like an advertisement, it's because it is. I want to get the word out so that everyone across the NWT knows and can take advantage of this great new facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thought I would take the opportunity to recognize the two people interpreting from my riding, Mr. Tom Unka, who is interpreting in Denesoline and Chipweyan, and Maro Sundberg, who is interpreting in Dogrib language, Wiilideh. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll go first. Mr. Speaker, today I spoke about the next generation workforce. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, my statement, as I mentioned, was talking about the need that we have in order to address the educational and skills gap due to the advancement of innovation and technology. I would like to ask the Minister: can the Minister describe how the Skills 4 Success program is helping us prepare for the future of work for our young people in these days of, call it, massive technological change? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Skills 4 Success document is actually, in my opinion, a great document. It was done in partnership with the Conference Board of Canada, and it was a 15-year forecast of the jobs that will be needed within the territories, so it's really important. There was a lot of work done with this. The Member was right. The occupations are changing. The way we do jobs is changing, so this is really critical. We're using this document to look at all of our educational programming and our training programs throughout the territories. We are also using it in our high schools within our pathways to help guide children on deciding what education they need to be able to achieve their career goals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for her reply. I, too, agree that Skills 4 Success is a great program. Like many programs, we've got to be able to have the ability to adapt on the fly when need be. I know that the Minister said previously, and, I believe, in the House yesterday, that she wasn't necessarily qualified to design educational programs, and that's understandable, and prefers to leave that to the experts. Will she agree that, as Minister, she will lead the department to anticipate technological and workplace change to prepare our students for the future work that will be very different in the future?
I would like to clarify about yesterday, for sure. Yes, I did make that comment. I should clarify. It's not that I can't make decisions. I can make decisions. I can decide whatever I want to decide. The reality is, I don't believe in doing that. I believe in best practices. Best practices means that you get the most qualified people around to give me advice to make strong political decisions. So I will correct that, to start with.
Then, absolutely, like I stated in the first answer, the Skills 4 Success is a very progressive document, in my opinion. I will be using that document. I will be giving direction to anyone who works with Education, Culture and Employment that they use that document, the forecast of what's going on, the changes within the job market for developing any programs, any courses that we offer. So yes.
Thank you to the Minister for that reply. I'm wondering: can the Minister commit that, given that the potential for potentially a new education institute in the form of a polytechnic university for the Northwest Territories might move ahead, that she will seek to build partnerships, but in particular with business and industry as well as with academia to help keep education for Northerners ahead of the curve, especially with the advancements of technology and innovation?
At one time in my life, there was a time when I thought I could do it all alone. I'm almost 60 years old, and I've realized that that's wrong. I do need people around me to provide me support. So yes, it's really important, actually, that we engage with all partners, the labour force, academia, everyone who has a stake in this. We cannot do this alone in isolation. This has to be a comprehensive, inclusive strategy as we move forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for her commitment to wanting to build relationships. These will be critical as we move ahead. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I spoke about a new initiative to combine traditional ways of knowing with modern design and innovation to create new, let's call it, knowledge clusters. Can the Minister talk about the importance of incorporating traditional knowledge with the new technologies to create a uniquely northern system of lifelong learning? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm going to try not to make this answer too long, because I could go on talking about traditional knowledge all day because I believe it's important to take that into consideration. This is the knowledge of our people. This is the knowledge of people who have brought history. It's not today's knowledge. It's historical knowledge that people have learned from, so we need to incorporate that into it.
I am going to use a concrete example, if I may, Mr. Speaker. When I was the Minister of Housing, I went up north to one of the communities, and we had built some senior's complexes. Because mainstream knowledge had said, build them along the street so that it looks nice from the street, we built them along the street. The reality is the people within that community kept saying, don't build them that way, because the wind blows and there will be a problem. We never listened, and you know what happened, Mr. Speaker? The wind blew, and we couldn't open the back doors. So yes, we need to incorporate traditional knowledge in what we do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We always learn the hard way. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. My statement applauded the way we have upped our game with the new day shelter and sobering centre, increasing the delivery of harm reduction and extending the hand of treatment and support. First, we'll need to see how this new setup is working out, and adjust delivery if needed. How does the Minister plan to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of this new program delivery model? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for her statement. I think the opening of the sobering centre and day shelter was an important day in Yellowknife North, an important day for the downtown core. I thank her and all the residents of Yellowknife for their support on this. I know there are some challenges, and we are certainly focused on safety of both our clients, our staff, as well as residents of the community, so we continue to evolve.
There are a number of different ways we hope to get some information, Mr. Speaker. We have put in place a number, a telephone number that residents in the neighbourhood could call to express their concern so that we can hear from our neighbours and modify the program, modify delivery to ensure that we are maintaining that safety that we're talking about.
We also have a contract with the NWT Disabilities Council. We've asked them to maintain some tracking of the individuals who are attending, how often, what kind of usage we're getting. We also have Health and Social Services staff going in there to utilize the front room for some of the reach-out to some of the clients who are in there, and we're putting in some evaluation mechanisms to monitor whether or not that is actually providing value in the services that the people are expecting and needing.
Outside of the evaluation, we are also working with other providers around town, like the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, who is using some of the program space in that facility to provide different types of programs on a rotating basis to meet the needs of some of our clients. We will continue to monitor what is happening in that building, and I look forward to having more discussions with the Member and Members about this particular facility and how it is evolving and working, or not working, as time goes on.
Thanks to the Minister for that answer. I think that monitoring the evaluation is very important to service delivery. I think that there are a number of jurisdictions watching this sobering centre to see what, in fact, we are able to accomplish here. I understand that the resolution of addictions is a difficult thing to measure, but I hope the Minister will do his best.
Since the opening of the new facility, I have received calls from concerned neighbours immediately adjacent to the new day shelter, and I think one of the things they would help is to increase coordination with the street outreach program to more proactively move people in distress off the street and into the sobering centre. Can the Minister say where we are on this suggestion?
Mr. Speaker, as I've previously indicated, safety is a primary concern for us as we work to deliver the services through this sobering centre day shelter. It's safety for our staff, safety for the residents, the client, but also safety for the neighbours who live or work immediately adjacent. We have put in the telephone number. We have shared it with neighbours, and we have asked them to please use the number. We need to hear their experiences. We need to learn from their experiences in order to improve what is happening around that facility.
With respect to street outreach, there is the Safe Ride Program who have done a significant amount of work, and I believe they have also been working with some of the individuals who utilize that facility to do more cleaning and other things around the facility so that bottles that are discarded are picked up more often.
Our challenge, obviously, is people who are using the facility. It's on a voluntary basis. People are participating in these programs. It's on a voluntary basis. I think there's been really great uptake, and I really applaud the NGOs who have been championing this, leading this, but there are some challenges. We can't mandate those activities at this point, but we would like to be supportive as much as possible.
The Minister touched on a complaint that I have had often, which has to do with the increased amount of litter surrounding the centre. To deal with this, I've suggested a more focused application of the Common Ground Litter Pick-Up Program, although I've heard that the money for this is sunsetting. Can the Minister say whether support has or could be given to extend this program, or whether there is another idea for picking up litter downtown?
