Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Businesses across the Northwest Territories have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but perhaps none more so than our tourism sector. The tourism sector was one of the first hit by the pandemic and will likely be amongst the last to recover from its effects. Northwest Territories tourism is reliant on national and international travel. However, for the time being, our borders must remain closed to protect the health of our residents and our small and remote communities. We recognize that this is happening at a cost to business owners and entrepreneurs in the Northwest Territories. For those whose livelihoods are built around attracting and welcoming visitors to our territory, the impacts have been significant.
As we mark National Tourism Week this year, we continue to work with the Government of Canada to identify a measure of relief for the Northwest Territory tourism industry that is reflective of the impact that is being felt and the significance of the tourism sector to our economy. The advocacy of our territory's tourism association on behalf of our tourism industry has been instrumental in helping us increase the overall awareness in Ottawa of the need for specific and regionally appropriate support programs.
The federal government is listening. As a result of our work, CanNor's Northern Business Relief Fund was introduced and significantly expanded relief options for Northwest Territories and Indigenous businesses. We were also able to secure additional support for the North's airline industry, which a large portion of our tourism sector relies on. We know that some of our tourism operators have accessed relief from this fund, but we still have work to do. In the coming weeks, Premier Cochrane will be bringing the challenges faced by our tourism sector to the attention of the Prime Minister, asking for more funding under the Northern Business Relief Fund to address the specific needs of our operators and tourism businesses.
Meanwhile, as Northwest Territories businesses begin to resume operations across the territory, and we take steps to recover our economy, we have re-introduced our Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development program, also known as SEED for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. It represents $4 million dollars of investment into businesses in our communities.
Similarly, we will inject almost $4.4 million into parks infrastructure, tourism product development, and community infrastructure projects this summer; supporting local suppliers, contractors, and employees as we improve our tourism products for the future. We will be waiving tourism insurance requirements and licensing fees for the 2020¬21 season as another means of short term relief.
Mr. Speaker, in the wake of COVID-19 the landscape of tourism in the Northwest Territories has changed. We are already considering how our next tourism strategy can be adapted and its funding approach redefined to support the economic recovery of our tourism sector. To this end, we are once again engaging with our tourism sector specifically to understand the level to which their businesses and operations have been changed.
As we do so, we can take some comfort in what hasn't, and will not, change. With its wild natural beauty, rich cultures, midnight sun, and Aurora Borealis, our North remains as attractive as ever before.
Northerners will always be warm and welcoming; our industry vibrant and resilient; and our tourism product spectacular. It will take time, and it will take work, but we will recover. Our borders will open and our North will once again take its place as one of the world's most spectacular tourism destinations.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was happy to hear the Minister just now speak of SEED funding, and I'd like to take that a step further with her today.
Mr. Speaker, our NWT businesses need aggressive, innovative stimulus programs and an influx of cash so they can start the long journey of regenerating our northern economy. I was pleased to hear that ITI has topped up its SEED program by $140,000, to $4 million, to support new, innovative proposals that reflect the realities of the post-COVID-19 economy.
The program guidelines provide that funding should support forward-looking business proposals aimed at supporting employment, creating new business opportunities, or positioning businesses to recover and grow. Applicants should also demonstrate innovative approaches, ideas or solutions to the current economic operating environment. This top-up is welcome, Mr. Speaker, and I congratulate the Minister for finding the funding from within. However, I am concerned that the program, which was not designed to support existing businesses, will do little to help longstanding NWT businesses in this COVID-19 world.
SEED stands for Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development, and the new program was specifically designed to give new businesses the opportunity to take root. As it stands today, the policy guiding the SEED program contains a market disruption clause which gives ITI the authority to deny funding to anyone offering services similar to another business. Unless this is remedied, Mr. Speaker, most of our long-time established northern businesses will not qualify for SEED program funding. Most marketplace evolutions take place gradually, allowing entrepreneurs the time to determine how to make their businesses into living organizations that grow with the world around them so they do not risk losing out.
Mr. Speaker, COVID did not offer a gradual evolution to business owners. One day, the North was operating business as usual, and then, the next day, businesses were forced to close their doors. In this context, market disruption should be the least of our concerns.
Mr. Speaker, GNWT programs must be fluid, capable of change in a new world that shifts daily in response to COVID-19. SEED is a great opportunity to use existing GNWT dollars to regenerate our economy, but it needs further tweaks to ensure that as many northern businesses as possible can access the program.
I look forward to a productive discussion with the ITI Minister on how we can work together to evolve SEED to best support the regeneration of NWT businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] When we look at the hospital, there's a lot of people in the hospital. We wonder sometime how they are being taken care of. When you're hospitalized with an illness, there's the discomfort of the treatment and worry about the recovery, and the heightened fear of the COVID-19. When you're a unilingual Dene elder in an English-speaking medical world, it's more stressful for the patient. During the daytime, the Stanton Hospital provides interpreters, but once their shift is over, the interpreters are not available. What happens after 5:00 p.m., when there are no interpreters? What happens to the elder, and how are they to communicate? Who is interpreting for them after hours? Sometimes in the evening, the patients are asked to take medication, and they are not able to communicate anything to the nurses. This is a very important issue. A lot of elders had brought this concern to me. They said that, once they are in the hospital, the interpreters are not available after hours, and they say that they are not able to talk to the nurses, at all. I think it's important that an interpreter should be available after 5:00 p.m. because we have a lot of elders who speak their language, and they are unilingual. I will ask the Minister of Health and Social Services on how Stanton Hospital operates with the interpreters after hours. Masi. [Translation ends]
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statement. Member for Deh Cho.
[English translation not provided] ... prohibition order in place. I'll use the short form as "TPO" for that. This is the prohibition of all alcohol within the area of the community. There is a means to stop the flow of alcohol into the community as the consumption of excess alcohol leads to many social problems.
Mr. Speaker, it is known that the continued use of alcohol for prolonged periods of time eventually puts a strain on the healthcare system and has a significant impact on the resources of the RCMP, not to mention significant impact on the lives of friends and families.
In my community, the RCMP were doing double duty. They are not only tending to their regular duties, but include chasing down party-goers who were in contravention of the Chief Public Health Officer's orders banning all gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic. The RCMP were dealing with a host of alcohol-related incidents, including physical assaults and sexual assaults, all from the excess consumption of alcohol stemming from the free-flow of funds from the COVID-19 initiatives.
My community of Fort Providence, a population of around 750 people, requested the TPO, but according to the NWT Liquor Act, if there is a liquor establishment within the community, then there would be no issuance of a TPO; the community would have to go to the community-wide plebiscite route. This takes up a lot of resources to pull off, and it does take some time, the same formalities as an election, and we know how long that would take, and all of that during the time of a pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Finance at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, during my response to the Commissioner's opening address the other day, I outlined the need for the Fort Smith corrections complex to resume the rehabilitation focus that was once offered there. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, the majority of the facility's inmates are Indigenous people and are products of the multigenerational impacts of residential schools and colonialization. Given this history, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, provided calls to action outlining the need for rehabilitation to be a key part of the correctional programming for all levels of government.
Mr. Speaker, to carry this idea further, I also mentioned in my speech that, since part of the rehabilitation process includes an educational component, I think that the town of Fort Smith has a very unique opportunity to offer inmates the chance to attend Aurora College to help themselves improve the quality of their lives. This would give inmates a chance at a fresher start and possibly to return to their home communities with new skills and certifications.
This idea would be a win-win for everyone involved as it would benefit Aurora College, the corrections complex, as well as the inmates themselves, and since this program has already existed in the NWT, the logistical infrastructure to enact this program should not be too cumbersome to get under way. Therefore, the only barrier is a matter of the political will.
Mr. Speaker, the people in our corrections systems are important, too, and they deserve good care, treatment, and rehabilitation, just as anyone else. I will have questions for the Minister of Justice later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Downtown Yellowknife is home to many businesses that have been hard-hit by the lockdown resulting from the pandemic. The Chief Public Health Officer ordered some businesses to close, such as restaurants and bars, hair salons and barbers, dentists, and yoga studios, to name a few. Our once-thriving international tourism industry is on its knees. Other businesses have adjusted their operations to comply with the public health orders by allowing a limited number of people in and reducing hours to accommodate extra cleaning.
Mr. Speaker, the result of these changes has been dramatic. Some businesses had no revenue coming in at all and still don't. Tourism operators have no hope of seeing international visitors for at least a year and have started to close. Businesses that stayed open have seen their revenue fall by as much as 90 percent. Owners are worried about how to keep their staff, how to pay their rent, and what to do about inventory on order.
To put it bluntly, the GNWT has been less than helpful in this situation. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment announced a business advisory council would bring the business sector together to chart a course through this unprecedented shutdown. More than two months later, we are still waiting for the Minister to launch the council. Meanwhile, in the Yukon, their council of businesspeople went to work within days of being announced. They created a unique $10 million business support program three weeks later. Here, in the NWT, the Minister's efforts to support business with BDIC has resulted in a total of $1.6 million being spent. That's in spite of the fact that BDIC has a surplus of over $30 million. Other new initiatives for small business amount to fiddling while Rome is burning.
Mr. Speaker, we often hear that homegrown small business is the heart of our economy, but the GNWT has not treated the sector in a way that acknowledges the value it provides. Sure, BDIC is offering loans and interest deferrals, but many businesses are leery about going further into debt because they don't know how they will repay the money. Fortunately for northern small business, the federal government has taken up some slack by providing grants through the Northern Business Relief Fund, but that doesn't let GNWT off the hook. The GNWT has been missing in action when it comes to putting its money where its mouth is by supporting small business. I will have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to talk about the relationship between our government and Indigenous governments. At the beginning of the 19th Assembly, we had a very good roundtable discussion with representatives from all of the Indigenous governments and small communities, and we did that at the Tree of Peace here in Yellowknife just before the portfolios were handed out. That was actually the first meeting that we have ever done. That made me very happy. I thought that was a good direction to go as a group in the 19th Assembly.
During that meeting, we heard very clear from the community and Indigenous leaders that this government must listen better and act on what has been agreed on and what it has decided upon to move forward in any types of meetings. In addition, Mr. Speaker, we also sat down and broke bread as a group with Chief Yakeleya and the Dene Nation after the portfolio assignments were handed out. It was here. We started some dialogue on how we would go ahead moving forward in unison.
Mr. Speaker, I think that we're at a point now where we're starting to drop the ball a little bit in terms of meaningful consultation and productive engagements with our Indigenous governments. I just want to emphasize "meaningful consultation." I have a couple of particular examples, and what I am referring to is the liquor regulations during this COVID crisis, with the amount of alcohol that is being sold, and also the dial-a-bottle issue. This implementation of these two regulations, I felt, was very much unilateral in its nature.
Mr. Speaker, the decision to go ahead with the dial-a-bottle was strongly opposed by the vast majority of Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories. They voiced their concerns, yet those concerns seemed to fall on deaf ears. As a government, we must incorporate a constant feedback loop in which we hear and incorporate ideas from our Indigenous leaders. It is very important that we keep a strong connection and maintain open dialogue on both sides.
Marsi cho, and I will have questions for the Minister of Finance, who oversees the liquor regulations. Marsi cho.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have seen significant change to the way we do work during this pandemic. We have seen parents juggling both childcare and their jobs, virtual care being delivered from back porches, and work emails delivered in the middle of the night. I, myself, have practically moved my office into my constituency assistant's living room.
If the work week doesn't change as a result of the last few months, we'll have learned nothing, Mr. Speaker. I am not just talking about within government, but globally. Two lessons I believe we should take away from the recent response to COVID-19 are:
1. All people have different needs, and there is no one ideal working environment.
2. People work better when they are rested and their mental health is prioritized.
Mr. Speaker, to realize these lessons, I believe that we should continue to allow GNWT employees to work from home, even after restrictions have been lifted. I am happy to see, in the recent plan for GNWT workers returning, that childcare considerations and accessibility concerns will be prioritized. I think we need to continue that and make it a lasting legacy of COVID-19. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I believe we need to explore the idea of implementing a four-day work week for those workers who want it.
Many GNWT staff will be working from home for the foreseeable future. There is a possibility that, even when restrictions ease and GNWT employees can return to their offices, many will prefer to stay home. I see this as an opportunity to improve working conditions for those who prefer to work from home. As days grow longer, I see no better time to implement a four-day work week. If we want to encourage domestic tourism, Mr. Speaker, why not give summer long weekends to all of our residents?
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that this will take some time, but I believe we can start now temporarily and see what works and what doesn't work. I believe we should reach out to businesses in the private sector to see what barriers they see to implementing a shorter work week. I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Human Resources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to rise in regard to the NWT Power Corporation's response to the pandemic. My riding of Nunakput, Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok, and Tuktoyaktuk, are the most coastal communities in our territory and have little or no industry, no economy. Our people in Nunakput were struggling to make ends meet before this pandemic hit, Mr. Speaker.
Now, things are going even harder. We are still in the early days, and we are still in the pandemic. We are emerging from our lockdown of this pandemic. We are faced with a potential second wave of COVID-19 this fall. At this point, we have no idea when we will put the crisis behind us. We have no idea when the global airline industry will recover. From the long-term impacts of our high cost of food in the communities, I don't know if we will be able to welcome tourists back into our territory. Even the businesses, our government has curtailed. It's the backbone of northern economy, Indigenous governments, organizations cancelling assemblies, music festivals for this up-coming summer, which brings into our communities little funds to make ends meet during the summer.
Mr. Speaker, this is the reality now, the reality that the GNWT has to do everything in its ability to support our people in the communities, all 33 communities. As I said in this House before, many times, the cost of power in the NWT, especially in the remote communities, in my riding are paying the highest rates across the territory. The biggest financial challenge is to people, single mothers, having to pay their bills, having to choose. I am happy with regard to COVID-19 hitting because now people can live a little bit and get the little bit extra, what is needed.
NTPC removed this and suspended limiters. I was happy that the Minister did that. I thank him for that, and I wish this would be an ongoing thing when we come out of this pandemic. I want my constituents to know that I reached out to the Minister responsible for NTPC and instructed to make exceptions to late power bills, to ensure that there are no disconnections and late fees until we put this crisis behind us. We are still in that pandemic, Mr. Speaker. NTPC is run by a board of directors of bureaucrats. Now, we should let them know, tell them, "Let's keep doing what we are doing in regards with limiters, to keep on doing the right thing."
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, like I said, we are in extraordinary times. The GNWT cannot expect to continue running NTPC as a government business enterprise. In fact, the auditor general has determined that it's not an arm's-length operation. That is something else this government should be addressing. For now, however, Mr. Speaker, our small communities need assurance that they will not be facing long, cold winters indoors with no power, with these limiters on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister. Thanks.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. On April 17, 2020, the federal government announced $1.72 billion in financial assistance for the remediation of orphan and inactive oil and gas wells in Western Canada. This includes:
Up to $1 billion to the Government of Alberta;
Up to $400 million to the Government of Saskatchewan;
Up to $120 million to the Government of British Columbia; and $200 million as fully repayable loans to the Alberta Orphan Wells Association to support its work to clean up sites across Alberta.
There are currently about 4,700 orphan wells in Alberta, 600 in Saskatchewan, 350 in B.C.; inactive oil and gas wells: 91,000 in Alberta, 36,000 in Saskatchewan, 12,000 in B.C. I think there are some lessons there about how not to do oil and gas development, as well.
As part of this funding, the Government of Alberta has committed to implement strengthened regulation to significantly reduce the future prospect of new orphan wells. This will create a sustainably funded system that ensures taxpayers are not left bearing the costs of the environmental responsibilities of companies. The funding program will have oversight from a federal-provincial committee, and the federal government will ensure municipal and Indigenous engagement.
What does all this mean for us here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker? While all of this is good news for the energy sector, we need similar federal investment here in the Northwest Territories to drive economic recovery and remediation of long-standing contaminated sites. The Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory shows 1,647 sites in the Northwest Territories, with an estimated assessment and remediation cost of $12.375 billion. The GNWT 2018-2019 public accounts show a total of 285 sites under our jurisdiction with a cost of remediation estimated at $70.6 million. What I am calling for is federal assistance to accelerate work on all of these sites and for our Premier to make sure that this a priority in her discussions with federal, provincial, and territorial counterparts on economic recovery. It may even be possible to work with Yukon and Nunavut to push for a dedicated, accelerated Northern contaminated sites initiative.
Later today, I will have questions for the Premier on whether she is willing to take this on to secure federal investment for the remediation of contaminated sites as a part of our drive towards economic recovery. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Residents of Hay River are wondering what is happening with the security on our border on Highway No. 1. Last evening, I received a call concerning a person who arrived in Hay River and was visiting job sites, attempting to sell mechanic tools. I was informed this individual was from Alberta and entered the NWT as an essential service. In Hay River, we have businesses that sell tools; we have a retailer that has his own truck filled with tools that is sitting at home because he is following our rules.
Mr. Speaker, a second complaint involved a person who once resided in Hay River, still owns property in Hay River, but has been living in the South for a number of years. The person, if not living in the NWT, I assume would not have the appropriate NWT identification, as it is a requirement to change driver's licence and healthcare if you are not a resident here.
In the first instance, as far as I know the person did not self-isolate and visited businesses around the community. In the second example, the person did self-isolate, which was confirmed through Facebook posts. Mr. Speaker, the MLA for the Deh Cho discussed border security issues yesterday. With all the complaints we hear concerning border security, we could continue these statements until a vaccine is found for COVID-19.
I want to be clear. I do not fault the personnel working the border. They are restricted by the information or lack of information they are working with. There will continue to be gaps and grey areas. Everyone has a story. Everyone has a reason to want to cross into the NWT. Some are valid. Some pull at the heart strings. Others are fabricated.
The people of the Hay River and the South Slave want answers on the level and quality of security this government is delivering at the border. We are telling our residents to believe in us, to be patient with us, and to conform. However, they see non-residents coming in and not following the orders established by the Chief Public Health Officer. I know they are becoming discouraged and for good reason. It is time to give them some real answers. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today, I have to say, "Thank you," that we have two Tlicho interpreters, Harriet Paul and Maro Sundberg. We know it's very important to get our message across, for your information. Thank you [translation ends].
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize our interpreters for Chipweyan. I would like to thank Tom Unka and Arthur Beck. They are coming up from Deninu Kue. Marsi cho for your service. [English translation not available]. Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to see the GNWT slowly bringing some of our workers back to the office, those who are needed. I have seen flexibility and had a number of constituents help navigate their issues such as childcare. I hope to continue to see that flexibility from the Department of Human Resources. My question is: will the department be developing a work-from-home policy that extends beyond the measures imposed by COVID-19? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Human Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the interest of brevity, Mr. Speaker, I will simply say the work is already under way, and we will certainly continue. Thank you.
I am happy to hear that. Would this policy similarly allow more flexibility in hours, such that if a worker wants to work later, on weekends or evenings. Perhaps we could get the Department of Motor Vehicles open on weekends if our workers were a little more flexible. Will the plan include that, Mr. Speaker?
The Government of the Northwest Territories actually provides quite a variety of flexible options as it is. The challenge sometimes becomes that it is spread out over different departments, so that it comes down to individual departments, divisions, and supervisors. There already are flexible work weeks ago, flexible shifts and hours, to a large extent. The Government of the Northwest Territories certainly makes those efforts, and we are going to continue to make those efforts.
I would just say that, in light of what's happening right now and the experiences with COVID-19, the experience of having more people working from home is certainly going to inform those efforts at human resources, but also, I suspect within individual divisions, departments, and supervisors, as they see what exactly the possibilities of working from home can involve.
One of my concerns during this pandemic is that there are certainly many departments who are working on overdrive and all of those workers are working overtime. Many have been redeployed to other departments, and then I hear concerns that certain departments have essentially been put on hold, and some workers are wondering what to do. I think a solution to this is further redeployment, and also, I think one way to booth domestic tourism would be a four-day work week for some workers. I think we could start that this summer. Is that something the Minister of Human Resources is willing to consider?
It certainly is nice outside, so I can imagine a lot of people would enjoy a four-day work week right about now, or anything less than the work week many of us have. Some of that work has actually been done in the past; it has been looked into, and I certainly would commit to looking into it myself and seeing what's available. It may well be that some sort of flexibility can be found, but all I can say for now is that I've also been alive to the news reports that are coming around right now in the pandemic and looking for some more flexible options. At the very least, I'll certainly commit to saying that I'm going to look into it and see what we have available to us.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to hear that, and I look forward to continuing those conversations. Similarly, our society is operated on a Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00, schedule for many decades now, and it's difficult, at times, for the private sector to break away from that, as there are a few key industries and businesses who necessitate that model, and then everyone must follow suit. Can the department reach out to those stakeholders? I think, in this territory, which is so small, we could be a little bit more nimble and flexible and reach out to private industries and see what barriers they see to implementing a four-day work week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
