Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'll just continue along with some of these questions with my colleague. Like I said, I have many constituents that are for the restrictions and some that are against. In my region there is a link between the Beaufort-Delta and Whitehorse, and they really want to know why and when, because we have no cases since April in both territories, that they can't travel back and forth once the road opens without having to isolate. Can the Minister explain why this can't happen? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can also advice that I am getting requests for considering to loosen up some of the borders, especially between Yukon and Alberta. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the issue for the record. There are a couple of things that people need to keep in mind because there are no active cases of COVID-19 in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon. Until very recently, we were prepared in phase 2 to open the borders between Yukon and Nunavut. However, once Yukon decided to open its borders to unrestricted travel from BC, with all of their active cases, we were no longer able to consider that. The same holds for Alberta where they have still many active cases. It's just not safe, and it could have a serious impact on our elders, our people with compromised immune systems, smaller communities. We can't take the chance, Mr. Speaker. There is nothing restricting any Northwest Territories resident from going to either the Yukon or Alberta to visit themselves. The restriction upon return is that they must self-isolate for the 14-day period. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I've also been getting questions about the role of Premier, Cabinet, and yourself agreeing with the advice and action from the Chief Public Health Officer in restricting the day-to-day activities of the residents and businesses of the Northwest Territories. Can you please outline the process that takes place in extending this public health order or instituting new orders?
In regular times, there is no role for the Premier, Minister, or Cabinet when the Chief Public Health Officer issues a public health order such as the whooping cough, TB, any sexually transmitted disease, and we find out about the same time as the general public. When we're in a public health emergency that I've declared on the recommendation of the Chief Public Health Officer, it is a different situation. The office of the Chief Public Health Officer now has regular briefs with the Premier, myself, and Cabinet on any new orders or amendments being developed, and then, we look at how to brief Cabinet, Regular Members, and then make the orders public. This is what's happens now and the lead up to the official announcement on easing up the restriction on phase two of Emerging Wisely. When we look at the extension of the public health emergency, the Chief Public Health Officer and I discuss, and if the same conditions that necessitated the declaration in the first place, if they still exist, as long as the conditions, meaning the public health risk, presented by COVID-19 to our smaller communities still exist, I am prepared to continue to keep signing off the extension of the public health emergency order.
In the Emerging Wisely document, there will only be a return to normalcy and lifting of all restrictions once there is a vaccine developed and sufficient people have been vaccinated. What will this government do if there is no vaccine developed in the next 12 to 18 months or the development of an effective vaccine or if they can't find one?
Right now, the office of the Chief Public Health Officer and the department and the government are focused on prepping for the second wave, which we're expecting to happen possibly this fall. With that and in the upcoming cold and flu season, it is probably premature for me to speculate as what we as a government may or may not do in the event of there being no vaccine until we get to the upcoming seven to eight months. Though there's nothing official going on, I would be not naive to say that there are not internal discussions going on within government departments and external organizations and governments on what should be done in the event the development of a vaccine is delayed or exclude research. We all hope that the development of an effective vaccine is successful within a reasonable timeframe. The federal Chief Public Health Officer has now stated that a vaccine may be two years from now. It's obvious if we can't develop an effective vaccine, that with the advice of the Chief Public Health Officer and noting how other jurisdictions are easing restrictions, we're going to have to come up with a plan for the Northwest Territories. I'm noting the fact that we remain at risk of community spread for as long as there are cases in the rest of Canada and also elsewhere.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
