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Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021

Government Bill

19th Assembly, 2nd Session

Introduced on Nov. 4, 2020

Events

Timeline of key legislative events

  • First Reading
    Completed Nov. 4, 2020 (Debate | Vote)
  • Second Reading
    Completed Nov. 4, 2020 (Debate | Vote)
  • Third Reading
    Completed Nov. 4, 2020 (Debate | Vote)
  • Commissioner's Assent
    Completed Nov. 5, 2020 (Debate)
  • Status

    Bill Text



    Related Votes

    Nov. 4, 2020 Passed Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021, be read for the third time. Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded vote. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
    Nov. 4, 2020 Passed Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021, be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
    Nov. 4, 2020 Passed Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021, be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

    Discussion & Mentions

    Assent To Bills
    Assent To Bills

    November 5th, 2020

    Page 1722


    See context

    Commissioner Of The Northwest Territories Hon. Margaret Thom

    Now, as Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, I am pleased to assent to the following bills:

    • Bill 15, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2020
    • Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act
    • Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act
    • Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act
    • Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021
    • Bill 22, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2021-2022

    Mahsi cho, thank you, quyanainni, merci beaucoup, koana.

    Recorded Vote
    Third Reading Of Bills

    November 4th, 2020

    Page 1687


    See context
    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote: 13 in favour, four opposed, zero abstentions. The motion is carried.

    ---Carried

    Bill 21 has had third reading. Third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

    Recorded Vote
    Third Reading Of Bills

    November 4th, 2020

    Page 1687


    See context

    Deputy Clerk Of The House Mr. Glen Rutland

    The Member for Great Slave, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Monfwi, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

    Recorded Vote
    Third Reading Of Bills

    November 4th, 2020

    Page 1687


    See context
    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    Thank you. All those opposed, please stand.

    Recorded Vote
    Third Reading Of Bills

    November 4th, 2020

    Page 1687


    See context

    Deputy Clerk Of The House Mr. Glen Rutland

    The Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Nunakput.

    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    Thank you. The Minister has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.

    Caroline Wawzonek

    Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

    Thank you, Madam Speaker. The total costs so far of the COVID-19 pandemic is $175 million. The COVID secretariat is just one part of that. We have already received more than half of that, over $92.5 million from the federal government. The federal government has been a good partner with this fight. Every province and territory is fighting this fight. The COVID secretariat is just one -- I'd say, it's quite a small part of what we're doing, Madam Speaker.

    Whether we call it a secretariat or whether you call it a task force or whether you call it the COVID umbrella, it really doesn't matter. What matters is the work that they're doing. Right now, Madam Speaker, it is the primary response message that we have to implement the orders of the Chief Public Health Officer. The Chief Public Health Officer is the person in this territory who is best placed to model, to understand, to figure out the evolving nature of a disease that is sweeping across the world. She is the one that's at the front end at the front line of figuring out how to respond to something that no one has ever been asked to respond to before. The COVID secretariat is one small thing that we are doing here to help implement the orders that she's bringing out in the best interests of the health and safety of all the residents of the Northwest Territories.

    Back in March, when it was a crisis, an emergency that everyone was having to respond to, that is when the work began. Madam Speaker, at that time, developed the response that included the isolation centres because we didn't want anyone coming back from away and elsewhere in Canada or internationally, even at the time, coming back and going into a small community where there aren't health centres, where there is overcrowding, where people have low health indicators. Those are all risk factors for COVID-19. No one is not alive to that. We're extremely alive to that, and that is exactly why we have the isolation centres; why we have the border restrictions; why we have the border patrols; why we have the patrols at the airports because we can't let this disease get into small communities or out into regions where it would potentially have devastating consequences.

    And initially, as my colleague has just mentioned, Madam Speaker, it was individually department by department, staff person by staff person being asked to do things outside of what their job descriptions were in order to be able to be on the front lines in an urgent situation. That is not sustainable, Madam Speaker. Figuring out who was doing what, putting it all together, gathering it up, the Department of Finance did bring together the actual amounts that were spent in the first few months when all of this work, all of this same work was already happening as part of our response when we were keeping COVID-19 out of the territory. For a large part, we have had very few cases, Madam Speaker.

    We put all of that together. We looked at those actual numbers, and those are the numbers that inform the cost of the COVID secretariat. The projections that we have here are based on the actual costs spread across all of the departments, only now, they are being brought together. Now, we can put it out on the Department of Finance website. Now, it is transparent. Now, I can, month by month, report exactly on what the costs are because it's all been brought together. Now, we don't have to take people away from the front-line work that they're doing in other departments because they have somewhere else where they are coordinated to do that work, where we figured out which positions needed to be filled that couldn't be double filled or filled by redeployments who were then off of their other jobs. We figured that out in a coordinated way, and that is what's happening under this COVID secretariat.

    Is it a best practice? Well, Madam Speaker, I don't know that anyone knows the best practice just yet. That is exactly the challenge of governing is to figure out the best practice as quickly as possible in an urgent situation to make sure that people are safe. Madam Speaker, CBC noted that, on November 3rd, in Canada, there were 71 deaths from COVID-19, yesterday. When we were debating this, there were 71 deaths in Canada from COVID-19. A week ago, there were 362 cases in Indigenous communities in Canada. This week, it's at 500. Again, reported on CBC. Madam Speaker, I am sad for my Canadian colleagues and friends and neighbours, but I am also thankful that we are not facing that level of pandemic here in the territories. Let's be honest, Madam Speaker. Some of that's just luck, but some of it is due to the response that we've had since day one, and it's a response that we want to continue.

    Madam Speaker, $8.7 million is a number that's been put out there. What that is is the projected cost of just under $32 million to the end of the fiscal year, taking away what right now is the amount of federal funding that we've received that we're able to put towards a secretariat, leaves just over $8 million which would be GNWT funded. That money is not exclusively for employees. That money is meant to perform all of these different functions from border patrols to airport monitoring to the isolation centres to various contacting functions, NWT protect, as well as the communications and some policy development because we are not done in evolving our response. Just as the disease is evolving, of course, the response has to evolve.

    As was made plain very much yesterday, there must be things that we do all the time to make the response better, to make it more tailored, and hopefully to reduce the costs that we're seeing here, to change the way that people are being asked to respond, to change the communities where people might be able to self-isolate, to look at the different options for self-isolation, to look at the costs of it. We can't do that on the sides of our desk. We need someone to look at that and actually try to come up with a best practice. That's part of what's included in that $8 million, Madam Speaker. Will we go out and try to get more money from the federal government? of course. How many times we've answered questions on every one of our departments that we are constantly engaging. COVID-19 has been an opportunity. There have been weekly calls between many of the departments and federal ministers and FPT. The federal provincial territorial ministers across Canada are all getting together to share our ideas, to share our best practices because everyone is trying to figure out what to do.

    I can't see into the future, Madam Speaker. If I could, I would know when and where the disease might arrive, but I can't. I would know, perhaps, how the pandemic would unfold, but I don't. Madam Speaker, what we can do is continue to bring about the implementation of the orders that our Chief Public Health Officer is working constantly, along with her colleagues from all of Canada, to help us reduce the risk of this disease here within the territory. We're going to continue to do that, Madam Speaker. We're going to continue to do that in a way that is responsible. We're going to continue to do it in a way that is transparent. We're going to continue to report on those costs. We're going to continue to report when there can be a change, if we can, in fact, save money because of an evolution in the way we are responding.

    Madam Speaker, the materials that are before you today in this supplementary that include that COVID secretariat includes so many other things. While we might want to parse out and say, "It's the COVID secretariat that's at issue," the simple fact is that, at this point, it's not just the COVID secretariat. We have to respond to the economic crisis that's been created as a result. We have to respond to the educational crisis that's been created as a result. Those things are also in the supplementary appropriation. The safe restart for the school funding, some of that is here, Madam Speaker; school contributions, contributions to student financial assistance is here; airline supports are in here for the GRIT program for ITI is here; regional relief for local businesses, that's all here, Madam Speaker. Sports organizations for youth, that is here, too. It is more than just the COVID secretariat. It is about now becoming a social, economic response that we have to have in addition to the health response that we've had to have.

    Madam Speaker, I will also be voting, not surprisingly, in support of this supplementary because I know, Madam Speaker, that these numbers have been costed out carefully. I know that we are going to do our best, as I've said, to continue to be transparent about them, to do even better with our communications of them. While not everybody might support the measures, and they are hard and they are not easy for anyone to follow, it's not pleasant. The pandemic is causing tremendous strain on everyone.

    Madam Speaker, as we've gone out, engaged and explained, explained what the secretariat thing is, the work that it's doing that it is actually the work that is implemented in the orders that have kept us safe, support has grown. Support has grown among Indigenous governments and communities and businesses. Not everyone will support it, Madam Speaker, but that is not the job of governing. The job of governing is to try to do your best; to try to do your best to maintain the health and the safety of the people of the Northwest Territories; to ensure the stability of the Northwest Territories; to ensure the stability, as much as possible, of our response to COVID-19, so that we can do our best to continue to keep it at bay. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    Thank you. To the motion. Does the Minister of Finance wish to conclude the debate?

    Shane Thompson

    Shane Thompson Nahendeh

    Thank you, Madam Speaker. First and foremost, I appreciate all Members here speaking up and voicing their concerns and their opinions here. This is what our House is about: it's about working and hearing everybody's concerns. I'm going to speak about my concern that I had. I have staff that were from the Department of Lands and ENR that are working lots and lots of overtime. Other departments are in the same boat. When we talk about the safety of our individuals, we had people that were driving to borders, the Alberta border, again working 10, 12 hours, then coming back. I brought it to the Cabinet, and I said, "Look, we need to do something about this." I personally, I can speak for myself, I said, "We need to deal with this. We need to look at how we're going to combat this, how we're going to organize this and how we're going to do it."

    Is it perfect? No, but we're working to improve it as each day goes on. We have conversations in Cabinet, we listen to our colleagues from the other side. There are some challenges out there. I'm not going to deny that, but this is the reality. We're in a pandemic, and we need to make some hard decisions. We came up with this secretariat to help residents. We talk about the safety of Northerners. My colleague from Nunakput talks about 3,000 people who died from a pandemic previously. Am I happy with that? No, because that's where my kids' ancestry comes from. I do not want to look at any pandemic that's going to take people's lives away from them.

    I struggle; I've been challenged with border control. In Nahendeh riding, we have two gates to stop people from coming in. There are people that bypass that. The Member from Deh Cho talked about people that came and went away. Yes, we hear about it. I deal with it daily. I work with my colleagues to try to get this addressed and try to fix. It is money well spent for people's lives, and that's what we've got to look at. It was a hard decision, lots of struggles for myself. I could probably say for everybody here when they're talking about it. It's about the residents of the Northwest Territories and how we're going to deal with it. I am going to stand up and support this, Madam Speaker. Thank you.

    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    Thank you. To the motion. Does the Minister of Finance wish to conclude the debate? Member for Nahendeh.

    Frieda Martselos

    Frieda Martselos Thebacha

    Thank you, Madam Speaker. I stand before you today to say I support this supplementary. I support this supplementary because the mayor of the town of Fort Smith, the chief of the Salt River First Nation, and the president of the Fort Smith Metis Nation are all in support of this supplementary. They are in support of the secretariat. I was in contact with them as early as yesterday. Safety of individuals and a community and the Northwest Territories is extremely important. I think you have to look down South, and you see how things changed in the second wave. A lot of the Aboriginal communities were affected in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, BC, and across Canada. If one case got into the communities in the Northwest Territories and starts spreading, we are in major problems here. I think that the safety of all communities, regional centres, and the capital are important.

    As a former Aboriginal leader for twelve years, and I've been in that Aboriginal arena for twelve years, and the one thing I learned from the leaders of the Aboriginal people is that they care about everybody, not only themselves. It is very humbling to be a leader of an Aboriginal group. I try to bring that here, and I'm very strong on the issues. I feel that I'm very strong to my convictions, and this is one of my convictions. I had decided this a long time ago, but I had to make sure that everybody was in favour of it from my constituency of Thebacha. For every person that I asked, whether they be younger or from the school or from a senior or to the church groups, they are all in favour of keeping our community safe. Therefore, I stand before you and I stand before everybody in this House with my conviction that I will be supporting this bill. Thank you.

    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    Thank you. To the motion. Member for Thebacha.

    Katrina Nokleby

    Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

    Thank you, Madam Speaker. I don't have anything new to add really to what my colleagues here have been already saying. I care a lot about public safety. It's something I've always incorporated into my work, and I will still continue to do so. At a young age, I even took an oath to protect it. I hear and see the need in this territory, and do I think that this additional money that's going to be spent is going to improve the safety or protect us better from COVID? No, I don't. I am also often hit up for money to help people fill their fuel tanks or buy groceries for their children. I'm sure it's something everybody in this room also experiences on a regular basis. While it's hard to stand up and say that I don't support this because as a result, some of the initiatives I really believe in, like the policing initiative, I will be voting against them, as well. However, how it's presented, I can't in good faith vote now to increase government employment given the needs of our territory. As I said yesterday, a couple million dollars that's earmarked for a few managers' salaries and office space, not when I look around and see that people don't even have proper housing. I won't be supporting this supplementary. Thanks.

    The Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

    Thank you. To the motion. Member for Great Slave.

    Rocky Simpson

    Rocky Simpson Hay River South

    Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday, I was not able to speak on this matter, so I will now. With respect to the budget, I'm in support of it. There are questions with the funds being spent on the COVID secretariat; however, we always hear people say, "How much is a life worth?" Well, I say, "Is the life of somebody who passes away from COVID worth more than somebody who is an addict, or vice versa?" Really, all lives are important, and in this instance, we have something in front of us that could have really caused devastation. We have addictions, which is devastating in itself, but we focused on this one. We're talking $8 million up until the end of this fiscal year coming from the GNWT, but we moved so quickly on the secretariat; we moved quickly on COVID. Money was thrown at us from the federal government; we threw money in. What I would like to see is that we do the same thing with addictions. If we could move that fast on addictions, we can make a difference.

    In Hay River, as well, we've had three or four young people pass away with respect to whether it was drug-related, or there is always something like that involved. Nobody wants to see anyone pass away, old or young, for any reason whatsoever. For me, I will support the motion. We can move money around. We can move it, but if somebody passes away from COVID, what do we tell their family? "Well, we saved some money. We moved it to something else. Maybe we could have saved that life, but we will never know."

    What we need to do is we have to look forward. Let's look and try to make an impact on fighting addictions and fighting homelessness. Those are the things that kill people. Like the Member for Monfwi said, he goes for coffee or goes downtown. It's the same thing in Hay River. When I get home, guys are there. They're waiting for me, and they're looking for coffee; they're looking for money, whatever. Or sometimes they just want to talk to you, as well. Like I think I've told the Minister of health is that, at the end of the day, if we don't get a day shelter for these guys, what I'm going to do is: I'm going to move all the furniture out of my office and turn it into a day shelter until we get one if that's what we have to do because it's not just this government that has to take responsibility. It's everybody. All the residents of the NWT have to participate in this, and they do, in some sense. A lot of people, they give food. A lot of people will provide shelter. A lot of people will go and pay for fuel bills for people. They will pay their power bills because they know they're down. I think that it's just not on this government to make change. It's everybody, and that's what I look for. I look for participation, and I look for people to help out. In Hay River, we have that. We still have people on the streets, and when I hear that they're sleeping under the stairs or something at the old town hall, that's not good. We have to change that.

    The other thing that came up, as well, in discussions, and I talked to the Minister of the Power Corporation of that, as well, is the issue of arears and limiters. To me, here we are; we're spending this money. Yet, we have people out there that maybe owe us $2 million or whatever. There's not a lot of them. I asked her, "Why don't we just find that money? We should try to find that within government and give those people a leg up and pay those bills for them because that amount of money means a lot to some people." Those types of things, and with limiters, that's the other thing, is why do we even? People go throughout the winter thinking that this might happen, hanging over their head day after day after day. Wake up not knowing if you're going to have power or not, so that's a problem.

    The other thing, as well, is in Hay River where we have very limited public housing, what we're finding now is that people are actually moving in with people who are in housing. Of course, when that happens policies are getting broken and tenant agreements are being broken. Everybody's getting threatened to get thrown out of there, but they have no other option. What do we do? I would ask the Minister to consider making sure that if that has to happen, somebody's fleeing an abusive situation, so they move in with somebody that's living in public housing for safety. Let them be there. People say, "It's not safe because there are too many in the house." I grew up with seven sisters, a brother, and then my mom and dad were there. We had a two-bedroom house, and I'm still standing here today. I think I turned out okay.

    We're getting so carried away with policies and legislation and liability, and it just goes on and on where we can't really do anything and we can't help people. I don't know. I look at what we do, and it's frustrating because I can see answers out there. Coming from the private sector, I just like to go and do stuff and get it done. Again, when it comes to the secretariat, that money is there. We're going to vote on it. More likely it's going to pass, but at the same time, I would ask this government: let's get a plan together. An action plan, not a strategy, we need an action plan to combat addictions, combat homelessness, and the real matter that will save people's lives and make their lives better. Thank you, Madam Speaker.