Masi. Questions for Ministers. Next on my list, I have Member Beaulieu.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for two Ministers: Minister Abernethy and Minister Cochrane.

Mr. Speaker, the small communities in the Northwest Territories want to retain their elders. They want their elders at home. As everyone knows, the elders' population is diminishing, and as they get older, the elders then are usually sent to a central location into a long-term care. I recognize that long-term care cannot be provided in all the communities because of the economies of scale, but there are huge benefits to keeping elders in their home, in their communities, and in their home; otherwise we are referring to aging in place.

Maybe just a little background. I feel that there is a shared responsibility. I do not want a response that there is going to indicate that there is something in place because there is not anything in place. What I think we need to do for aging in place, we need to develop both a program from Housing that keeps elders in place that are able to function in their home for ten years; and then also having a program that has continuing care as well. I will come down to a question. Do the Ministers know that using 2017 dollars, the value of you keeping 300 elders in their homes, in their communities, is worth almost half a billion dollars? Thank you.

Masi. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we know the value, not just financial benefits, but the human benefits, of keeping people in their communities. Everything the Member said is correct. This is something that this government is committed to. This is part of my mandate, and this is something that we are working on. We have come forward with a continuing care action plan, which actually articulates programs that we are going to put in place at a community level, including moving forward with community and family caregivers, which I know the Member thinks is exciting, and I think is exciting as well.

This continuing care action plan is not a Health and Social Services document alone. In order to help people stay in their communities, it is going to take partnership. It is going to take the Housing Corporation and the Department of Health and Social Services. I know that in the continuing care action plan there is direction for the Housing Corporation to actually work on some of the programs that they have that will allow seniors to make renovations to their homes so that they can stay there longer. This could include things like ramps. This could include things like grab bars. This could include widening doorways if there are mobility issues. These are things that the Housing Corporation is currently working on.

When we work together on independent living units in the communities, we have actually worked together, and the new design includes program space so that we can actually provide some high-quality day programs for residents, not just the ones living in the independent living units, but those that are living in their own homes or in their family's homes, so that they have a place to go where they can receive some supports. We have already begun enhancing homecare. We put homecare positions in communities that have never had them before, like in the Deh Cho region.

We are looking at doing the homecare review. We are doing the RFP on that right now so that we can go out and do a review to figure out where we need to put our resources for maximum benefit so that we can really help people stay in their communities. I have received a lot of input from the Member on this. I have received input from the Members on this side as well as that side. I think we are going to in the right direction. A lot of work is still required. We are two years through our mandate, we have got two more to go, and a lot needs to happen, and a lot will happen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As an Indigenous woman, our elders and our seniors are very important to us culturally, and I think that crosses all cultures in all honesty. They are our knowledge keepers, and we need to value them. We need to make sure that their last days are actually in a place that is respectful and has dignity.

I think the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has done a lot. We have built seniors' units in communities that have a cultural component to them. We are looking at a new multigenerational design of a home that will accommodate for larger families to be able to care for their aging members, with ramps, et cetera.

We have implemented, thanks to the lobbying of the Regular MLAs, the additional funding for seniors. They can still apply for the CARE Major, CARE Minor programs, up to $100,000 for CARE Major. They can still get the CARE PM, Preventative Maintenance program, but they can also get special funding to address the needs of seniors.

We are doing a study within this new year, actually, about what their needs are, and not only what their needs are and how many seniors are out there, but what do they want? What is it they want to see in their homes? I think that is a missing component that we need to address.

I do value our seniors, very much so. I value my elders. One thing I should also state is that I have walked down the streets of Yellowknife, and I see some of the seniors in buildings that I think are unsafe. One of the projects we are looking at as well is: can we do a seniors' housing unit that is not based on income, but actually addresses just a seniors' housing unit, so that all seniors can live in that, market seniors and low-income seniors? Safety is what I am looking at. I take it very seriously, and we will be focusing in more depth on how we can support them, not only to give them a house, but a house that they want to live in. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Questions to Ministers. Next on my list, I have Member Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my next question is for all of the Ministers. Earlier today, we had some federal representatives in the Legislative Assembly, and they had the opportunity to watch our unique form of consensus government.

Mr. Chair, this form of government and this House always comes under fire and is constantly criticized. Is the best form of government to represent the people of the Northwest Territories? I am sure everybody gets a barrage of questions along the lines of what they would do to improve consensus government during election time. I know I have. I would like to raise that question in the House, only because these are the Members that we have chosen to essentially run the government. As it relates to the government's performance in general, I would like to ask the Members: what have you identified as one of the gaps or challenges in consensus government, and what would you do to change that and improve it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Robert C. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, first of all, I believe in consensus government. For the population that we have, I believe that we well represent our ridings and our constituencies in a consensus government system. I have seen a number of changes over the years to consensus government. At the beginning of the 18th Assembly, there were some suggestions, like the mid-term review, for example. The transparency that this particular government has is something that we have improved on.

To improve it in the future? That is a good question. We all find little tweaks when we first gather as a group of 19 to discuss our priorities and mandate for the coming Assembly, and we find little ways that we could tweak our style of government. I really cannot think of any off of the top of my head. I know communication is something that we talk a lot about. Public involvement is another one that we talk a lot about, and I think we have taken some small steps to address that.

As Members come into the 19th Legislative Assembly, I am sure they will have a discussion. They will bring fresh new ideas and thoughts towards how they could improve consensus government. I do believe it is a system that works well for the Northwest Territories, and it is an opportunity, as we go through the budgeting process, where we all have a chance to see the budget before it is brought into this House for debate. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With consensus government, I really believe that it has equal representation from our smallest communities right to here in Yellowknife. In terms of gaps, as Members know, this is my second term as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. I have not seen any gaps. I know that it takes a while to get things moving through the House at times. I do believe that it can be strengthened through communication and collaboration between Regular Members, committees, Indigenous governments, our other partners, and Cabinet. I cannot really see any gaps, but to improve the process, better communication and better collaboration of work amongst all partners of all governments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe in the principles and tenets of consensus government. I believe it can work if all Members believe, and I think we have Members that do believe in consensus government. It is by no way, shape, or form perfect. There is no form of government that is perfect.

As a Cabinet Member, there are things that do frustrate me about consensus government, and I will tell you one of the things that annoys me the most. If you were in a party system, you have a platform. You run out on that platform. You say, "over the life of this government, we are going to X, we are going to do Y, we are going to do Z, and we are going to do it first year, second year, third year, fourth year." We have difficulty doing that in this system because we run through business plan processes; budgets are approved every year. You cannot really assume you know what you are going to get in the third or fourth year of this Assembly as far as a budget.

I have done work in the department. We have done work on a number of initiatives that are mandate-driven, and we are ready to roll out, and we are planning to roll out in the fourth year of this Assembly, but I cannot saying we are going to roll that out absolutely because we still have to go through all these processes. I have raised this with my Cabinet colleagues: we need to find a way to be more proactive and say, "hey, this is part of our plan. We are going to do this in the life of this government. We are going to fund it in the life of this government. We know how much it costs, and we are going to get it done," even though it still has to go through some of the planning processes.

It does get awkward because we cannot speak for future years, and that is a frustration of this system. I sure would like to be able to come out and say, "you know what? We are doing X. It's going to happen the fourth year. It's going to be funded, and we are going to make it happen"; but it still has to go through six or seven processes before we get there. I find that frustrating. I am sure others do as well. We want to be proactive. We want to be leaders. We want to get these things done. They do not all happen today, but we should be able to talk about tomorrow, and in this system, it is a little bit more difficult than it would be in a party system.

Masi. Minister Sebert.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I first came here two years ago, I had a lot of questions about consensus government and thought that perhaps the party system might be better, but I’ve changed my mind over the last two years working with all of you. As for improvements while I’m on the rules committee, which when I joined was told met once or twice a year, well, more like once or twice a month, we’ve done good work on a electoral reform mid-term reviews so there are changes going on all the time. I know that the committee system has been opened up. I think we would all like a freer flow of information and that things would be kept secret or in camera only if absolutely necessary and our default option would always be open. Thank you.

Masi. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m realizing this mid-term process is really about picking out my weaknesses. I already told you I’m not very good at social media, so let’s talk about politics. When I first came in, I came in for the work. I did not know politics. I did not know and in fact, I knocked on a door in my constituent and I apologize to the man. In my riding, who was a Premier, I did not know Joe Handley, you know, honestly, so I did not know the difference between consensus and party politics. I learned that. That is a steep learning curve that I took and I was open, so it actually gave me – I was open. I didn’t know the difference, so I was open to hearing. What I heard though is that party politics does not work for small communities. Having one voice does not always work for smaller places that they can’t skip. The initiatives actually won’t address their needs within those communities and I adhere to that. One policy does not work for all people. We need to make people’s needs the priority, not the party politics.

The biggest gap of not having party politics is that I have no one to blame. I have to take all the responsibility on myself. I can’t say it’s about a political stance, so for me, the biggest gap is that I’m on my own as a Minister. I have to take responsibility for my own faults, my own actions, and that is a benefit because I get to define my own path as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know what, for a long-standing time I was in Metis politics. I always believed that consensus government was the true form of politics for the Government of Northwest Territories and the people. I’ve never believed in the party politics system as Minister Cochrane just said because I believe it needs to represent all of us. I think we have a shared responsibility as all Members of this assembly to represent the people of the Northwest Territories and not hide under any particular colour or brand or party.

One thing that drives me crazy though about politics since I’ve come here and I’m being totally honest. I’ve come from the private sector. When you can make a decision and move on that decision on a timely matter and be able to implement it as quickly as you can and come to a government system, and that’s more because I come from the private sector my whole life. That part drives me crazy.

We have a system, I think, that works with the people of Northwest Territories. My fear was always party politics would suppress the voice of the small communities as well. I’ve always said that. I’ve argued that continually with a lot of my Metis colleagues who believe in the party system, but you know, it’s an ideology that is based on personal preference and my preference is we have a system that works for residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Questions for Ministers. Next on my list, I have Member O’Reilly.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Look, I’m having so much fun here. I’d like to get a referral to rules so that we can extend question period every day in the House, but more seriously, my question is for the Minister of Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment: there’s been a lot of upheaval and loss of visitor service capacity in Yellowknife with the closure of the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre. It’s my view that this was completely preventable if adequate and comparable support had been provided by ITI. Can the Minister describe his vision for tourism in Yellowknife for the next two years? How he’s going to get there and whether he will dedicate funding to get us there? Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, I don’t focus particularly right on one city as his question is related. Tourism is a territorial-wide initiative. It’s one way we are going to diversify our economy and help build Aboriginal businesses and corporations to be part of the tourism industry in a government-wide initiative. Specifically for the City of Yellowknife, we are working directly with the City of Yellowknife and moving this initiative forward. It’s unfortunate that the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre had financial challenges around running their operation and they’ve made a decision to walk away and shut down. We’ve taken the building back as part of that initiative and taken that off their hands so there’s responsibility for them on that part. We will work closely with the city. Tourism is a big part of our industry in the Northwest Territories as I said in diversifying our economy. It’s injecting 200 million dollars into it. The City of Yellowknife does reap the biggest benefits of it because it’s the central location of where people come. We’re spending $7 million across this initiative territorial-wide and we will continue to do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.