Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce the launch of the new Municipal Elections website, created by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in partnership with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities. This website provides easily accessible municipal election resources to prospective candidates, community governments and to the general public. In addition to providing recent municipal election results, the website contains information on the dates, number of seats, and terms for upcoming municipal elections.

Mr. Speaker, the website targets three main audiences. These are members of the public who are considering running in a municipal election, candidates who have been elected, and returning officers who administer the elections.

For members of the public who are considering running in a municipal election, we have created the "Before You Run" section. This section provides information on the roles and responsibilities of an elected official, candidate eligibility, campaigning, and what to expect if a recount is needed.

For those who have been elected as a municipal councillor or mayor, we have created the "Now That You Are Elected" section. This section helps elected officials better understand their roles and responsibilities as community leaders. The website also provides information on conflict of interest, code of conduct and financial matters.

For returning officers who administer municipal elections, we have included resources on the

legislation that governs local government elections, including the Local Authorities Elections Act. The Returning Officer Manual is included as a resource. The manual clearly outlines the responsibilities of returning officers and provides a step-by-step guide to running a municipal election.

Mr. Speaker, the municipal elections website has been designed as a resource to be used throughout the year. If a resident would like to know when the next election is or the length of term of a council seat, this information is now easily accessible. If a municipal councillor wants more information on code of conduct or conflict of interest, a trusted source of information is now available.

Mr. Speaker, as community governments approach their elections later this year, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and the Northwest Territories Association of Communities will continue to promote this website to support candidates, returning officers, and elected officials. We hope that community leaders will visit this resource on a regular basis, not only to better understand their role in the community but to improve overall governance at the municipal level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the courageous and difficult work of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be a benchmark in Canada's relationship with our First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people, but the news every day tells us that, rather than being more united, the world is becoming more fractured. Instead of more caring and love, political dialogue articulates more hate. That is why it will take serious, deliberate, and brave actions to try to unify people in communities, and the TRC's calls to action should offer a road map to heal the wounds of the past and move toward a fair, more just society by providing the basis for an honest, open conversation.

It concerns me, Mr. Speaker, that I don't know if our government is doing enough to respond to those calls to action. Have our dedicated public servants had the opportunities for the learning and growth that the TRC recommended? Are our senior managers and directors receiving training and orientation as the calls to action describe? How are we overcoming the gaps in education and health? Are we fully committed to restorative justice and significantly lessening Indigenous incarceration rates in the NWT?

I was inspired recently, Mr. Speaker, by some reading about the approach taken by the City of Edmonton. Edmonton established an Indigenous Relations Office. Last summer, they held Reconciliation Week to mark the anniversary of the TRC, and later they held an event called "We Are All Treaty People." It was designed to engage the public in a discussion about culture and history, educate them about the treaties, and to celebrate the historic contribution of our country's First Nations.

Mr. Speaker, I don't suggest that the GNWT should be acting like a municipal government, and I am aware of our positive collaborations with our Indigenous governments, but similar events in the North, especially here, in Yellowknife, where many other non-Indigenous people live, would go a long way in educating all of us on the important work we have as a society toward finding truth and reconciliation. Mr. Speaker, truth and reconciliation is about changing attitudes, and we must lead the way and make the calls to action a high priority for this government. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we will likely soon have a new industry in our territory manufacturing wood pellets. Aurora Wood Pellets' operation in Enterprise is expected to create many jobs at its mills and jobs for wood cutters from two First Nations communities. This is a very good thing.

I see from the records of the NWT Land and Water Board that green trees will be cut at various sites for pellet-making. Cleared lands are expected to regrow naturally without tree planting. The cuttings that have been approved are deemed to be sustainable for our forest. This is also good.

What is much less clear is whether cutting virgin forest in the NWT and then burning it as wood pellets is an environmentally sound thing to do. The release of greenhouse gases figures big in this equation. Another factor is that the live trees remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.

Currently, most of the wood pellets burned here for heat come from Alberta and BC. They are made from sawmill waste that would otherwise be burned without producing useful heat or energy. That is the main reason why burning these pellets instead of heating oil results in less greenhouse gas going into the atmosphere.

I am concerned this environmental benefit might be lost if we turn slow-growing northern forest into wood pellets, whether they are burned here or elsewhere in the world. So far, I have not been able to find any studies of this question in assessing the environmental impact of Aurora Wood Pellets' operation.

On the other hand, I have found studies, including one published by the Canadian Forest Service, showing that the use of Canadian green forest as a source of fuel for power or even heating releases more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than other fossil fuels, even coal. Mr. Speaker, this tells me that caution is warranted as our territory breaks into the wood pellet industry. It tells me that this new enterprise might be more environmentally friendly if we use the by-product of saw mills that produce northern lumber. This is a business that we once had and have lost.

I am also afraid that the piece-meal review of the projects may result in, well, overlooking the forest for the trees when it comes to greenhouse gas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, privacy is a fundamental individual right that is under constant threat in this digital era. A reminder of the importance of privacy and the diligence required for government to safeguard the information it collects comes from a recent NWT Information and Privacy Commissioner ruling.

In 2015, a patient at the Inuvik Hospital complained to the CEO of an unwelcome visit from one of the medical clerks who worked there. This complaint touched off a round of investigations that revealed there was "a culture of inappropriately accessing patient information" within the clinic or, in plain language, snooping. The Information and Privacy Commissioner found that there was a poor understanding of privacy in the clinic, poorly administered policies and procedures, poor supervision, and poor orientation for users of the electronic record system. Further, the IPC concluded, "Most likely, there are similar problems in other health facilities as well."

Mr. Speaker, to remedy the situation, the IPC made a number of recommendations. She suggested that there be a designated senior staff person responsible for privacy. He or she would deliver policy development training and supervision on privacy issues. He or she would conduct periodic audits to ensure staff were not snooping.

This privacy complaint was not the first that the hospital has received. In 2012, the IPC had investigated a different complaint on the same topic and made a set of recommendations. Some of those recommendations had not been acted on when the second complaint came along three years later. For example, the IPC recommended that each electronic medical record user have a unique user name and password. This recommendation was not followed. This recommendation is repeated in her 2017 report, along with the suggestion that new employees not be granted access to the system until they have been fully informed of privacy and confidentiality issues related to medical records.

A second unimplemented recommendation from 2012 was to grant access to electronic records based on the role that staff had at the hospital.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

At the time of her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner found that almost everyone at the Inuvik Hospital had close to full access to the whole system. This recommendation on limitation is also repeated in the 2017 report.

Mr. Speaker, residents of the NWT must have confidence that this government is taking their right to privacy seriously. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is the territorial leader in emergency planning.

Each community is responsible for developing its own emergency plan, one to help them deal with things like forest fire evacuations, community-wide power outages, and more, but MACA is always there to help.

I am glad to hear that, Mr. Speaker, because emergency planning is on people's minds in the Mackenzie Delta. The recent windstorm and multiday power outage in Paulatuk really drove home how easy it can be to fall prey to natural forces. Residents also remember, in 2004, when fire destroyed the Fort McPherson power plant, leaving residents in the cold, in minus 25 degrees below zero, to be specific.

At recent constituency meetings in each of my communities, residents brought me their concerns on these matters. They also brought forward their ideas for improvements. Residents would like to see schools equipped with back-up generators, so that communities have guaranteed warming centres. They are also seeking assurance from the Housing Corporation that plans are in place to prevent pipes from freezing in public housing units and private homes, as well.

For example, when the Fort McPherson power plant was destroyed, many residents stayed warm by visiting friends and family members whose homes were heated by woodstoves. An inventory of woodfire-fuelled homes could also be a valuable asset. All of these issues could be addressed in well-developed, up-to-date community emergency plans. Such plans could also help communities plan for a wide range of potential emergencies, not only cold-weather crises. I would like to engage the Minister to help my communities take the necessary next steps to develop or update their emergency plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions later today.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Since our fall sitting, two important NWT climate change events took place. The draft Climate Change Strategic Framework was finally released on January 3rd of this year, and Regular MLAs met with the Auditor General and GNWT officials to discuss the audit on NWT Climate Change.

The audit found, and I quote:

• ENR did not develop a territorial strategy to adapt to climate change;

• ENR did not fulfill its commitment to provide departments and communities with information needed to take action on climate change;

• The territorial greenhouse gas strategy did not have a significant impact on reducing emission levels; and

• ENR did not address long-standing deficiencies affecting its leadership on climate change.

ENR provided its draft action plan in response to the audit literally a day-and-a-half before the standing committee public hearing on the matter. That is in breach of at least two Consensus Government Process Conventions. The audit action plan went as far as to claim that the Climate Change Strategic Framework addresses all of the audit recommendations. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is also almost no mention of carbon pricing and the role that will play in our international and national obligations on climate change.

Both the framework and the audit action plan neglect to say why ENR continues to fail in its leadership role on climate change or to propose specific policy or structural changes. When the Auditor General did his work, ENR was down to two staff on climate change.

I'm calling on this government to make climate change a real priority. Develop and introduce a climate change act or at least a Cabinet-approved policy that gives ENR the authority to implement the framework. Make climate change a part of Financial Management Board submissions and reviews. Establish a Ministerial round table on climate change to show real leadership and get industry buy-in. Finally, give ENR the resources to actually do the work. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have spoken before in this House of the need for the NWT to implement the guaranteed basic income pilot in the life of this Assembly.

Whether it is a way to address income disparity or prepare for major changes in our economy, this innovative policy initiative is not only the right course for our government to take but, in all reality, an inevitable change we will have to implement even if this government chooses to remain idle and continue supporting paternalistic and punitive income support programs.

I've used historical examples of Dauphin, Manitoba, but I now have something more contemporary for this government to take note of, the Ontario Basic Income Pilot. The Province of Ontario is amongst several areas of the world that is pursuing a basic income project, including Finland, which began a two-year pilot last January. The three-year pilot project in Ontario which began in Hamilton and Thunder Bay last summer and in Lindsay last fall is testing whether unconditional cash support can boost health, education, and housing for people on social assistance who are earning low wages. Information gleaned from the three communities will guide future provincial policy on how to better support all Ontarians living in poverty.

How it works is that individuals chosen are part of the first wave of participants in this pilot project with basic income received on a monthly, no-strings-attached payment of up to $1,400 for people living in poverty, with those with disabilities receiving an additional $500 a month. This amount remains fixed no matter an individual's living conditions, which is a change from the Ontario Works payment, the province's welfare program for people without disabilities, where a person can have their benefits reduced based on if they have shelter or work.

Mr. Speaker, 3,000 people have been enrolled so far. The province helps to recruit another 6,000 participants with 4,000 who receive a basic income, fill out surveys, and participate in focus groups as part of the study. A further $2,000 won't go into the monthly payments but will be paid to complete surveys and tracked as a control group. Though they will need more time to properly analyze the full results of this ongoing pilot project, the initial result has been overwhelmingly positive and is achieving exactly what was intended: boosting health, improving prospects with better education and housing for people living in poverty.

Let us begin experimenting with the same kind of guaranteed basic income pilot because, from these results rendered initially, it would seem to be a policy that Northerners living in poverty could benefit from. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I raise the issues of community land tenure and the understanding of how this ensures program qualifications for recipients in my riding.

Mr. Speaker, this calendar year, and more specifically last week, the Department of Lands sponsored community engagements in Fort Good Hope and Tulita. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, and Finance will participate to share information on the property, assessment, taxation regimes, collections systems, et cetera. Understanding land tenure ensures benefits to residents and the seniors of the Sahtu for the variety of housing programs.

Mr. Speaker, modernizing our current legislation is a proven and responsible function of land management and administration, and, most importantly, community consultation with stakeholders contributes towards transparency and public engagement. Mr. Speaker, later, I will have questions for the Minister of Lands. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, February 21, 2018 [translation] it will be eight years since my last drink. A year after my late father passed on, I decided that I wanted to sober up and not drink anymore.

Alcohol has been around since the early ages. Alcohol is accepted as a way for people to socialize. Alcohol abuse heavily affects our NWT communities, especially First Nations identity, families, and children. High crime rates such as spousal assaults, family violence, and tragedies such as murders and fatal accidents can be attributed to the misuse of alcohol.

Since alcohol became a part of Dene life, it has tragically changed our self-identity and culture forever. Before alcohol, I believe Dene were strong and healthy people who were happy and vibrant in spirit. Besides personal wellness, my mission of sobriety is to dispel the stereotype that "all Indians are drunks." At a younger age, I came across a movie about Alkali Lake, a community in BC that took steps to sober up their families and community. Seeing that movie about Alkali Lake and what we can do to help ourselves and our families changed how I see myself today.

As they say in recovery and healing, we must take the first important steps towards sobriety one day at a time. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a great honour to have some of our students from Aurora College joining us today and taking in proceedings. I believe every year students from the social work program come and learn about how the Legislative Assembly works. I believe they got a great tour this morning, so I would just like to welcome the students and the instructor from the Aurora College social work program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Susan Fitzky. She is the instructor at Aurora College with the social work program, and she is also a constituent of Yellowknife North. Welcome to the gallery.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Danita Frost-Arey, originally from Aklavik. She is here in Yellowknife as part of the social work program at Aurora College. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery, Ms. Emily Doiron. Ms. Doiron is joining us on attachment from the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, and will be at our table for the next three weeks. Welcome to the Northwest Territories and to our Assembly.

Of course, colleagues, I draw your attention to visitors in the gallery as well, to all the students who are here with us today and also the instructor. More specifically, Kandace Apples from Gameti as part of the social work program at Aurora College. I would like to say welcome, and it's always nice to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgments. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. One of the takeaways from the 2017 investigation by the Information and Privacy Commissioner into the privacy breach at the Inuvik Hospital is that it was almost certainly avoidable if the recommendations from the 2012 investigation had been acted on. In an effort to ensure there is action on the problem this time, I am looking for information on the implementation of the 2017 recommendations. My question is: who is in charge of privacy issues at the Inuvik Hospital, and who does that person report to? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a number of things have happened since 2012, including the introduction of the Health Information Act, which is actually an item that was recommended by the privacy commissioner. With that new act, we have done a number of things. We have set up a number of new privacy policies. Those have been put in place basically since May 2017. They follow up on recommendations of the Privacy Commissioner but are also consistent with things we need to do under the act. Those focus on things like privacy breaches and the requirement for privacy impact assessments, the requirement for mandatory training, as well as how we utilize mobile devices within the system. In addition, we have put in a new public awareness campaign and materials about the clients' rights. It is important the clients understand their rights and what information they can access, how information is used.

Since the incident the Member referred to in Inuvik, since June 2015, the department has delivered over 57 territory-wide health information training sessions for over 373 staff. This is on top of the training that is done at a local level for local staff.

Beginning this year, this winter 2018, there are some new privacy training modules in place that will be delivered to all health and social services employees in order to meet our mandatory training requirement. We have also hired a new territorial risk manager. One of their roles is to develop and implement programs and policies that will mitigate risk and improve the overall health privacy across the entire Northwest Territories.

I thank the Minister for his response. I would like to ask: specifically at the Inuvik Hospital, the breakdown was that privacy wasn't anyone's job, so I am going to repeat my question: who is in charge of privacy at the hospital, and who does that person report to? Thank you.

We have the territorial risk manager, as I have indicated. We also have a territorial health information director or manager. At a local level, all employees are in fact custodians and have a responsibility under the Health Information Act. Ultimately, in every one of our regional offices, the COOs have the responsibility to ensure that all of their staff are properly trained and have a clear understanding of their obligations under the Health Information Act.

I would like to know from the Minister what restrictions are now in place in Inuvik within the electronic record system to limit access to the records based on the actual job the person does at the hospital.

As I indicated, every individual is getting trained. Many of the individuals in the Inuvik regional office in the Inuvik health and social services region have been trained. They understand the roles and responsibilities. There are limitations on what the individuals can see through our medical records. We are ensuring that our people who have the training understand their roles and responsibilities under the Health Information Act.

Oral Questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Health Minister has demonstrated that he has, let's say, a heightened understanding of the importance of privacy and that is reflected in Inuvik and elsewhere. Can he tell us with respect to the privacy breach in Hay River whether the same safeguards are in place there? Thank you.

The situation in Hay River and Inuvik were different. As we roll out the Health Information Act, we get out and train. Also, as we move forward with the single authority, what is clear is that, in the past, not all authorities have applied rules as consistently or the same as others. Having a single authority has really given us an opportunity to make sure that our rules and our procedures and our territorial legislations be applied consistently.

The Hay River situation, as I said, was slightly different than the Inuvik situation. The data that was in question wasn't the same type of data. The breach wasn't the same. We take both of them very, very seriously. We have been in touch with patients who were affected. We have made sure the employees understand where they had possibly breached the legislation. We are making sure they have the training. We need to make sure that in every corner of the Northwest Territories, in every office, every health office, every health delivery agency, that they understand their roles. That is why we are requiring everybody to have the mandatory training, which we are rolling out as we speak. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement today. My questions are for the Minister of ENR. My first question: does Aurora Wood Pellets plan to use tree cuttings in the tops in addition to the timber itself to make these wood pellets, or will these cuttings and tops be burned at the sites where they are being cut? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the full utilization of trees on the harvest system used by Aurora Wood Pellets, this level of detail has not been provided to ENR yet. Pre-harvest prescriptions will determine what happens to treetops scattered onsite. As soon as we have more information to pass on and if it is the wish of committee, we can keep them informed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for the answer. I think, probably, the standing committee would probably wish to see that. My second question is: I understand that more than 3.5 million hectares of forest have been burned in recent years, leaving behind large tracts of dry and boreal forest. Of course, much of it is in the South Mackenzie region. Using this timber might be an environmentally better source for Aurora Wood Pellet's operations. Has the company considered this, and, if so, what were the results of this consideration?

Yes, it has been considered. Mr. Speaker, yes, it has been considered. The economic viability and lifecycle analysis reports on utilizing burned wood has been provided to Aurora Wood Pellets and Forest Management Agreement holders where the viability of using burned wood declines over time. It has been considered.

I appreciate the department's thinking forward and actually providing that information. I understand that, as time goes on, these trees decay. My third question is: how did overall greenhouse gas emissions figure into the permitting process for the Aurora Wood Pellets project, including the timber cutting permits? If this impact was determined, please tell us what it is.

Reports have been commissioned by ENR to look at greenhouse gas emissions and the forest industry, the substitution of fossil fuels with wood biomass in the Northwest Territories. They demonstrate significant reductions in greenhouse gas emission when utilizing woody biomass. GNWT sees this industry as environmentally sustainable while also offering NWT residents potential savings on heating costs.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's answer and the department working on this project. My final question is: In regards to wood pellets that are being burned now to heat many GNWT buildings, how are the greenhouse gas savings calculated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Wood pellets are now burned at many GNWT buildings, but we don't have this information at our fingertips as to the greenhouse gas saving calculated. The information would need to be confirmed. I will work with my colleague at the Department of Infrastructure. If it is the wish of committee, then we will be able to give them an update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Auditor General found that ENR failed to lead GNWT efforts on climate change. The recent Climate Change Strategic Framework and the action plan in response to that continue in that tradition by not proposing any policy, legislative, or structural changes. Can the Minister explain to this House why his department continues to fail in its leadership role on climate change? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I disagree wholeheartedly with the Member. The department has not failed in its leadership role. In fact, we're doing a lot of work. I think the Auditor General even made a comment to the work we did. Some of the work that they were doing was before the work that we did.

We are using the recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General to strengthen our role. They did look at it a fine period of time and did not consider all of the good work that is being done to develop the Climate Change Strategic Framework. The document is a roadmap as to how the GNWT will address and respond to climate change up to 2030.

The department also plays a leadership role in the implementation of the Pan-Canadian Framework for Clean Growth and Climate Change in the Northern Adaptation and Strategy.

Yes, the Minister is right. It was for a defined period of time, put I quoted the Auditor General directly from the report. I wasn't making that up. I want to give the Minister his own opportunity to talk about the good work the department is doing. What specific policy, legislative, or structural changes is the Minister imposing to ensure that his department can fulfill its leadership role on climate change?

Mr. Speaker, we've done a lot of work on this. I believe I've given committee an update on the carbon price. The Climate Change Strategic Framework, I believe, will still need to come before committee, or we could do 11 independent briefings if they choose to, as well. We continue to work on that. We are looking forward to coming forward with some changes and to strengthen our adaptation to climate change.

Well, I gave the Minister an opportunity to provide some specifics on policy, legislative, and structural changes, and he didn't take me up on the offer. When the Auditor General conducted the climate change audit, ENR was down to two staff on this file. How could we allow that to happen?

Can the Minister explain what he's doing to convince his colleague, the Minister of Finance, to secure the resources necessary to properly implement the actions to allow us to meet our international and national obligations with regard to climate change?

It's very difficult getting money out of the Minister of Finance. ENR will be rolling out a proposed adaptation planning program to assist communities to prepare, plan, and implement measures to address climate change. The enhanced program also has a dedicated PY in resources to assist community. Also, as part of the development of a five-year action plan, the department will be looking at what resources are required for implementation and federal funding opportunities. If there are opportunities to access some federal funding, obviously we'll be looking at those. At the same time, we'll be making investments of our own through the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for those good-news stories, but he still hasn't talked about anything concrete that he's prepared to do to make sure that his department has the proper authority to take on this leadership role, so let's get really specific here. I do want to say something nice about the framework. It finally sets a target for industrial greenhouse gas emissions, but to continue to send staff to try to secure industry buy-in, that's not the kind of leadership I think we need on this file. Will the Minister commit to an ongoing round table with industry leaders, GNOs, and other stakeholders to help lead the implementation of the Climate Change Strategic Framework? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have had a lot of work that was done on this, some regional meetings in a number of the communities, as I've pointed out. We've had meetings with industry and gotten their feedback. Again, as we proceed closer to the implementation, it is imperative that I work with committee, provide committee with information, and get some feedback from committee. I can ensure the Member and the public that ENR has taken the leadership role on this and that we want to make sure that we have a product that is best and one we can do for the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. MACA offers community emergency planning workshops. How can the communities of Aklavik, Fort McPherson, and Tsiigehtchic work with the department to see these workshops delivered within the next four to six months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Member's statement, he used the term, I believe it was, "MACA's always there to help." That's his term. I really appreciate that, and I agree. MACA's whole job is to help communities. How do we get the emergency planning into the areas of his region? Simple, we need to get the community government to contact the regional manager. At that point, we'll get a facilitator to come in and help them actually develop or update their community emergency plans.

We also provide tabletop exercises that they can take advantage if they're interested in that, which will help to validate and make sure that they're on track for their plans. I should state as well that we actually were in Fort McPherson last week, and we have just worked with them. They are in the process of drafting their updated emergency plans. We're more than willing to help, and I appreciate the Member's comment.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister touched on this a bit. What other resources can MACA offer to small communities taking on emergency planning?

As well as meeting with the communities face-to-face, we have online training, and that is available to communities. The online training in this case are particular basic emergency management and the incident command systems. Those are the two courses that, actually, we start with to develop community emergency plans. Those are online.

We also work one on one with communities. If they need our assistance, we'll come in and we'll help them either create or update their plans. We have tabletop exercises that we'll go in and we'll actually do a draft emergency plan to make sure that they have the right responses and that their plan is updated. Those are the things that we can do to work with communities. Like I said earlier, just contact the regional superintendent, have the community governments contact the regional superintendents, and we'll be more than happy to help the communities.

When communities work on developing or updating their emergency plans, can MACA act as a liaison to other departments and territorial agencies, for example, to help communities install backup generators in local schools or other gathering centres?

Often, MLAs say to us, "Just say yes." In this case, I'm going to just say yes. We will actually work with them. Part of working and developing an emergency plan is having discussions on what resources are needed and what funding sources they have available. The regional superintendents and the management team will work directly with the communities, and we can also work as a liaison to work with other departments that they may need to access services from. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer's yes.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement for the Minister of Lands, the list of Sahtu community engagements of last week's schedule included Fort Good Hope and Tulita. My first question is: are there any plans for similar engagements in the communities of Colville Lake and Deline? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There had been information sessions which have already taken place in Fort Providence on the 19th of February and in Fort Good Hope on February 20th. A meeting was scheduled to be held in Tulita on February 22nd but was cancelled due to a weather advisory. That meeting will be rescheduled as soon as possible. I'm not sure if the department is planning on visiting other communities, but I can certainly take that up with the department and get back to the Member opposite.

I'll go back to my question here. If the Tulita community was cancelled due to, my understanding, that there were some storms there, will that community be put on the list of Colville and Deline for similar engagements? If so, can the Minister provide the proposed tentative date?

As I mentioned, unfortunately the meeting could not take place in Tulita. It is definitely going to be put back on the list, and I will provide the Member opposite with the date once that is ascertained. I can't give him an answer with respect to the other communities, but I know we'll be going back to Tulita.

I trust the Minister will follow up on providing me that information to carry on with the community engagement. After all, there has been quite an investment put into scheduling one.

My next question: will the Minister confirm willingness through the Sahtu Bilateral Agreement dated June 25, 2015 for a joint shared collaboration on land officers?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have the details of the Sahtu bilateral before me, but I could certainly get back to the Minister with respect to that question.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that reply and will follow up. My last question is: will the Sahtu see another round of engagements regarding the proposed multiple amendments to the NWT Lands Act as well as the Commissioner's Lands Act? They're related to the previous questions on that similar note. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand there has been an extensive engagement with the communities with respect to these two pieces of legislation which are being updated. I don't think we were contemplating another round of engagements, but, if we are, I will certainly inform the Member opposite. Thank you.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I talked about the early results of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot project. Some of the comments from people in the program: "It's given me back my independence," "I don't feel backed into a corner," "If I want to eat, I can afford to buy something instead of going to a food bank or soup kitchen." These are the kind of progressive policies that are moving the working poor forward in the province of Ontario. Will the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment speak to any analysis that his department has done on a guaranteed basic income pilot for the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are aware of the pilot program that's currently going on in Ontario. I believe it started up in June of 2017. The department is closely looking at that pilot program. In the meantime, we continue to make enhancements to our income assistance programs here, in the Northwest Territories. We want to make sure that all of our families, Northerners, do have the basic food and clothing, help them with rent and other expenses. As we are reviewing this pilot project, we're continuing to support our clients who are on an income assistance.

The issue is not: do we support those experiencing poverty through these programs. The nature of these programs are, as one of my honourable friends mentioned, a poverty trap. Once you get in this system, you can't get out. The Minister is clearly looking at this, but does he have any plans to move forward on a guaranteed income pilot project for the Northwest Territories?

As I mentioned, I can't make any commitments until we see the review of these results with the pilot project going on in Ontario. I did look over the program, though, but some of the things that they're doing are things that we do right across the departments with Health and Social Services, with Justice, within my department. One of the programs that we also have, that is similar to what they're doing in Ontario, is with our productive choices program that we have with our income assistance clients. I can't commit to any kind of guaranteed income pilot until we see what's happening in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario pilot project is just one of many that is taking place in the world. We've had them happen in Canada before. I'll ask the Minister. He mentioned the productive choices. How is that similar to a basic income pilot? How is that achieving the same results?

Some of our productive choices are trying to help people come out of poverty, so education, counselling, volunteering, where we're encouraging our income assistance clients to participate in a productive choice as they receive income from the GNWT in my department, but we're also trying to help them get out of poverty by getting the counselling that they need, looking at also getting the skills and training that they need, their education, and volunteering in their community.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One thing we're learning from these pilot projects, this basic guaranteed income, is that the best way to help someone get out of poverty is to ensure that their cost of living is taken care of without a lot of strings attached or government oversight. It allows them to get a job. It allows them to pay for food. Right now, we're clawing back a lot of income. I just don't understand what the hold-up is. Can we take a sample size of recipients of income support and start modelling this kind of effort, even on a temporary basis so it's a low-cost approach that still gets better results than we're currently experiencing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Our client service officers do a great job of meeting with our clients to ensure that they're up-to-date on their productive choices but also make sure that they're actively seeking to get employment and getting the services that they need as well as counselling that they need. I believe we're already doing some of that work with our income assistance programs. We're going to wait until this pilot project is complete with Ontario, but we are closely monitoring to see how that is impacting residents in Ontario and if that's something we can possibly look at here, in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, in my language, I spoke about how last week on February 21, 2018 marked eight years of sobriety for me, so I wanted to take the moment --

---APPLAUSE

Thank you, colleagues. I wanted to take the moment just to extend my appreciation and gratitude for the many professionals that have come across my path who weren't judgmental and were basically just professional and compassionate in believing in the service that they provide to the public. My heart is wholeheartedly felt to those people that go beyond the call of duty and provide a service to society in general. Mahsi to all of them.

My questions are to the Minister of Health and Social Services in terms of taking a step of sobering up. What kind of health does the department provide in terms of programming services for people who could be ready to help themselves to sober up and change their lives? Mahsi.

Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a result of the mental health and addictions program that was held a number of years ago, what we heard clearly from the people across the Northwest Territories is that they want options, so we're trying to provide as many options and many alternatives for individuals to begin that healing journey as possible. At a community level in most of our communities, we have mental health and addictions counsellors or other counsellors who are available through NGOs and other partners. Thank goodness, they're out there. We have treatment facilities that are available to us in southern Canada that provide a wide-ranging program that could never be delivered in one facility. I think we need to be really proud of the fact that we're working with our Indigenous governments across the Northwest Territories for the delivery of on-the-land programming that is designed by the Aboriginal governments for their people. We also provide wellness dollars to every community in the Northwest Territories, who design their own wellness plans. Many of them are focusing on healing opportunities for the residents. We are working to provide as many options as we can. We always need to do more. We are coming forward with the new action plan. We are looking for some feedback from committee. I know the committee is putting something together for us, so we're looking forward to seeing that so that we can make more enhancements and improvements as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister did state that there are ongoing initiatives in terms of working with Indigenous governments, and I'd like to commend the Minister for taking those steps to working with all of our communities in terms of placing, in all far reaches of the NWT, on-the-land programs and initiatives. My question is, understanding that the on-the-land programs, what was called for from previous assessments is that people wanted options, and that's one option, whether and how traditional beliefs of Dene are reflected on on-the-land programs? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, we heard clearly from many people across the Northwest Territories that on-the-land and traditional healing is incredibly important to them, and it is certainly, for many people, part of the process that they are going to go through as they proceed down their healing journey. There are a lot of questions about on-the-land healing programs. There really hasn't been an evaluation mechanism, but we have worked with our Indigenous partners here, in the Northwest Territories, to start the development of an evaluation framework so that we can see and try to assess some of the value.

Obviously, we hear many great and important things about the on-the-land programs that are out there. I will say that every one of the programs is different because they are designed by a regional Aboriginal government. We, as a government, don't tell people how to design these programs. I feel like we're the wrong people to tell the Indigenous governments how to design the programs because they are from the people, for the people. We do make our staff available if asked. We want to be partners. We want to help. We continue to work with our Aboriginal partners to make sure that they have the resources to do this important work.

One observation that I have is, back in the day, we had in every community alcohol and drug workers as they call them. My understanding, their approach was in addressing the root of the alcohol issues. They treated the whole issue of alcohol as a disease. Now, we have mental health workers who more likely take almost an approach that every person that deals with alcohol has some trauma in their background. Besides that, how has the philosophy of treating alcoholism changed over the years with the department?

Mr. Speaker, I think the whole treatment methodology around addictions has continued to evolve over the years. Many years ago, it was believed that basically the 12-step program was one of the best sources, but we're starting to hear a lot more that there are other new approaches, more scientific, more medical-based systems that we need to be exploring. We're hoping and intending to explore this as we move forward with the next addictions recovery action plan. A number of years ago, the Member was correct, we had addiction counsellors in the community. Before my time, and certainly before the Member's time, I do believe this changed, where we brought in mental health and addictions counsellors instead, recognizing that some of the individuals who were struggling with addictions may have had mental health issues. That doesn't suggest that everybody who has an addictions issue has a mental health issue, but we wanted to make sure, rather the system wanted to make sure, that we were providing a full range of services to individuals who were struggling, whether it was a mental health issue or an addiction issue, or in some cases both. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister stated that there's an effort that the department is undertaking, primarily that he's working on the developing of an action plan. Can the Minister highlight his immediate priority and seeing the success of the action plan and addressing alcohol issues in the NWT? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity to travel with members of the standing committee as they toured different facilities in southern Canada. I think we had a lot of good discussion. I think we learned an awful lot from that experience. As far as setting a priority for the next action plan, I do want to be cautious. I don't want to pre-suppose what's going to be in that document. We still have some work to do. We still have feedback coming from committee. I think all that is going to be incredibly important to help us have an informed discussion and set our priorities moving forward. We do know that there is a need to explore other alternatives and to think outside of the traditional box, looking more at medical or scientific sort of responses to addiction, not just rely on things like the 12-step program. We've got to continue to explore harm reduction as an option for providing our residents with more and effective tools, but I don't want to pre-suppose exactly what this document is going to look like. I haven't received the committee's report yet, but I am looking forward to working together to put together a document that is going to meet the needs of residents going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I spoke about the importance of the government's response to the calls to action relating to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report. My questions today are for the Premier. The Executive and Indigenous Affairs, about a year ago, did provide this House an update on the status of the calls to action as it relates to our government. Some of the questions I have might be a little bit cross-departmental. I will try to keep them as general as possible and see what kind of replies I can get from the Premier.

Last year, when the department reported on its responses to the TRC's calls to action, one of the major goals was to close the education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier advise the Assembly how graduation rates are unfolding, and does he feel that the government is, in fact, closing this education gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Education is one of the most important priorities of this government, and I think that the Truth and Reconciliation report certainly confirmed that and made some concrete recommendations, which we have embraced. In 2015, the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students was reflected in the fact that 67 per cent of non-Aboriginal students graduated compared to 56 per cent of Aboriginal students. Obviously, we have a ways to go to improve on that. The major initiative that the Government of the Northwest Territories is using to narrow the gap is the NWT Education Renewal initiative, which is a four-year program running and focusing or looking at areas for action in the areas of language and cultural identity, student and education well-being, teaching and learning, and system accountability. I think one of the ways that I look at as to whether the gap is narrowing is I know that we have more and more post-secondary Aboriginal students. I think the fact that that number is in the hundreds is certainly a reflection on the improvement in the education services and the narrowing of the gap.

Thank you to the Premier for the fulsome answer. I do appreciate that. A lot of the aspects around that question were relevant to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I am grateful for that fulsome and detailed answer.

On health, the government is building a team of community wellness planners and a series of community healthy living fairs. Of course, it is to promote healthy living and nutrition and fitness at the community level. Can the Premier advise if these wellness fairs have all taken place, and, if so, how are we measuring the success of these fairs? Are they having a positive impact?

I am pleased to report that the community wellness fairs are proceeding. They are going very well. The most recent ones were in K'atlodeeche. At the NWT Associate and Communities AGM, they brought in some of their props. You could walk through a colon, so you could get people to go and get checked out for colon cancer. I think the most important message to people is prevention and that people are the ones that, if they practise prevention, they will be healthier. I think a large part of the measurement will be how healthy people are going forward.

Thank you again to the Premier for his reply. I would like to maybe now direct the attention a little bit to our own GNWT employees. I recognize that all GNWT employees are required to undergo Aboriginal cultural awareness training. Can the Premier advise if all GNWT employees have now taken this training, and, if so, is the training provided continually to reflect turnover and maybe movement within the public service?

I am pleased to say that the Truth and Reconciliation Committee recognized the Government of the Northwest Territories for its leadership not only in cultural awareness but also the fact that the history of residential schools and also our land-claim negotiations are in our curriculum. We focused on mandatory training for students and educators. That has been our main priority.

Our expectation is that we will eventually have all of our employees undertaking cultural awareness training, and we will continue. Right now, we will focus on new employees as they come on board. We are hiring a consultant to review and update our Indigenous cultural awareness training program. I think that it is certainly very important for our public services to understand when they are delivering programs and services to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, thank you to the Premier for his detailed reply. It is much appreciated. I mentioned public outreach events such as those sponsored by the City of Edmonton. That was an example that I used. They were designed to engage the public on culture and history and to educate them about treaties and how to celebrate the historic contributions of First Nations. Has our government considered creating similar events in the North, particularly in the larger centres where maybe more non-Indigenous Northerners could participate? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Our government has even gone above and beyond that. Instead of a special event day we have a statutory holiday called Aboriginal Day where everybody gets one day off a year. If you are working for the Government of the Northwest Territories, you can learn about Aboriginal history and culture. Also, you can go out and participate. Aboriginal people can celebrate the fact that they are Aboriginal. Also, we provide funding to those Aboriginal groups who want to participate on Aboriginal Day. We are always looking for ways to promote that. I think that the fact that over 50 per cent of our population is Aboriginal, you can just drive down the road and participate in Aboriginal events that are put on by Aboriginal governments on a regular basis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few follow-up questions to the Minister of ENR on my Member's statement here. Can the Minister tell us: a lot of communities are looking at fire smarting their projects? Has the department encouraged the communities to look at working with the company to use this excess material for building and making pellets? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.