Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Honourable Premier.

Mr. Speaker, on January 16, 2019, I had the honour of signing the self-government agreement-in-principle for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells, alongside our negotiating partners, the Government of Canada and the Norman Wells Land Corporation.

Reaching this Self-Government Agreement-in-Principle represents a significant step in the journey toward fulfilling the obligation to negotiate self-government in the 1993 Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. More importantly, this agreement-in-principle represents a key milestone in the journey towards self-government and self-determination for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells.

Mr. Speaker, the work of negotiating and concluding land, resources, and self-government agreements can be challenging, but it is essential if we are to build the Northwest Territories and Canada that we all want to be a part of. A territory and a country where our long history of working and living together is protected, and where the rights of Indigenous peoples are protected for future generations.

While there are similarities between self-government agreements in the Northwest Territories, there are also many unique aspects that take into account the different needs and self-government priorities of the communities. Simply stated, a "one size fits all" approach does not work here in the Northwest Territories.

The agreement-in-principle for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells is a good example of our commitment to negotiating self-government agreements that reflect the unique realities of each community. The agreement-in-principle considers how to implement the inherent right for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells in a community where they comprise a smaller proportion of the overall population. This agreement-in-principle is flexible and forward-looking, in that it allows for changes in the governance model, as the population demographics change in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that in the Northwest Territories, we have a shared history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living, working, and governing together. This is reflected in the fabric of our communities, in the languages we speak, and in the cultural and business decisions we make.

This milestone achievement is something that should be celebrated by all Northerners, not just residents of Norman Wells and the Sahtu region. That is because we know and believe that completed agreements are the basis for realizing our true social and economic potential by clarifying and providing certainty with respect to Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.

With one milestone reached, the parties are already looking ahead and have commenced negotiations on a final self-government agreement for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells. Completing these negotiations continues to be one of the most powerful and meaningful ways that we can demonstrate our commitment to reconciliation and to empowering our people to be self-sufficient and self-determining.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to acknowledge the hard work by the negotiating teams who have helped get us to this important moment in history. Congratulations to all of the parties on this momentous achievement, and most importantly, congratulations to the Sahtu and Dene and Metis of Norman Wells. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from January 16 to 17, 2019, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs brought community government leaders together to discuss cannabis. This was our first opportunity for such a gathering since cannabis became legal in Canada on October 17, 2018.

Mr. Speaker, the legalization of cannabis presents challenges for northern society. The purpose of this conference was to look for local solutions for community governments as they deal with this new reality. Our focus was presenting as much information as possible for local leaders with the right experts available to answer as many questions as possible.

The first part of the conference addressed the legislative framework for the management of legal cannabis. I wish to express my thanks to the following departments or agencies who made their officials available: the Department of Finance, who presented on their legislation and the new retail process; the Department of Health and Social Services, who presented on cannabis smoking control and health promotion efforts; the Department of Infrastructure and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who presented on changes to the Motor Vehicles Act and associated efforts to manage impaired driving; the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission and the law firm of McLennan Ross, who led an excellent session on labour relations and human resources; and the Municipal and Community Affairs' staff, who presented on community-based planning, zoning, and bylaw-making authority.

The conference included a keynote speaker from Manitoba who brought a national perspective, as well as a speaker from Colorado with an international view. In addition to the presentations, our conference organizers also provided a wide range of resources for delegates to take away and continue their learning.

Mr. Speaker, I believe there are lessons we can take away from this conference. First, despite the state of Colorado legalizing cannabis many years ago, they are still dealing with the effects of this change today, and there will be more for us to learn going forward. Second, we know that, despite providing considerable information and resources to community leaders, there is a thirst for even more information and a need to continue this discussion locally in our communities. Finally, we heard from communities that, while cannabis is now legal, there are still many impacts of drugs and alcohol that are having a continued effect on our communities and our residents, especially our youth.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that our government is continuing an aggressive public awareness campaign in the coming year. I especially commend the efforts of the Department of Health and Social Services, with community-based workshops, as well as social marketing efforts using cutting-edge techniques, such as augmented reality. All of this is aimed at supporting our youth as they deal with this change, and I am grateful for these efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I believe community leaders were pleased with the information that they received. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs will assist communities on issues related to community planning and local controls and from a human resources perspective as they establish proper policies for their workplaces. We have only had legal cannabis for a little over five months. We cannot expect to have all the answers today, but Municipal and Community Affairs will continue to support our communities and our residents as we all adapt to the reality of legal cannabis in the coming months and years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know you and all the other Members here understand the importance of barren-ground caribou to our communities. Caribou are central to the way of life in the North and have sustained people here for many generations. This is why, together, this Legislative Assembly made a mandate commitment to improve food security in the Northwest Territories through the effective co-management of wildlife, including caribou.

Part of achieving this commitment requires recognizing that caribou are a shared resource and we need to work with our co-management partners, including the federal government, Indigenous governments, regulatory boards, industry, and other stakeholders to make shared decisions.

Mr. Speaker, last year the Government of the Northwest Territories carried out population surveys on five of our territory's barren-ground caribou herds: the Cape Bathurst, Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, Bluenose-West, and Bluenose-East, and the Bathurst caribou. The results of those surveys were not favourable, and in November I shared the details of those results with Members and the public.

What we learned was that, while populations of the three northern herds have stayed relatively stable, unfortunately, the Bluenose-East and Bathurst caribou herds continue to experience significant declines.

These results were alarming in that both of these populations have been reduced by half or more over the last three years, despite extensive co-management actions between the GNWT and Indigenous governments and renewable resources boards to support Barren Ground conservation and promote herd recovery.

Mr. Speaker, we know that these results were concerning to the public, and the GNWT shares this concern. We know that our communities are struggling without caribou and that many families have already sacrificed a lot to help the herds recover. As you know, there has been no harvest of Bathurst caribou since 2015, and harvest of the Bluenose-East herd has been significantly reduced. However, the caribou continue to need our help.

In the months since I shared these results with our co-management partners and the public, I have been meeting with Indigenous leaders and affected communities to talk about the low caribou numbers and hear their ideas for how we can work together to take care of the herds.

I want to particularly thank the Tlicho leadership, who have emphasized the importance of strong collaboration with the GNWT to address this urgent situation. Our two governments have been working very closely together over the past few months to consider what we can do to help support the caribou.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of ENR and myself are committed to meeting with as many of our co-management partners and Indigenous governments as we can to discuss this issue. At the end of January, I travelled with Tlicho leadership to Whati, Wekweeti, Gameti, and Behchoko. I also met with the chiefs of the Yellowknives Dene, and my officials met with First Nations and Metis leadership in Fort Smith. Earlier this month, ENR also held meetings with Lutsel K'e First Nation and the North Slave Metis Alliance on February 18, 2019.

One of the suggestions that we continue to hear at these meetings is that more needs to be done to deal with predators, namely wolves, and I agree. That is why the GNWT has increased the incentives that we offer to wolf harvesters in the North Slave region, specifically on the wintering grounds of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou. The enhanced incentive program is meant to encourage harvesters to take more wolves on the ranges of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou. At the same time, we are also looking at what more we can do together with the Tlicho Government to reduce the impacts of predators on caribou populations.

Predators are only part of the picture, Mr. Speaker. For the last few months, the GNWT has been working closely with the Tlicho Government to draft two joint management proposals: one for the Bathurst caribou herd and one for the Bluenose-East.

These proposals lay out the actions that our two governments are proposing to take to help the herds recover, including harvest management, habitat protection, and increased research and monitoring. The proposals also reflect the recommendations in the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan. This plan is in the final stages of approval and will ensure that we are managing activities on the land in a way that supports the recovery of our caribou herds.

Both proposals are now with the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board for review.

Mr. Speaker, in the Sahtu, the GNWT continues to support a community-based approach to conservation planning for the Bluenose-East caribou herd, centred around Deline's caribou conservation plan. This is a plan that has been endorsed by both the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board and the GNWT.

This is the process outlined in our established co-management system, and we have complete confidence in both boards to make smart, effective decisions in the best interest of caribou and the people of the Northwest Territories.

I have also been speaking with my colleague in Nunavut, as the calving grounds and important post-calving areas for both the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou are in Nunavut. I am making arrangements to meet with Premier Joe Savikataaq this spring, who is also the Minister of Environment. My hope is for us to sit down with Indigenous leaders from both sides of the border to talk about what steps we can take to help our shared caribou herds.

Mr. Speaker, I know this is a passionate issue for many. We need to avoid the temptation to point fingers and, instead, focus on working together to make decisions that support the caribou.

We know from both science and traditional knowledge that caribou populations have undergone sharp declines and rapid increases in the past. We all have a role to play during this current low, and the GNWT will continue to work with all of our co-management partners, through established wildlife co-management processes, to help ensure that caribou can continue to sustain present and future generations of Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I noticed that the divisional education board office has two fewer staff supporting the schools than in the Sahtu. In the Deh Cho proper, eight communities, we have two support staff for nine schools, whereas the Sahtu has four support staff for five schools. It is my understanding that the Sahtu board has two IT support staff, while the Deh Cho has one. This doesn't seem right. We need to address this, or we are going to see more vulnerable children in ongoing decline in the EDI and MDI results for the Deh Cho. It is my position that the base funding based on the number of students doesn't work.

I would like to suggest a new base formula that guarantees a minimum staffing regardless of the number of students. This would be based on the understanding that it does not matter how many students you have in the school; you need a part-time custodian, principal, secretary, program support teacher, and teachers. There are districts in BC that use this approach, with better results for the students. For example, a principal has reports to write for the central office and for ECE, no matter how many students are in the school, but we have some administrators who teach all days. They have no time for administration. Once this basic funding is in place, other formulas should kick in based on the number of students, with the understanding that you will need two teachers, no matter what.

I recommend to the staff of the department that we see additional funding for the Deh Cho divisional education council in the following areas:

• A language support person to help with translation; as well, this position will help promote the revitalization of Indigenous language in the region;
• An intern program support teacher, whose focus would be to step in where school has a vacancy or where there is an illness;
• A position focused entirely on curriculum support; she or he would ensure that the students are not falling behind and would build an education program; and
• A curriculum support advisor; this person would carry the profile of literacy, numeracy, and writing, ensuring that the students get the support that they need.

I will have questions for the Minister of ECE later today, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the framework used by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to fund schools is not working in the Deh Cho, and it is not working in Hay River. We are lucky that, over the years, the schools in Hay River have had many skilled and dedicated principals, teachers, and support staff and have been governed by equally dedicated education authority members. It is because of all of them that Hay River has had better educational outcomes than most places in the territory.

However, Mr. Speaker, this success has come despite ECE's funding framework, which has proven itself too rigid and not responsive to our communities' changing demographics. Every year, we see cuts to funding that are out of line with the actual needs of schools and students.

As I have said, we have been fortunate that our education authorities have members who are very engaged and who are willing to put in the time and effort to make the tough decisions about how to allocate the ever-dwindling funds. We are also lucky enough to have principals who have the ability to stretch those funds further than we should reasonably expect them to.

However, Mr. Speaker, neither the education authorities nor the principals can multiply bread and fish, and so, eventually, even their skill and dedication will not be enough to stave off the damage from never-ending budget cuts. A system can only bend so far before it breaks, and we are already starting to see stress fractures.

Schools are increasingly having difficulty affording enough staff to provide the level of education that our students deserve and are having to make cuts in areas that they know will directly affect educational outcomes. They have no choice, though, Mr. Speaker. If you don't have the money, you don't have the money.

What worries me is that, at some point, the people who have been holding everything together are going to get fed up and move on, and the students will suffer. I have raised these concerns with the department before, and they have been raised by those within the system for years. However, nothing ever seems to change.

I have never really heard any complaints about the funding formula coming from Yellowknife, with the exception of junior kindergarten debates, and the capital seems to have excellent educational outcomes. If there is resistance to changing the formula because it works well for Yellowknife, then keep it the same for Yellowknife, but change it for the regional centres so that our youth are also provided with the best possible opportunities to achieve success.

Mr. Speaker, it's time that the department responds to these growing concerns and develops a funding formula that works for all schools. I'll have questions for the Minister of Education at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been two and a half years since the implementation of the new Airport Improvement Tax. MLAs were told that tax revenues would be used for capital improvements that would improve the customer experience. Now, during peak tourism season, is a good time to take a close look at the results.

In March of 2017, the Minister said that the new fee would support improvements at the airport to help "create benefits for all travellers." Specifically the Minister claimed that, again, "Improved security services and expanded holding areas that reduce congestion, along with improved amenities, will improve traveller experience and comfort."

Now, after millions of dollars collected in user fees and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on renovations to the security screening area, the key complaint of constituents is that security line wait times are unreasonably long. Why? Because there is still only one security line at the airport.

Mr. Speaker, one of the objectives of those renovations was to increase security screening throughput, but clearly it doesn't seem like things have improved at all. In fact, some people believe the situation is much worse.

So what went wrong? Where is the new CATSA Plus screening equipment that was supposed to be included in the renovations? Airport management, during a presentation at City Hall, told council that CATSA Plus would increase throughput by up to 60 percent. This system looks nothing like CATSA Plus systems in other airports.

Does the YZF management even track security line wait times? How do they expect to be able to manage the problem if they aren't measuring it?

Mr. Speaker, stories of missed boardings, and even entire missed trips, have now become legendary on social media. When the process is so inept that people are missing flights or flights are being delayed, that's not an acceptable practice.

Mr. Speaker, when the Minister created the revolving fund and introduced the new tax, he chose not to go the full distance and establish an airport authority, which, as we've seen elsewhere, would have introduced a very business-like approach to managing the airport. Instead, he opted to maintain government control of the airport, but has it worked? An airport authority surely would have done something about an obvious problem like security wait times by now.

I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring further attention to an issue which affects Northerners of all ages and walks of life, directly or indirectly, our mental healthcare system.

I want to take a moment first to thank all in our communities in the public and private healthcare facilities, the nurses, doctors, therapists, community leaders, specialists, and elders who work tirelessly for the betterment and health of all Northerners. We all owe you a great debt of gratitude. My thoughts today are being made in the hope we can improve the existing programs and the concerns that have been shared with me by Northerners about access to these crucial services.

Depression, anxiety, PTSD, seasonal mood disorder, bipolar disorder, suicide, survivors of abuse, the list goes on. The people who live daily with these and many other afflictions are too often hiding in plain sight. They may have the biggest smiles and brightest of personalities, and yet, just below the surface, they may be facing thoughts, feelings, and emotions which are not in line with the outward image they portray.

When Northerners decide they need help, they can call the NWT Helpline, which is a good first point of access, but members of the public have brought it to my attention that, under the current process, wait times are more commonly six to 12 weeks, or even months, a far cry from the two to three weeks as stated by the Minister. In Hay River, I am told, it can take eight months of waiting just to get an appointment to see a counsellor. For those without health insurance benefits or those who cannot afford to wait due to a mental health crisis, there is even less support, and paying out of pocket just isn't an affordable solution to those who need help the most.

Now, let me be clear. I'm not talking about a two-tiered system. We are talking about those who fall through the cracks, those who need help now, and those who, if they wait for the prescribed length of time, risk falling back into addiction, self-harm, or worse.

There is clearly a disconnect between what we are being told in this House and what the public is telling us at their doorstep. These wait times can have far-reaching consequences. We know that, when people reach out for help, being told to wait for months on end is just not an option. They are at high risk and are in need of compassion and a helping hand at that exact moment. We need a system of mental healthcare that makes best use of our resources and gets Northerners the help they need, as soon as they need it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to bring up the quality of healthcare we have in the NWT. My riding of the Mackenzie Delta has a high number of complaints regarding treatment received at the local health centres, and also in Inuvik.

Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents who call me say they go the health centre because they are sick, they are in pain, they need medical attention, and in most cases, they are given Tylenol or other equal antibiotics for pain and sent home. Many of my constituents are continuing to have medical issues, and these medical issues can and will get more serious if not treated. I'm sure all our small communities can relate to this concern.

Mr. Speaker, before our people suffer more than they already have, let's get answers to why many of our constituents are not being referred to doctors or hospitals for further examination.

Mr. Speaker, my constituents are demanding a better quality of healthcare. I'll have questions later today, thank you.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Our mining Minister recently announced that the Mactung property in the Mackenzie Mountains is finally up for sale.

Just how did we get here? North American Tungsten, the owner and operator of the former Cantung Mine, went into creditor protection on June 9, 2015. Somehow the federal government let that company put up the Mactung property as part of its financial security for its water license. When our government inherited management of the Cantung site under devolution, nothing was done to change that arrangement, even though the GNWT had total discretion over the form of the security that was filed. So much for polluter pays, and the devolution promise of responsible resource development.

As part of the creditor protection proceeding, Cabinet ended up purchasing Mactung for $2.5 million with a special warrant that bypassed the Legislative Assembly. That way, it could hand Cantung back to the federal government for remediation. When we acquired the Mactung property, a lot of junk and hazardous materials had been left behind at the site, even though I had been told that there was nothing there. A non-compliance letter was written by the Yukon government to GNWT about Mactung on February 4, 2016. I kept pressing Ministers to have an assessment done of the site. That was done, but the report has not been publicly released. The GNWT issued a contract for $87,000 to do a partial cleanup of the site in the summer of 2018.

Two reports of field observations and geology of the Mactung deposit and surrounding area were prepared at taxpayers' expense and released in January 2018. The Minister promised to share the marketing plan with the standing committee for Mactung, but that hasn't happened. On December 20, 2018, a Vancouver consultant submitted an application for a Class 4 Quartz Mining Land Use Approval to the Yukon government for 10 years of exploration at Mactung, "as part of a means of increasing the appeal on the Mactung property to prospective buyers."

Lots of questions, and not a lot of clear communications. I'm sure the Minister is looking forward to my questions later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 2019 Traditional Games Championship. Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Government of the Northwest Territories offers many diverse programs and services. Together, the departments, boards, and agencies take care of our infrastructure, deliver healthcare, maintain public housing, power our homes, and much more.

These are big, important things, but the GNWT also helps Northerners take care of the little things, and sometimes even these little things are valuable. I want to talk about one today.

This past weekend, the 2019 Traditional Game Championship, sponsored and led by the staff of the Aboriginal Sports Circle, was held here in Yellowknife.

Students from 22 schools, including Chief T'Selehye School in Fort Good Hope, the Colville Lake School, the Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells, and the Ehtseo Ayha School in Deline, gathered to compete in traditional Dene and Inuit games. I am glad these young people can gather to celebrate their culture together like this. This is great to see and witness.

Mr. Speaker, being on the Standing Committee on Government Operations, the GNWT supports for games like these are very important to me and my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to see this continued support for games and for our non-government organizations or NGOs like the Aboriginal Sports Circle for continued success. Later, I will have questions for the appropriate Minister. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, housing is an important issue in Yellowknife Centre, where so many of my constituents are renters. Affordability remains a major issue, with one in seven households overspending on rent in the marketplace. Availability is also a significant problem for people who need rent geared to income. There are long waiting lists at the Yellowknife Housing Authority, Northern United Place, and Avens Court. With these facts in mind, I attended the announcement of the new federal-territorial housing agreement in November with great anticipation.

The agreement is worth $140 million over 10 years, with money beginning to flow in April. The agreement addresses the three elements of housing need: affordability, adequacy, and suitability. It identifies priority groups for social housing, including seniors, women and children fleeing violence, veterans, refugees, visible minorities, people suffering from mental illness, and those who are homeless.

Mr. Speaker, the new agreement aims to increase the number of rent-assisted units by 15 percent beginning in 2020-2021, and it aims to repair 20 percent of existing public housing units. This is good news, but, again, I am disappointed there are no targets for new Housing Corporation construction, even though the strategy is supposed to expand housing stock.

At a briefing to the Standing Committee on Social Development, the president of the NWT Housing Corporation confirmed that the corporation's rental inventory will stay at 2,400 units. However, there is $60 million available through a co-investment fund, for non-profits and others to build affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, Regular MLAs are keenly interested in reducing housing need across the NWT. We passed a motion in 2016 that called on government to reduce core housing need by 2 percent a year for four years so that the NWT met the national average by the end of our term. We will know later this year what progress government has made. The NWT Bureau of Statistics is conducting its every-five-year NWT Community Survey this winter. It will give us a snapshot of where we stand. In the meantime, the detail about how the money from the federal-territorial agreement is going to be spent will be worked out in a three-year action plan to be completed next month. This action plan represents a key milestone in meeting the needs of Northerners for more and better housing. I will have questions for the NWT Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mahsi

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, through its Community Economic Development Organization, has been awarded a $500,000 prize by the Arctic Inspiration Prize Charitable Trust.

Mr. Speaker, the project is a joint venture between the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Gwich'in Tribal Council and fully supported by the Aurora Research Institute. Mr. Speaker, the concept is to develop an innovative process to support Northern Indigenous artists and crafters in the Western Arctic. The team will engage with artisans in each community and create an association of Indigenous artists and crafters across the region to work at developing sustainable business ventures; improving their art skills; ensuring authentic, high-quality products; and building confidence as sustainable business owners.

Mr. Speaker, the project will commence immediately and provide the business supports required to:

1. establish a sustainable association of working artists and crafters who will support each other and the arts/crafts sector by building a critical mass in each community;
2. remove barriers to venture creation by hiring two business managers for the association to manage the books, provide business services and counselling, promote the artists, create an online presence for sales, and develop markets.

Mr. Speaker, the project will also address long-standing challenges traditionally faced by Northern Indigenous artists, including but not limited to:

• encouraging meaningful investment in artists/crafters;
• addressing policies that hinder venture creation, tweaking them to be more encouraging and supportive;
• building and maintaining the reputation for high-quality, authentic Northern Indigenous art; and
• developing young artists to ensure that the continuity of traditional knowledge in the art and culture.

Mr. Speaker, the project team is a strong and collaborative partnership between the IRC, the GTC, and ARI that have the skills, expertise, resource, and passion required to move it from concept to successful completion and to inspire local artists, crafters, and the community members to embrace the vision and make the project their own. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate "Traditional techniques tweaked to inspire and galvanize Indigenous Northern artists" on their win at the Arctic Inspiration Prize 2019. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, [English translation not provided]. I rise today to speak about the passing of an elder, Madelaine Marlowe, of Lutselk'e. Madelaine was born on May 5, 1932. She was born and raised in Lutselk'e and lived to be 86 years old, until she passed away on August 10, 2018. Madelaine was a well-respected elder, and she was a valuable knowledge-holder who will be missed by many.

Mr. Speaker, Madelaine is survived by seven children, Frank, Angelina (Angie), Fred, Catherine, James, Richard, plus 17 grandchildren, and countless other great-grandchildren, nephews, and nieces. Madeline is pre-deceased by her husband, Johnny Marlowe, and her three sons, Noel, Troy, and George Marlowe, and her granddaughter, Vanessa Marlowe.

Mr. Speaker, among many stories of Madeline's life, there are three in particular that I would like to share today. Firstly, in 2015, Madeline was among a group of 25 who received the Premier's Award for Collaboration with respect to their work with Lutselk'e Dictionary Project.

Another notable fact is that Madeline has a granddaughter, Tishna Marlowe, who is a fashion designer and accredits Madeline tremendously for her beading and sewing prowess. According to Tishna, she could not have achieved the success she's earned if it wasn't for Madeline's influence.

Thirdly, Mr. Speaker, I also want to acknowledge the fact that Madeline Marlowe is the mother to my Lutselk'e constituency assistant, James Marlowe. James has been a valuable and loyal member of my staff for many years. So to James, your family, I extend my condolences for your loss. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Our condolences to the family and to the community, as well. Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to recognize a page, Ashley Sisson-Carlson from Kam Lake, and all the pages who have been helping us for our sitting. Thank you very much for the work that you do. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to recognize my son, CJ, and he is here with his friend Sarah, who is a dedicated Air Canada stewardess who helps move tourists all around the world. That benefits the residents of the Northwest Territories, as well. Welcome to the House. Thank you.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start with recognizing, again, my nephew Jeremy Beauchamp. It looks like he might be trying to take my seat here in the House. I am glad to have him. Then Suzie Napayok is the translator in Inuktitut. She lives in my constituency, so I am glad to see her. She is also is a great writer of books, with traditional knowledge from her culture, so a great asset to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Item 6, acknowledgments. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, in my Member's statement, I talked about the funding for the Divisional Education Authority for Deh Cho, which has eight communities. My first question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: can the Minister please provide information on how the school funding framework works? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How does the funding formula work right now? Right now, we provide money for schools to be able to provide services for JK to grade 12. It does have a funding formula that we feel is equitable, but it does also permit flexibility for the local decision-making that needs to be done by authorities.

Some of that is able to be flexible, such as our territorial school of monies. We also provide administration monies, but some of it is actually being changed, that it needs to be spent for things such as inclusive schooling and the Aboriginal languages. Those have to be spent on those areas specifically, but we try to be as flexible as possible.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I talk about the disparity between different regions here. I talk about the Sahtu has five communities or four communities. Is it four? Five, five communities, sorry, and four staff. In my riding, we have eight communities, including the Deh Cho riding, and we only have two staff. Can the Minister explain: if all education bodies have provided funding on an equitable basis, why are there different staffing levels at different divisional education and culture?

Like I stated earlier, the funding formula is based so that it is equitable. There is money for administration et cetera, but there is money that is provided for the number of children in the schools. However, they are allowed to use that with some flexibility, and, therefore, some schools do decide to hire additional teachers; other schools decide to use it for other areas. There are also other monies besides, that come from the GNWT. A lot of the schools in the territory have access to our Canada's Jordan's Principle, which is providing additional monies for them. We need to get more schools to work with this, to work on this area. When we allow flexibility and when they can apply for outside sources of funding, that allows them the discretion to be able to hire additional teachers or not.

Mr. Speaker, when I talk about differences in funding formula and that, we are seeing a decline in our student population in the riding here. We lost 60 students this next coming year, so we are seeing a huge cut-back on positions and that. Can the Minister please provide what process is used to change the school funding framework?

The funding formula is reviewed on a regular basis. We try to work with our school authorities, school bodies, to make sure that it meets their needs, as well. In saying that, though, some things are addressed as the needs come up. For example, just after I assumed this position as Education, Culture and Employment Minister, when it was brought to my attention by the MLA from Nahendeh, who stated that we only had one teacher in small schools, that was an area of concern for me, and so I moved on that quite quickly to actually make sure that we have a minimum of two teachers in every single school in the Northwest Territories, so it is reviewed regularly.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for her answers to this point here. I guess my concern, though, is, when we talk about our divisional boards, when we only have two staff, we are going to burn those people out. They are going to be working really hard, and, you know, when you've got eight schools, it is very difficult for two people. They always going to be on the road, so it is a concern. When we don't even have the proper IT staff, you know, that is a concern.

Will the Minister make a commitment to do a cross-jurisdictional review of the funding formula?

It is a concern where we don't have enough teachers in schools. That is why, like I said earlier, I insisted that there be two teachers in every school. Some of our small schools, like the one I met with today, actually only have five students in it and now has two teachers in it, so we have to also be careful that we don't overload it so that we have more teachers than actual students at a time.

In saying that, though, we do need to review the funding formula. When I was in the constituency tour for Nahendeh, it was brought to my attention that other jurisdictions actually don't do the funding based on the same way that we do within the Northwest Territories. That was really interesting to learn, and so it taught me that this isn't a Canada-wide funding formula and that we need to review it. I have committed to the MLA, and I will continue to do that, is that we are looking at a cross-jurisdictional review within the next year, to see what other provinces and territories are doing and to make sure we are as fair as possible to our students in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, constituents and other members of the public have brought to me their concerns around wait times of six to 12 weeks to access mental health services, far greater than the government's own estimate of two to three weeks. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services respond to these concerns today with an updated and current estimate of the approximate wait times to access mental health care services in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, two things: number one, for issues that are critical or urgent, there really are no wait times. We triage these individuals right away, and, if the triage identifies it as being an urgent or a critical issue, they will see somebody right away.

However, the Member is correct. There are wait times for non-urgent counselling services here in the Northwest Territories, and some of them are quite long. Yellowknife, for adults, it is up to three months; for children, two months. In Behchoko, it is anywhere from four to five weeks' wait time for non-urgent counselling services. In Hay River, it is actually the worst in the territories, at about 35 weeks. I know the Member has raised a number of questions on that, and we are trying to find some solutions there. In Fort Smith, it is one to two weeks. In the smaller communities, we tend not to have the same kind of wait lists, typically. There are times when we may have vacancy or someone goes on holiday, that there might be a short-term wait list, but typically not in the smaller communities, but I do hear the Member.

You know, a non-urgent issue can become an urgent if it is not addressed. Waiting eight months, I think it is a pretty significant wait time for people who are looking for that kind of care. The Minister mentioned urgent or critical cases. Can he share the policy that governs a critical or urgent case?

Mr. Speaker, I believe I heard the Member correctly when he indicated eight-month wait times. If the Member is aware of somebody who is waiting eight months, we are trying to constantly improve, and I would strongly encourage the Member to seek consent from that individual so that they can approach us so we could find out what is going on in that particular file because, on average, three months in Yellowknife is what we are seeing for non-urgent issues.

Mr. Speaker, all community counselling programs with wait times or wait lists have an intervention plan in place to ensure that urgent clients do not slip through the cracks. This recognizes that individuals may change over the time that they are waiting. They may come in, they may not be deemed "urgent," but it may escalate as a result of changing situations. As a result of these plans, triaging of all clients on referral are prioritizing urgent clients. We are offering same-day counselling to individuals who are identified as urgent, and when possible, short-term workshops and other things are done in the community to give our residents options. If an individual is on the wait list, and they are told, "Your appointment is going to be in six weeks," and there is a change in their situation, they should immediately reach out to the Health and Social Services providers, who can do a new, updated assessment to determine urgency, and if appropriate, they can take advantage of these services.

Once again, if the Member is aware of somebody that is eight months, please reach out to them and encourage them to either talk to quality assurance or get consent from the Member so that we can look into this file and figure out what went wrong.

In the event that there is someone who is on the edge and is put on one of those queues, but feels that they need the treatment, and they seek, under their own initiative, to go and obtain treatment, does the government have any policies to assist those people with any financial costs incurred if their case would have fallen under the healthcare and they simply could not wait in the queue any longer?

All of the programs and services, counselling and treatment services, that we provide are based on a referral. They would need a referral for us to provide them with financial supports and coverage.

Many insurance providers don't need our same-level referral. They can always approach their own insurance provider if they have it, recognizing that not everybody has it, but typically, no, if someone seeks treatment outside of our system, we wouldn't cover their costs.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, the Minister spoke of new on-the-land healing programs that would address some of this backlog by providing more local options. There is around $5 million from the federal government to support this. This government itself has been budgeting $1.23 million for several years now.

With the eight contribution agreements that have been signed that the Minister spoke of recently in the House, how many real, actual programs that people can access to get these kind of services and avoid wait lists has this money created? Thank you.

I know that the Member is aware, but just before I answer the on-the-land question, we are doing a number of things to try and help us control and reduce the wait times. One of the things that we are doing is actually providing child and youth counsellors across the territory, which has opened up a service that really doesn't exist for many of our youth today who are using the system as a whole. We are putting more positions in, and we are trying to create more resources for people.

Mr. Speaker, we have $1.23 million. The $5 million that the Member is referring to, I think, may be referring to the wellness money that flows through the federal government, through us, to the Indigenous governments. They get to choose how to spend those dollars. We don't dictate how they spend those dollars.

We have $1.23 million available for on-the-land programming. We make $125,000 available to each of the Indigenous governments. They can ask for more, up to $30,000, on a case-by-case basis. Right now, we have a number of individual Indigenous governments who are running the programs. I could go through the list, but I think that it might just be easier to provide the Member that information in writing, because it is quite detailed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some follow-up questions to my earlier statement about the funding framework used by Education, Culture and Employment to fund the education councils around the region. The MLA for Nahendeh had some questions earlier, and in those answers from the Minister, the Minister noted that the framework is undergoing review right now. There is a cross-jurisdictional scan.

Could the Minister please clarify if this is a full review or if it is just a jurisdictional scan? If it is a review, what is the scope of this review, and how is the department accounting for the uniqueness of the Northwest Territories, in terms of remoteness, in terms of difficulty attracting staff, and factors such as that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. There are several questions in there. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad you noted that, because I was going, "There must be at least ten questions in that one statement." I am going to try to pick one of them out of there, and then he can slam me with the other ones.

The Member had stated that we are currently undergoing this review. That is not correct. We are in the process of just looking at it. I had just returned from the Nahendeh and realized that other jurisdictions have different funding formulas, and therefore, I have made a commitment that we will begin the work towards looking at how other jurisdictions provide their funding to their school bodies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is unfortunate, that they are thinking about beginning the work to look at a possible review. I was hoping that there was a little more going on than this.

Perhaps the Minister can elaborate on how they assessed the quality of the current funding formula. By the department's own admission, just because you are funded to the formula doesn't mean that you are funded adequately. How does the department assess the adequacy of the funding formula?

The last comprehensive review, actually, on the funding formula was done in March 2016, where a number of things were brought up. Like I said, we are constantly reviewing it, so it is something that always is on the template.

Some of the things that we did notice and that were changed from that review, though, were, for example, things like targeted funding, such as inclusive schooling. We had given, in my opinion, too much discretion to the education bodies, and some were using it for teachers; some were using it for all kinds of things, so we tightened up the inclusive schooling funding so that they had to use it for defined purposes. We always say in the House that we don't have enough for inclusive schooling, so we have to make sure that we provide it where it is supposed to go.

Another thing that was brought to our attention was the money for Aboriginal languages, Indigenous languages. That has to go to Indigenous languages, so we tightened that up as well.

A third factor that I found from that review was actually that, a lot of the educational bodies, I hear all the time that there is not enough money, "we need more money, we need more money," but I was shocked when I heard that education bodies had surplus funding, and I'm going, "How do people who need money have surpluses?" We tightened that up as well, Mr. Speaker, and said, "Spend it or lose it."

We gave them a certain amount to be able to keep for surplus, because surplus is good, but the rest of it needs to go back into schooling. If we need more money for students, then we need to use the money that we have on the plate at the moment.

In my statement, I said that the funding formula is too rigid, and the Minister said, "Well, we looked at the funding formula, and we made it more rigid. Those are the kinds of changes that we are making." Then she talked about the surplus. She said the schools have too much surplus. The schools have too much surplus, in her opinion, because the funding formula doesn't work, and so they need this money to accommodate things that aren't accommodated in the funding formula. I think that there is a complete disconnect between the department and what is happening on the ground, the actual needs of the schools.

The Minister talked about some of the detrimental changes that have been made that came out of the last review. Are they looking at making any changes today or currently?

It is kind of a sin to hear that schools feel threatened and that they feel that they have got to hold onto their money and have a surplus to meet their needs. My background was in the NGO world, and surpluses were a luxury that we never actually got to use. If we had seen it, we spent it as soon as we got it. I really want education bodies to know to use their money. We are not going to dry up; we are still going to provide funding.

Some of the work that is going on right now is I meet with the education bodies a couple of times a year. When I have gone to those meetings, they have all been very politically correct, and sometimes, for me, politically correct doesn't always mean that it is the right thing to do. I put it on the table and said, in the next meeting that we have with the education bodies, I want to talk about inclusive schooling. I want to hear from them firsthand what the strengths and what the issues are, and so then we can actually determine how we use that money better.

It is one thing to hear it in the House, but if the education bodies don't bring those needs to my attention, then it doesn't say it is an issue. I need to hear from those designated authorities that tell me, "These are our concerns and what we would like to see as solutions." That is one change I am making is to try to open up the communications.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That makes two Ministers who say that, if they hear something in the House, it's not a concern. They need to hear it from the people directly. I'm not sure what they think our job is, as elected officials, but to be voices for the people. I have to say I'm glad to hear that the Minister is going to sit down with the authorities and actually listen to them, because my question was going to be: what happens to all those conversations that are had? Because I hear about the conversations from the authorities, and then they seem to just go into a drawer, the drawer is closed, and they're never seen again.

So what is going to come out of these conversations with the authorities? Can I get something, a deliverable, from the conversations that the Minister is going to have? What is she going to do with that information? I need something concrete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I apologize if I was incorrect, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that I had said that MLAs don't speak for the people. They do speak for the people, but I also need to hear directly from the education bodies. They are my partners. I fund them. They are responsible for providing the services to the students. So I need to make sure that that relationship -- the Minister before me worked hard on developing relationships. I need to carry that forward. We need to get it to a place where they actually feel comfortable to come to me as the Minister and say, "We have concerns."

Like I've done with other groups, Mr. Speaker, it's not about just hearing and ignoring. It's about: talk about the issues, talk about solutions, and then find solutions that meet the needs of all of us. That's what I have done all my life in my career as a social worker, and that's what I can commit to continuing to do, is looking for solutions that work for all partners involved, including the children. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today I spoke about the continuing line-ups and long waits at the Yellowknife Airport. Mr. Speaker, in an effort to promote the airport improvement fee, the Minister said before the renovation began that the improvements would improve the experience of the travelling public and reduce waiting times, but today there is still only one line-up and the travellers are all forced to go through this bottleneck. I'd like to ask the Minister: after $300,000 in renovations, can the Minister explain how this is an improvement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I can certainly tell you about all the improvements we've done out there with the revolving fund, probably one of the best things this Assembly has done to help improve tourism, particularly in Yellowknife. We spent a lot of money out there improving the system. The Member has raised the question around the CATSA Plus system, and let's make it quite clear in this House, I am not in charge of CATSA Plus. That's a federal initiative. That's their responsibility, but we are working very closely with them to improve the visitors' and the travelling public's experience.

Now, I have a bunch of notes here that I can clearly go to, but I want to make it quite clear that, you know, I've travelled as much as anybody in this Legislative Assembly, and there are times that I've been out there and I've been frustrated, myself. There are a number of issues around the security wait times. Sometimes, it's too many flights all at once. Sometimes, it's staffing shortages at CATSA Plus. That's probably the biggest concern right now with the CATSA system, is the shortage of employees and the amount of training that needs to be taking place out there, but we have been tracking the CATSA Plus system, along with our improvements that we've done out at the Yellowknife Airport, and we've been tracking it, and it's been down by 30 percent on average of wait times. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for his reply, but I don't think that the public is going to find that to be too satisfactory, because, in fact, the Minister's staff, in a previous briefing to Yellowknife City Council, actually indicated and referred specifically that the installation of a CATSA Plus screening system would increase throughput of passengers. So do we have a CATSA Plus system and, if not, why not?

I can assure the Member that the system that is out there at the airport is the new CATSA Plus system.

It would be appreciated if the Minister could share some information at least with the committee, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, about what a CATSA Plus system entails so that we can get more information.

Mr. Speaker, at the same briefing, the Minister's staff told council to expect a 60 percent increase in throughput with this new system. Now, the Minister has said that it's 30 percent. Can the Minister at least describe to us how they measure it, and are they, in fact, measuring the throughput?

Yes, I did say that it has resulted in a 30 percent increase. We are working to improve it even more. Even though I say it's not our system, we are working with the CATSA Plus people to make improvements out there. The security staff right now is actually doing the monitoring and tracking of wait times, but we are moving to put in an automated system out at the airport for both security queue times and also we're going to be looking at the luggage wait times. So that's an improvement through the revolving fund that we're also going to be able to track these things and have better data for all the residents of the Northwest Territories. As I've said, the biggest problem we have out there right now with that system is staffing issues. It's not the system, it's not the new configuration that we've put into place, it's the CATSA staffing.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the Minister's reply as it relates to staffing issues, I mean, that's a concern that we all have here in the North, staffing issues. The fact of the matter is that there is still only one line-up. The staff there, quite frankly, in my view and others', they are doing a commendable job. It's just you can't increase the throughput without having more screening systems. So I'd like to ask the Minister: is this it? After $300,000 and all these improvement fees, is this as good as it gets, or are we going to see a much-improved system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

He's kind of left an open-ended question there for me, so I'm going to take the opportunity to say, you know, the revolving fund has given us an opportunity at the Yellowknife Airport to do a number of improvements. It's not just the CATSA system. That's a system that we're working on. We're working on something that is not even in my control. We're working with the federal government to try to improve it. We went and did other steps outside what I've just said about the new configuration and the staffing issues. For those of you in the House who have travelled lately, we've put up signage in Asian languages to help way-finding systems there to help people, prior to going into the CATSA system, be a little bit more prepared for when they're travelling. There are videos out there in different languages outside the security system to also educate passengers. So we're doing a lot of different things to improve the Yellowknife Airport, not just the CATSA system. There are the runways and all these other things that we're spending this money on.

As I said here probably a couple of weeks ago in my Minister's statement in the House, we're the victims of our own success, again. Landings are up 15 percent. Traffic by passengers is up by 4 percent. We've put in these new systems and we're trying to accommodate the people as best we can. My best recommendation to the travelling public is, you know, we're so used to being a small jurisdiction that we can go to the airport and jump on a plane 10 minutes before it goes, but the reality of it is, in the Yellowknife Airport, you have to start looking at going out there 90 minutes or 60 minutes prior to departing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today I reviewed the history of our government's acquisition and management of a Mactung property. We accepted it as financial security against the shaky Cantung Mine and have spent money cleaning up the site, compiling geological reports, and so on, in the hope of finally trying to sell it. Can the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment tell us how much has been spent to assess and clean up the site, compile geological reports, hire a consultant to file Yukon government applications, and now market it? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a detailed question, and I have to commend the Member for giving me the questions ahead of time, because we had to compile a lot of information on this set of questions. So I'll go through the Member's list. The government has spent $126,025 removing hazardous and other materials from the site. There has been no assessment of full remediation costs, as this is not work that we are intending to undertake. We have completed Mactung site visits, one by Lands, another resulting in two geological reports on the mine sites and surrounding area, but no formal site assessment has been completed.

This work was completed by the Northwest Territories Geological Survey at a cost of approximately $30,000 and was aided by helicopter support from the federal government's Polar Continental Shelf Program. The Government of the Northwest Territories has spent $16,304 for the preparation and submission of the Class 4 quartz-mining land-use permit application and has engaged Tetra Tech as our consultant for this renewal. A local company was engaged in the renewal of licences, and we are currently working on a budget for the sale process. Those numbers have not been yet finalized.

I want to thank the Minister for that detailed response. I will certainly check Hansard to review that. It is not clear why the Minister is marketing the Mactung property in conjunction with the federal government efforts under way to sell Cantung. These two properties are 140 kilometres away from each other by air and 700 kilometres by road. Can the Minister explain why we are marketing these properties together, and, if they are for sale separately, what is the asking price for Mactung?

Mr. Speaker, selling the Mactung deposit together with the Cantung mine will increase the potential viability of the renewed mining operations. That said, we are looking to get more than just the cash payment or a return on the baseline. We are looking to capitalize on the rise of the tungsten prices to translate these world-class resources into good-paying jobs. We believe there is an opportunity for these two projects to create a future Northwest Territories tungsten industry. Selling them together will give us the best possible option and the shortest time frame to converting these assets into a working project that will deliver benefits to the residents and businesses of the Northwest Territories. We also don't want these two assets to compete against each other in what is a relatively small global market of producers and buyers.

I would like to thank the Minister again for that answer, but he didn't answer one of my questions, which was: how much is the price for the Mactung property? Can the Minister tell us that?

Mr. Speaker, this is early in the process. We don't have a specific price for this. We want to sell these properties together. It will be an open bidding process with an evaluation that brings the best benefits to the residents of the Northwest Territories.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. The Minister has hired a Vancouver consultant to help hype the Mactung property by applying for 10-year Government of Yukon quartz mining land use approval. Such an authorization is supposed to be for an actual exploration program, although it is my understanding that there is no exploration to be undertaken by our government, so the application seems to be an unusual attempt, at best, to inflate the value of the property.

Can the Minister tell us whether there are any precedents in the Yukon for such a speculative land-use application and whether he has any legal advice on the validity of such an application?

Mr. Speaker, that would be a lead story, but the Member is mischaracterizing what is going on here. The Government of Northwest Territories is required to renew the mining land use permit on the Yukon site of this property in order to keep the property in good standing. If we don't renew the permit, it is likely that a full site remediation would be ordered and all the potential benefits would be lost. In addition, the potential purchaser requires the ability to conduct exploration work as part of its due-diligence process. This is how a buyer confirms a mineral resource, and it is also a consideration of arranging purchase and financing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, with the most recent blizzard in Paulatuk, with winds as high as 140 kilometres an hour, one roof blew apart, which is one of the newer buildings in the community. Mr. Speaker, I am worried the type of construction in the High Arctic communities, the design for a building, will not withstand the winter storms. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister improve the design and quality of homes that are being built in the Arctic and especially in Nunakput, where winter storms are occurring more often? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the roof was designed to withstand the strong winds. Obviously, the damage was unexpected. We will continue to work with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation as well as leadership in the communities, as you have heard me say many times in this House, as we develop our community housing plans to address some of these priorities as we are seeing weather that continues to happen, especially in the community of Paulatuk. I know we had a very strong storm there last year. Obviously, the roof was designed to withstand the strong winds. It is very unexpected, but we will work on continuing to address these kinds of concerns as we move forward, not only in Paulatuk but with all of our communities across the Northwest Territories.

It is good to see that the Minister is recognizing the harsh winds we have up North. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Housing announced that there will be community housing planning events. There is one scheduled for Paulatuk. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give an update on what this meeting will consist of and what benefits will it bring to the community, not just the community of Paulatuk, but the region in Nunakput?

As Members know, I did make a statement in this House about our community housing plans last week, that prompted questions from other MLAs on how we are going to move about that and the five stages that we are going to take. Obviously, we do need a buy-in from leadership and community members. We need to raise awareness in the community and have people speak up about what the priorities are in their community as we build these community housing plans.

In my statement that I made last week, we are currently working on six communities. We signed agreements with three of them. We are working on signing agreements with the other three. As we get our staff to get out and have these discussions and get that community input on what they see is needed in their communities, then we will get our staff out, as well, as much as we can. I know they are listening right now, and I know they have been on the road quite a bit, not only discussing community plans but looking at addressing homelessness and other initiatives that we are doing within the department. As soon as we get the communities on a list, we will try to get to them as soon as we can, but, obviously, it is going to take a community buy-in and leadership and continue those discussions.

I appreciate the response from the Minister. It sounds like there is a start to some commitment there. Mr. Speaker, talking about agreements with territorial governments and between the GNWT and the IRC, it has proven to be a successful start on planning for the region. Mr. Speaker, as we move towards the end of this Assembly, will the Minister continue to improve upon the partnership between the IRC and the GNWT to ensure that the number and quality of homes in Nunakput increase with the rising population?

Of course, not only the IRC but all of our Indigenous governments, we have been meeting a lot since I have taken on the portfolio and building on the success and hard work that the previous Ministers have done. We are working to continue to get all of our programs out to the communities. Obviously, with new leadership and new elections, we need to update our leadership on the programs that the NWT Housing Corp provides, such as the community housing support initiatives. We have made that announcement on the co-investment fund. The bilateral agreements are going to have an impact throughout the Northwest Territories, which really prompted something new that hasn't been done before. We are going to be looking at doing an Indigenous housing summit, which we are actually looking at trying to maybe, possibly, create a Northern Housing Summit that we can have all of our partners and all of our communities participate in, but also invite other jurisdictions, such as the Yukon and Nunavut, to attend, and we will continue that strong partnership with the IRC and continue working with them.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, it is good to see that the Housing Corporation is developing some programs that will involve not just the territory, but also our sister territories across the North.

Mr. Speaker, lately there have been some really pressing housing issues in my region, and I commend the Housing Minister and his staff for the hard work that they do to start to put people in homes, Mr. Speaker. As they develop policy, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is: will the Minister involve northern MLAs and Indigenous MLAs, who represent Indigenous groups in their ridings, to be involved in developing policy together so that we have continuity? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have also mentioned in the House that we are going through a strategic renewal process within the NWT Housing Corporation that we should be looking at presenting to standing committee, and obviously, we would always want input on that.

As MLAs, part of our job is working on direction of legislation and policies, but also including our leadership in that. One of the big things about the community housing plans is that we want community and local input into what is best for them, and it is going to be something that is going to be done throughout all of the communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Health.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, my constituents are demanding better quality healthcare, and I would like to ask the Minister: will the quality of healthcare improve once the new Stanton Hospital is completed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are lots of things that are happening in the Health and Social Services system with a focus on improving the delivery to all residents. Moving a single authority has given us many opportunities, and the construction of the new Stanton building will certainly help us provide efficient services in that building.

More importantly, for residents outside of Yellowknife, residents of the Member's riding, I think that one of the most important things that we are doing right now is the Cultural Safety Action Plan, which is going to help ensure that our frontline people are trained and understand the environments in which they work.

With that Cultural Safety Action Plan is also primary healthcare reform, and honestly, in my opinion, the primary healthcare reform is really the step that is going to help us improve delivery at the front line for all residents of the Northwest Territories, including residents of his riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When will my constituents be provided the best quality of healthcare and receive thorough examinations when needed?

That is a very broad question. We know that in the Northwest Territories we do have some pretty great staff out there providing services, and many of our residents are getting timely and good care, but there are certainly residents who are raising issues. It is important for us to learn from those issues.

I would strongly encourage that the Member, and all Members, in fact, if they have a resident who has an issue with the care that they have received, please bring it forward to our quality assurance professionals so that they can review those situations and make recommendations to help us ensure that some of those unfortunate situations are not occurring on a regular basis.

We want to have a system that is constantly evolving, improving, and growing to meet our clients' needs, but we need our residents to be part of that process as well.

My constituents do bring up these issues, but this is an ongoing issue. Many times constituents go for checkups when they have an illness that needs attention, but they are basically given Tylenol and being sent home, and that needs to stop, Mr. Speaker.

Is our quality of healthcare being limited to save money on medical travel, as most high-quality examinations, like MRIs and CT scans, are done in Edmonton? Is that being limited to save on medical costs?

No.

Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can residents also travel to Vancouver for medical travel, or does everyone have to go to Edmonton when travelling outside of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Under medical travel, you are referred to the location within our system that has the services available closest. For some individuals, they would come into Inuvik. For some individuals, they might come into Hay River. For some individuals, they would come into Yellowknife.

For things like MRIs and many of our specialist appointments or surgeries, our relationship is with Alberta, so our referral pattern is into Alberta. We are working with a couple of our communities in the Deh Cho to create a relationship with northern BC, but for the most part, all of our referrals are to our partners in Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.