This is page numbers 5333 - 5364 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was services. View the webstream of the day's session.

Topics

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The education monies are actually provided to the education bodies, councils in this situation, and sometimes authorities in different communities. We're always more than willing to meet and to talk about anything education, but it would have to go through the appropriate bodies, which would be the education council at that point. If they're willing to organize it and fund it, then I will make sure that, of course, we have staff from ECE to attend, for sure. I think it's important.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thanks to the Minister for that information. I look forward to exploring dates and options here. There is the old saying, "If you want to do something, you have to do it yourself." In this case, I don't feel comfortable with the authority that we currently have in trying to schedule this gathering. My next question is: is the Minister in support of an education review for the Sahtu region?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I think it is important to review all of the programs throughout the GNWT on a regular basis. I am more than supportive of actually having an educational review, although I have to clarify and state that we only have a couple of months left in this Assembly. I already have priorities on the table. I don't think that I will be able to manage to do a review during the rest of this term. I will put it on a transitional report, though, to state that there was a request to have an educational review. I think, if we are going to do it, for one, we should be doing it right across our whole education.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I know we are getting to the tail end of this Assembly here, but I think we have more than a couple of months. Is the Minister willing to provide an assigned staff member to work with my office in scheduling dates that may lead up to this symposium? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I should clarify: my understanding of the question before was if we would do a comprehensive review on the whole education system. That isn't something that I could probably do in the next few months. However, we are constantly doing reviews of our education programming through our education renewal program. That is ongoing, that we are always looking at our programs, our education services, and they are always being reviewed on a constant basis. I just want to clarify that it is not like we are not doing it. We do it regularly. If you are looking at a full, comprehensive one, that is a little bit different. Having someone to work with the Members in organizing a symposium, like I said, if the district council is willing to fund and organize one, then I am sure that I can get my staff to find a date that would mutually work for all parties. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ITI has undergone a few initiatives regarding manufacturing. We have our manufacturing strategy forthcoming, of course. Last spring, the Minister tabled a "what we heard" report with regard to that strategy. That had significant input from those interested in manufacturing. Also, the Minister and myself and the Member from Hay River North met with those who were interested in revitalizing manufacturers' associations.

Finding and retaining labour is a challenge that is consistently shared among manufacturers. I would like to ask the Minister: what initiatives, if any, is the Minister discussing with his other department colleagues to retain more skilled workers in the North, but especially around affordable housing and attracting people to the trades through apprenticeship? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we work very closely with the Department of Education on this matter. A question like that probably would be better served going to the Minister of Education. I can say, on behalf of the Minister of ITI and our department, that the Government of the Northwest Territories takes this very seriously. You can see that in our partnerships. You can see it with industry partnerships with the mining industry and the Mine Training Society, how that has worked out, how it has linked education and employment and economic opportunities right across the whole territory for the residents.

Partnership between our government and the industry training provides and continues to help raise education awareness levels right across the territory. I know this isn't specific to the strategy, but it definitely raises the awareness around how people can access these programs and the trade levels and related fields and the benefits that come with these things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

I appreciate that some of the questioning might be better suited for other Ministers, but these are concerns. These are issues that manufacturers have raised directly with the Ministry, either in the "what we heard" report" or at the gathering that we had last fall. That is the reason why I raised them today. When it comes to procurement, many challenges have been identified by manufacturers. Specific frustration has been expressed with the lack of consultation and rationale on changes to technical specifications that require manufacturers sometimes to retool or modify their operations. I would like to ask the Minister: will the Minister make a commitment that specification changes will be consulted upon with the respective manufacturers prior to making changes to those specifications?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Standing committee has the manufacturing strategy in their purview, and I am looking forward to the comments that come back from committee on that. With that said, I think the issue the Member is highlighting is one that has been identified in the past. We have addressed it. We have taken a number of steps to improve the understanding and the application of our manufacturing policy, both to the manufacturers and to our GNWT procurement departments. I know for a fact that we have done that. We have taken these steps. We have even taken steps where we have sponsored facility tours and updated the manufacturers' product lists and the specifications. I think actually the Member even came one of the tours with me on that. I believe the one that he is highlighting specifically, actions that we are proposing within our strategy, is going to help address this because it is in there. We are talking about communication with the northern manufacturers strategy and the capacity of the Manufacturers' Association to interact with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Again, I am looking forward to hearing from committee on their comments on this.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Yes, indeed, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment is looking forward to providing input with regard to this strategy. Many manufacturers describe the GNWT's enforcement of both the Business Incentive Policy as well as the manufacturing policy as being, quite frankly, unsatisfactory. A number of concerned representatives recounted instances where they believed policies were either misinterpreted, or possibly ignored, resulting in arbitrary decision-making. Does the Minister accept that these are legitimate concerns and will he revalidate the Business Incentive Policy and the manufacturers policy?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

I believe we have already done that, because that was identified in the Economic Opportunities Strategy in 2014, which led our government to develop a strategy. This strategy is with standing committee, and I look forward to hearing their feedback, as I said. The strategy that is with standing committee includes provisions for renewing the Manufactured Products Policy by reducing the number of barriers and addressing past irritants to this sector.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In discussions, a number of the manufacturers have identified information-sharing as a concern. Many companies, in fact, said that they were unaware of the GNWT funding and support programs for businesses. How will the department support better means for manufacturers to more easily access government resources, supports, programs, and funding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

As the Member will know from reading the strategy, it is focused heavily on increasing the capacity of the Northwest Territories Manufacturers' Association to be a voice for the manufacturers. We have continued to meet with them on a timely basis and make sure we get a lot of input from them as we move this thing forward.

At the same time, we want to use this strategy to connect them with funding and training programs that are available to them. Just because you are in manufacturing doesn't mean you actually know about all these programs that are out there. We are going to work on that with them.

We want to identify ways to expand their businesses and grow opportunities. Within this strategy, we are also looking at including an establishment of a pathfinder position and an establishment of a reverse trade show and the development of a marking plan and a website for made-in-the-NWT products. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The multi-year saga of NTPC's new diesel generators of the Jackfish Lake plant has finally come to a close, and I have questions for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation. Now that the generators are, in fact, delivered and the contract has ended, what are the final cost overruns for this debacle that taxpayers will ultimately be responsible for?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I don't have that information at my fingertips. I will get that information to the Member, so I will take the rest of his questions as notice.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

The Minister has taken the questions as notice. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. In remarks in Committee of the Whole the other day, there used to be an additional $373,000 for midwifery in 2019-2020, bringing the total resources devoted to midwifery to $1.78 million. There used to be a staff complement of 8.5 full-time-equivalent people. Could the Minister of Health and Social Services summarize where these positions will be located and how services will be offered to other communities? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There already are a number of midwifery positions that exist in both Fort Smith and Hay River. The new positions that are being established, there are 2.5 positions in total. One of the positions is going to be the territorial midwifery clinical specialist position, and this position will provide some coordination and consistent program guidance midwifery services that exist across the Northwest Territories. They will also be responsible for engaging the clinical governance and quality assurance activities within the authority and liaise with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority for this exact same purpose.

We also are establishing a 0.5 midwifery position in Hay River, and this position is going to be added to the existing complement, and this position will ensure the sustainability of the current services in Hay River, but will also do some of the groundwork for rolling out midwifery services and supports to communities like Fort Resolution and other communities in the Deh Cho. We also have a 0.75 position that we are establishing here in Yellowknife, and this position will work with the territoral midwifery clinical specialist and other primary health practitioners to lay the groundwork for integrated midwifery services here in the capital, but also for rolling out midwifery services throughout the rest of the territories as part of the territorial model. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that and I am certainly interested in finding out more about how the services are going to be expanded to all our communities. I am not aware of any plans to monitor and evaluate the new Northwest Territories midwifery program and publicly report implementation and overall progress. Can the Minister describe how the NWT midwifery program will be monitored and evaluated, and how the results will be publicly reported?