This is page numbers 1347 - 1388 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

Topics

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

A couple of ways. Again, I already spoke about the necessity for all of us to be diligent at this time, but I also want to stress that, when I am saying that, being diligent does not mean pointing people out; it does not mean shaming your neighbours. We need to be kind to each other. However, if you do know that you've got a community member who is supposed to be in self-isolation and they are not, please call ProtectNWT or the 811 line. That is the link to the enforcement team, who will do an investigation on it, Mr. Speaker.

However, I do know that, of the just over $31 million that we are expecting to spend this year, worst-case scenario, almost $13 million of that, Mr. Speaker, is for our self-isolation centres. I already said in the House the other day, we have got to get that down. We need to still pay for people who are on medical travel, people who have poverty and stuff. We should not be supplementing for people to take three, four, some people are taking many vacations. We need to look at that because we have an obligation to keep our people safe, but we also have an obligation to try to be as fiscally responsible as possible. Those are discussions, now that we have the secretariat, where we actually have control, and we are starting to look at those. You will see, probably, changes before the next sitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have misplaced my questions. There we go. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. One of the greatest returns on investment for the Government of the Northwest Territories for revenue generation in the Northwest Territories is people, Mr. Speaker. Increasing the federal transfer payments by increasing the population of the Northwest Territories helps to build our skilled labour force, expand our diverse demographics, and reunite families of rooted immigrants. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell us how many immigration nomination spots the NWT gets every year and how many of those spots they actually fill? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories, through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, is allocated between 250 to 300 spots. It varies from year to year. This year so far, from January 1st, the employer stream of the Northwest Territories nomination program has issued 59 nominations. There are another 23 applications in for review, so we could have quite a few this year. Generally, it's been around 70 over the last number of years. We were up to 100 for a little while. This has all grown since 2009, when we had three, I believe. When we are talking about these numbers, there are these people and their families, too, so it's almost 900 people so far, since 2009. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you to the Minister for that information. It's good news to hear we still have room to grow and that we can get there. One of the objectives of the immigration strategy is to track the retention of applicants. Is this work being done to date, and does the program track the reasons why new residents might actually be leaving the Northwest Territories for other areas or other provinces or territories in Canada?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

The Member is correct. That is one of the key goals of the strategy. That work is starting this year. The tracking is difficult given that, when someone is a permanent resident, they can go wherever they want and that any sort of information they share is voluntary. It's not like we can put their name in a database and just track wherever they go. That being said, the federal government does have information on these individuals, and we are working on a way of coming up with a way to share that information or have the federal government share that with us so that we can begin that work of tracking them and better understand some of the questions that the Member is asking. That work is starting now and will be ongoing.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

That is very good to hear, and I look forward to seeing some of the reports that come out of that. Mr. Speaker, I serve a very diverse riding, and one of the reasons that I have been alerted to as far as why foreign nationals might be leaving the Northwest Territories is access to supports required to fulfill their immigration applications for the federal government. Examples of this can be people needing to go get medical tests or people needing English-language proficiency tests. These supports need to be readily available in the Northwest Territories so that people have access to them without having to travel down to Alberta, which is quite expensive. Right now, given COVID, people have to then come home and self-isolate after paying out of pocket to pay for a plane ticket, to pay for accommodations. That is a very, very expensive process to fulfill your obligatory application process. Mr. Speaker, I am wondering, given the incredible cost of this, can the Minister advise when services like English-language proficiency testing will be available once again in the Northwest Territories?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I want to actually commend the Member because she has really been pushing this issue for a while. I think she really lit a fire under the department, and she really highlighted this issue. I actually have some good news for the 70 or so people who need to travel South to get this testing every year. Individuals requiring the English-language proficiency tests for immigration processes will be able to access this test on a regular basis in the Northwest Territories in the coming weeks. The Department of ECE is providing financial support to College Nordique to help them become an approved language-testing centre for the Canadian English-Language Proficiency Index Program, and that's the language test. This will ensure that the foreign nationals in the territory no longer need to travel South and, now, that they don't need to come back and isolate for two weeks or wait for these administrators to come to the Northwest Territories. Barring any unforeseen delays in securing the necessary hardware that we have to get from southern suppliers, delivery of language testing at CNF could begin as early as December.

The department's contribution to CNF will support six offerings of the test each year, with each offering able to accommodate 12 individuals for a total of up to 72 individuals annually, and like I said, the average number is around 70 who require this. In addition, we are working with CNF to ensure that if there are 75 or 80, that we can accommodate that, as well. This is a great news story. It's going to save a lot of people a lot of money and a lot of time, and it makes the Northwest Territories a more attractive place to immigrate to. I want to congratulate the CNF on becoming a certified remote testing centre.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister and the department staff for working diligently on this one. I'm happy to say that the Minister of education is currently my favourite person in this room right now.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please provide details regarding the next immigration strategy as the existing one is set to conclude in 2022? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

The Member is correct. 2022 is when this one ends. In the coming months, there will be engagement with the business community on our labour market initiatives and skills for success, and we're going to take that opportunity to also discuss some of the ways we can improve immigration. We're going to get feedback from the community there. Late in 2021, we're going to go out and really engage stakeholders and our partners so that we can develop the next immigration strategy so that it's ready to begin as soon as this one ends. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. I'm going to go back to her region, so hopefully, she's going to make her constituents super happy here with her answers today. Mr. Speaker, I would like to know if the Minister could provide me with an update on the money that was needed to fix the ITH and the repairs that were done this year on that. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of Infrastructure.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to hear that the Member is excited for some work in my region. I appreciate that. We'll see what we can do. I want to start off by talking about the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. Last year, we had maintenance completed, and it was 26 kilometres of gravel resurfacing that cost about half a million dollars, and that was funded by Infrastructure. We also have a three-year contract with Gruben's, Northwind, for the operation and maintenance of the highway, so work is continuing, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

We are currently in the process of reviewing the capital estimates for 2021-2022, and I don't see any money in there for either the ITH or the Dempster Highway. Could the Minister please tell us how she is going to find money to repair both highways, which do need work sooner rather than later?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Yes, in my riding. I do want to let the Member know that last year, for the Dempster Highway, there was $4.5 million annual budget for Highway no. 8 rehab and the maintenance works, which totals up to year 2023-2024 of a total of $22.5 million. It has been approved in the capital plan. That work continues. We are looking at improvements on the Dempster Highway. I also want to add that the plan is to have 3 kilometres reconstruction starting next year. Every year, we do a certain amount of kilometres, and that's on timeline.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

We heard a lot about how the 3 kilometres a year, piecing away at fixing those roads is not adequate. I believe your colleague from the region brought that up. I would like to ask the Minister to commit to going to the federal government and actively engaging for rehabilitation money for the Dempster in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars that is required?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

We continue to do rehab on the Dempster Highway on Highway 8. We realize that there is a lot of work to do. We are aware, and I think where the Member is coming from is, we are doing work on the Dempster Highway from the border to the Inuvik side. That work's already underway. However, we are aware that, once you hit the Yukon border, that's another story. The road quality is not the greatest. It's not at the same standard, however, the department is working with the federal government to put a joint proposal together to be able to continue the work on Dempster Highway as we all recognize that this is much needed.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to providing myself and the rest of my colleagues with information around how they are using climate change and disaster mitigation in order to adapt or look for funding from the federal government, not just from looking at, say, as an infrastructure problem, however, looking at the other methods of funding they can access through the federal government along those lines? Thank you.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

The Department of Infrastructure is actively looking at: we've engaged the associate engineering to assess the road conditions for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. Once we get the review, it will have some impact on the contract and provide recommendations that help our work plan. The firm that's out there would be able to have a look at the conditions of the road and to provide some feedback so that we can include in some of our work going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question's for the Minister of Finance, the NWT Wage Top-Up Program. I'm going to change it up here a bit. I was looking at the website before the House this afternoon, and I am pleased to announce that the wage top-up program has been extended to February 28, 2021. It's kind of unusual that a Regular Member is making this announcement, but I don't recall any kind of public announcement about this being extended. This is good news, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me what kind of publicity was done around the extension of the NWT Wage Top-up Program? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.