This is page numbers 105 - 162 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.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I am involved. All of the Members of this House are going to be involved. I've offered a technical briefing to the Standing Committee on Social Development, but we have crazy schedules right now, so we haven't been able to get in front of the committee to show them what we're up to and hear what the feedback is. Further to the expertise that was mentioned earlier, there are people at the college also assisting with this. It's not just some people in Lahm Ridge Tower in downtown Yellowknife. You know, we have people with a lot of experience working on this.

One of the first things that I did during the very first briefing I had with the department about this is I said, "We need a much stronger Indigenous government engagement strategy," or approach. I don't even want to say "strategy"; approach. So I actually pushed some of the timelines back because I wanted to make sure that we're developing a university that is going to meet the needs of the people it's serving. I don't want to create a university and hope people buy into it; I want to build that from the ground up. So the Member can rest assured, we're going to have that input. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Question 59-19(2): Budgeting Process and Public Communication
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I had a question for the Minister of Finance, but I just want to say what the Minister from ECE said about having plans to move forward and taking steps to be more open and transparent to the people of the Northwest Territories. They deserve that. With that, my question to the Minister of Finance is: would the Minister commit to having the Department of Finance do more public communications around the budget process, including supplementary appropriations? Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Question 59-19(2): Budgeting Process and Public Communication
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Finance.

Question 59-19(2): Budgeting Process and Public Communication
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an occasion where I'm tempted to simply say, "Yes," and sit down, but perhaps I'll elaborate. I'll elaborate very briefly, only in that this is a conversation that we've already been having in the Department of Finance, recognizing that what the finance department does can sometimes seem unnecessarily opaque, and it doesn't need to be that way. In my past life, a lot of what I often did was translate things from legalese into good public communication, and it is my hope to bring some of that to what happens in our Department of Finance so that we can all better understand the documents. So I certainly will do that, and I'll certainly be going to the Members as I'm working through with different ways we can do that.

I can say that we have already set up, this Friday, an opportunity for media to have a conversation with myself about the process of the budget and how a budgeting process unfolds and how that comes together, in the hopes that, as we move through this session, the public is better informed as to the different stages of what happens throughout the year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 59-19(2): Budgeting Process and Public Communication
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you for the response from the Minister. Not quite what I wanted to hear, but, you know, I try to look at it this way: the States have the CIA; Canada has CSIS. You know, they have their secret committees, but we're the GNWT. We're a consensus government. I think we need to be more open, wherever we can, and I'm hoping that that's the way moving forward. People deserve transparency, as I mentioned earlier. I guess my next question is: can the Minister commit to having the department do more to inform the public about the various GNWT budgets, such as the capital budget and the main estimates, and have a little more of an education piece for the public?

Question 59-19(2): Budgeting Process and Public Communication
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Again, the short answer is yes. I'm more than prepared to make that commitment. So, in addition to the fact that there is an effort to have some general media engagement this coming Friday about how a budget process unfolds, in addition to that, we're already working on having a bit more of a social media strategy to introduce people to the different parts of a budget and to the different processes. There has been some information already going out on social media to that regard. We are also actively, right now, working with stakeholder organizations across the Northwest Territories, in order to provide them with opportunities to have sort of budget fundamentals, to understand what the process is, understand what the budgets are, and we certainly look forward to being able to bring that kind of presentation out into the public in many forums.

So, again, the short answer is yes. The long answer is we're already doing some of that work and we're going to continue to find ways to do that work. It is certainly of interest to me to make sure that people who are coming to the government, who are asking for support for various projects, understand the best possible time to do that, understand what goes into that process, so that, when they come forward, they can give all the best possible information to the right parties early on, so that we can actually deliver on a budget that is effective and that does achieve the priorities of the people of the Northwest Territories.

Question 59-19(2): Budgeting Process and Public Communication
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in the House, the housing Minister advised that we do not work through legislation, and that "the Housing Corporation works solely through policy." Given that the NWT Housing Corporation Act sets out the Minister's authority, will the Minister please clarify what she meant by her remarks? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Member, for your comment. The Housing Corporation is established under the Housing Corporation Act, and we do work with our policies in order to deliver our programs and to best meet the needs of the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you for that. If there are policies guiding the use of T4 slips as proof of income, I have not had any success at finding them online as of yet. What policy guidance governs the local housing authorities, and will the Housing Corporation commit to making their policies easily accessible online?

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

I would just like to elaborate on the T4 slips that are required for the rental scale for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. When we were establishing our rental program, we found that, when we established and we set our rent using the T4 slips, they were mainly to accommodate the people who had disabilities who were on income support and who were high-income earners, so it would just eliminate the time that they would have to be spending and reporting to the LHO offices. Going forward, we do have an assessment that is required that can be completed and filled out, and that is the responsibility of the client.

There were two questions that were asked. I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker. Can I have the Member repeat the second? Thank you.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

I am wondering if the Housing Corporation would be willing to commit to making their policies easily accessible online.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

This is a conversation I am having with my staff currently. We were looking at making our programs available online so that people would be able to access, as simple as even completing their rental assessments, access to the policies that we currently have, more communication with the general public, more communication with our clients. I have also wanted to just express that I have instructed my staff to also start advertising. One of our first advertisements just went out in the newspaper. Throughout the next three years, we will be seeing that consistently. I would like to make the programs more accessible to the people, also, who don't have the access to the internet or to technology and that they are able to get into our LHO offices and being able to program-deliver productively.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have created an arm's-length corporation to enable housing to be more flexible. My question for the housing Minister is: how will the Minister make sure that deep and transformative innovation are part of the everyday work of the Housing Corporation? Thank you.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

With the delivery of the programs for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, we have had a lot of successful stories going forward that haven't been advertised. I think to make it more accessible and make the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation more integrated with our clients and with our stakeholders, we have had opportunities with Indigenous governments and building relations with them, building programs with them, as well.

I would just like to elaborate on the Northern Pathways program that we have had. I am very excited to speak about this, that we do address the homelessness. That is one of the largest areas of concern in the Northwest Territories, and we did work with the K'asho Got'ine land claim organization out of Fort Good Hope, where they took the initiative to deal with their homelessness on their own with the support of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and funding from the federal government. Also, I wanted to address that we had similar initiatives that were completed, homelessness strategies, in Aklavik, Fort Simpson, and Behchoko. 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 statement earlier today raised the issue of completing our network of single-service window centres across the entire NWT. Would the Minister of executive and intergovernmental affairs briefly describe the services performed at these centres and how effective they have been in increasing access to government programs and services? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, the government service officers in the single-service window centres are actually a real success in the smaller communities, in all honesty. In the last 10 years, we have had over 70,000 people use that service in the small communities. What do they do there? Because in the small communities we don't have the big government buildings like we do in the regional centres or like here in our capital city, often they have people who fly in from different regions. A worker will fly in once or twice a month or whatever.

Like we have heard many times in questions in the House, people have income support; they need housing; they need all kinds of services, medical access, et cetera. The government service officers' task, these single-service windows, is to actually be there as that connecting point so that people know what programs are out there, how they can get the forms in, et cetera.

The other thing that I am really proud of that they do is actually go into elders' homes. They help them in Indigenous languages for people who struggle with English as a second language. That is phenomenal. That is something that we couldn't pay enough for. Basically, in a nutshell, I am a strong advocate. I think they are a great service in the small communities, and it is one way to help people have access to our programs and services in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that great promotion of the hard work that our GSOs do, and I recognize that, as well. We just need to complete the network. I want to ask the Minister whether there is a plan to actually complete the network for all of our communities, including the regional centres, and, if not, why?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I don't know if there is actually a laid-out plan. I could do a plan that says we have so many small communities and this is how many we have and this is how many I want to get to. I am more big on getting the work done. I do know that we are still working on it. The next one will be going into the Deh Cho region. My commitment is, because it is a great program, I think that we need to make sure that we try to get them in every single small community before we even start talking about regional centres or the capital city. I know people would like it everywhere. The reality is that the whole point was to be able to have access to services and programs. That is what my goal will be, to make sure all the small communities are covered first.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. I, too, agree that we want to complete this network, probably with an emphasis on small communities, but Yellowknife actually has the largest Indigenous population of any communities in the Northwest Territories. There are a lot of unilingual speakers right here in Yellowknife, as well. We have to find a way to provide services for them. There is already a model for how we could do some of the regional centres. We have the Services TNO office here in Yellowknife. I want to ask the Minister whether she can tell us whether there has been an evaluation of the services provided through Services TNO and whether this can serve as a model for all regional centres.