This is page numbers 739 - 766 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 health.

Topics

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

The communication about self-isolating and about the precautions that need to be taken has been happening, I believe, since January, was the first time that the department reached out, and I will ensure that those continue to happen. Similar to the schools, I don't have the authority to close day homes, as it is being done in other jurisdictions, but if there is a serious health concern, the Chief Public Health Officer likely has the ability to close that. If people do have concerns about what is going on, they should be bringing those forward.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In regard to the Premier's comments earlier today in regard to closing schools until after Easter, does that mean that the end of the school year for NWT students will move and will be prolonged a little bit more into the summer to make up that time? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

What the Premier said was that I consulted with the Chief Public Health Officer and received advice to close NWT schools until after Easter. That is advice. I don't have the authority to close those schools.

I have a meeting today with the chairs of the DEAs and the DECs, and they are the ones with that authority. Our recommendation will be to follow the advice of the chief medical officer, which is to close schools until after Easter. What that means, we are not sure yet. We will see where we are at that point and then re-evaluate, but there are a number of options on what can happen.

In the South Slave, they haven't had spring break yet. Perhaps they just don't have a spring break and they finish early. There are things like what happened in Alberta, where they cancelled school until basically next September, so it is still too early to know what is going on, but I can tell the Members of this House that it is my desire to continue educating children even in light of the physical closures of schools. I don't want to just abandon this school year. I want to ensure that our grads, people who can graduate, are able to graduate, and I want to ensure that we don't allow our students to fall further behind by just giving up on their education for the rest of this year.

What that looks like, I am not sure. The staff in the department have been working with the NWT Teachers' Association, have been working with the superintendents and the school boards to try and figure out how we can continue delivering education in light of these closures. That is where we are right now, and this recommendation came in a few hours ago, so the plans are still in the process of being made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Just listening to some of the questions out there; I want to thank my colleagues from Kam Lake and Inuvik Twin Lakes for asking the questions. I was scratching out questions as I went along, here, but I did have one main question for the Premier: will the Premier advise if we will be distributing care packages for elders and those with mobility restrictions? What I mean by "care packages" is basically just dry goods, food, and supplies for elders, because it looks like this might be lasting a little longer than it should be. Marsi cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, we are not contemplating care packages for elders. We have zero confirmed cases in the Northwest Territories. If everyone does what the chief medical officer is asking, that they self-isolate if they have travelled internationally, if they are using good hygiene, if they are washing their hands, don't go to visit your elders, probably, in the long-term care facilities if you're sick, might be good advice. At this point, like I say, we have no incidences. We're not at that point that we're actually starting to panic. Those are discussions that will be coming across the table in the next week or two, though. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you for the response from the Premier. I have another question. With that in mind, I think that we need to be proactive here. There are still a lot of elders and mobility-restricted who are starting to be afraid to leave their homes now, so we need to start thinking about this. I am wondering if the Premier will be having these discussions and putting this in their emergency planning as they speak right now.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

As stated in the first question, there be discussions coming to Cabinet not only on care packages, whether we are going to go there or not, but also how we deal with the fears of our seniors, our elders, and their care, because they are the most vulnerable population within this pandemic. Those are conversations that we will have, but again, reinforcing, at this point, we have zero cases in the Northwest Territories. I am begging all residents, please, I know that people are panicking, but it's important that we remain calm, that we follow good hygiene, and we follow the advice from our chief medical officer. Connect with your government. Connect with your MLAs. Connect on Facebook. Get the information that is proper.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. Earlier, we heard that all departments do have response plans, and I am glad to hear that we have been working on this for a number of weeks. My question is: at what point in those response plans do we start telling GNWT employees to not attend work?

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That time is not now. That's a discussion that has been ongoing for some time. It has been a discussion that has been happening in some detail for some time, since January, really, but these plans are plans that have existed long before now. They are plans that were developed last year when we were facing the strike and owing from years before when they were dealing with H1N1. There are different gradients for each department. There are different needs for each department. We have to consider our health department and our essential services first, make sure that their needs are being met, make sure that we're also looking at whether or not we have the technical capacity to increase having people off working online. All of those things are being discussed and considered right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I appreciate that answer. My concern here is that all of these things work together, and if we are closing schools, people lose childcare. If we are losing day homes, people lose childcare, and it's important that, if we're asking people to continue showing up to offices when they could be working from home, but they don't have childcare, we are putting them in a very difficult situation. My question to the Minister of Finance is: are people remote working now, those who are able?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Certainly, anyone who is following the advice of the Chief Public Health Officer and who is returning from international travel should be working from home right now. Beyond that, anyone who has concerns or needs, such as childcare, resulting from the current situation ought to be speaking to their supervisor. All departments, I am sure, I am confident, are working closely and working with human resources to support their people right now in whatever circumstances they might find themselves, whether it's because they've returned from international travel or if they are needing to care for someone who is in that situation. If there is a need like that, I would suggest that every single department is aware and that the supervisors are aware and that they are in contact with human resources, and we will, for the time being, face that one step at a time.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I appreciate that answer. My concern here is that remote working requires some logistics. We have to build the technical capacity. I believe that we should start doing this now. We should start piloting sending different sections of departments who can work from home to do it. I'm not talking about front-line healthcare workers, obviously, or essential services, but we are the largest employer in this territory, and I believe that many of our workers should be working from home now. If we are closing schools and daycares and closing mass gatherings, it does not make sense to have 5,000 public civil servants who can work from home being at work. My question is: will the Minister of Finance start directing departments to begin their workers remote working?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

We don't need to pilot anything, and we don't need to start having the conversations about the technologies. The conversations about the technology have started. TSC and Information and Shared Services are already working together. The Department of Finance is already engaging and supporting Northwestel and their efforts to ensure that we have adequate bandwidth. These things are happening, so they don't need to start, and they don't need to pilot.

What I am not going to do is stand here and direct departments, who each have their own operational needs and who all have an operational plan. Departments are running tabletop exercises this week. They're determining whether or not they need to change the way that they are offering their programs and services, and whether work is done a certain way, and I am confident that, if the time arises where they need to have a directive, then that directive will issue. Until that time, if individuals can't attend work because they are sick, because they've returned, because they have childcare arising from what is happening, then they should be taking that up department by department, and each department is well aware that there are options for workers and that we are working to increase those options and to evaluate whether we need to change that as we go forward.

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 questions are for the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Earlier today, I raised issues with GNWT's mixed track record with regard to responsible resource development. A five-year review of GNWT's delegated authority under the devolution agreement should have started by now. Can the Minister tell us whether the five-year review has actually started? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that the review was delayed. The intergovernmental council was waiting until Bill C-88, the federal bill, was passed. Now that it has been passed, we are in conversations with the federal government to move this forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. There are a number of parties to the devolution agreement and a number of other Indigenous governments who have not signed it. Can the Premier confirm who will be involved in the five-year review of the MVRMA delegated authority and whether this will include the non-signatory Indigenous governments?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Certainly, the nine Indigenous governments that did sign on to devolution will be taking part in this review. We also will be developing a plan for how to engage with the other Indigenous governments that didn't sign on.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that response. I raised some doubts about whether we have been able to manage our resources responsibly, given devolution, but can the Premier tell us what role there will be for the public and Regular MLAs in the five-year review of our delegated authority under the MVRMA.