This is page numbers 825 - 844 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 program.

Topics

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The emergency wage subsidy provides a 75 percent subsidy to employers to encourage them to keep their employees on the payroll rather than laying them off during what might be more-than-lean times for those businesses, whereas the wage top-up program, Mr. Speaker, is one that is meant to support employees who are making under a certain level of wages, of earnings hourly. In that sense, the two aren't necessarily related. Rather, they are not related, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. Clearly, the wage top-up program serves a specific purpose just for us here in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister, though, tell us how well that is going in terms of the take-up for it, in terms of the number of applications received so far for the wage top-up program, the number of employees covered, and how quickly the applications are being processed? I did give the Minister a heads-up, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Yes, I was able to marshal a bit of information here for the Member. As of May 26, that is, as of yesterday, there have been 31 business applications to the wage top-up. The application has to come through the employer in order to top up the employee. Twenty-eight have already been processed, but three, we requested additional information. In total, this will benefit 242 employees, at least for the month of April. We are processing them retroactively. For April, that would be $65,000 going out into the hands of employees in the Northwest Territories.

At this point, processing takes approximately one day, unless again there is need for some further information or clarification, although that does seem to be, fortunately, the minority. Then the payment cycles about three days thereafter to go to the employees themselves. It is our intention in Finance to fast-track these applications, fast-track payments, as well, which Finance has been doing really across the board as much as possible for any incoming invoicing.

I would just note: applications have been open and operating since May 12th. There hasn't been a flood at this point, Mr. Speaker, but there have been some coming in. To that extent, I would sort of acknowledge that perhaps the business community could continue to also work with their members to make sure their program is being promoted.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. It's great to hear that 242 employees here are going to benefit from this right now. That is great. The turnaround time, I am really pleased, and I want to congratulate the Minister and her department for the hard work on that. Our minimum wage, though, is a measly $13.46 per hour, which is not enough for a decent standard of living in any of our communities.

Last time the minimum wage was increased was April 1, 2018. That process involved stakeholder committee. It looked a lot like the previous one. Given that the NWT Wage Top-up is a clear sign our minimum wage is too low and the evidence that it cannot possibly lead to a decent standard of living, can the Minister commit to a permanent increase of the NWT minimum wage to $18 per hour or higher?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

I need to just take 10 seconds and actually go back to the genesis of the program, which was that, when Canada, the federal government, ruled out this CERB program for individuals who were negatively impacted, lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19, and they set a floor that would provide money to everyone, $2,000 into the pockets of people who had been negatively impacted, there very quickly arose, particularly in southern Canada, the fact that a lot of front-line workers were now incentivized to leave what might have been considered, at least perceptually, a higher risk profession, whether that was, in fact, true or not. It became a real concern in the labour market that we were going to lose really some essential service workers and front-line workers.

That wasn't quite the case in the Northwest Territories. More of our health services and long-term care services are provided by the GNWT, which pays significantly more. While we wanted to participate in the program, the motivation for it here became really one of putting money into the hands of residents for whatever their needs might be. Whether that is to pay off debt or just increase spending in the community or childcare, anyone who was working, we sort of deemed as being essential for the purposes of this program. It really wasn't, at least in terms of our modelling, tied to minimum wage.

At this point, this program is not going to be some sort of pilot that the Department of Finance is using in terms of modelling for future for minimum wage changes. It really is quite specific to COVID-19, to acknowledge that there are people at the front lines, whether that is in grocery stores or otherwise, who might be making below a certain cut-off in an effort to participate in this federal program with as wide a berth as we could find in the Northwest Territories for as many employees as we could find in the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that explanation. Look, I understand where this came from, but it's where it's taken us. That is the issue here. We heard the Premier yesterday say that it would be a sin to roll back the progress on some of these programs. This is one of the ones that it would be a sin to roll back. This program was not limited to essential services. It was for all people here who are paid minimum wage. They have to get the employer to do it, but that is what this is about.

Can the Minister make a commitment that she is going to work with her colleague, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, who actually is responsible for minimum wage, to fix this problem of a way-too-low minimum wage here for the Northwest Territories? We have started down that track. Let's fix it and make it permanent. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

I have already been in touch with my colleague from ECE. Obviously, this does, as the Member has already identified, fall within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, my colleague was just on his feet, being asked if he was going to start a pilot for universal basic income. Some choices have to be made sometimes. We certainly can't have every single program that moves forward under COVID move forward forever. There will not be sufficient money to do that.

That said, Mr. Speaker, two things: the minimum wage committee is already underway for this year for this two-year cycle. They are supposed to be delivering a report to the Minister of ECE. Certainly, I look forward to that coming in to the Minister for ECE and, I am sure, will come to Cabinet in due course. Mr. Speaker, what I would also remind is that we are about to go into the business planning process, which means that departments do have that opportunity to go in and look at programs that are under way, perhaps in response to COVID-19, and determine if, in fact, that is something they want to make a pitch for to go forward. Then they can do that in due course. 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. On the way here, I just want to share something that made me chuckle a little bit. I heard on the radio a song by the band called Cake. There is a line referencing finding somebody who isn't afraid to cut through red tape with a machete. It made me chuckle. You know, I thought that was a pretty good song, and it made me think about this. It made me think about my Member's statement today, and I thought I will get right into my line of questioning.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Premier as Minister of MACA. It's quite simple: why is your department holding a critical approval from the LKDFN for Frontier Lodge when the only thing that has changed since then is that the lodge is now owned by an NWT Indigenous community instead of nonresidents? Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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. It is not about because the only thing that changed was Lutselk'e Dene band, because I didn't even know that was the owner or not or whoever it is. The reality, Mr. Speaker, is that there was a change in ownership, and, with the change in ownership, they are looking for a liquor permit. If you are looking for a liquor permit, it's a little bit more difficult. You have to have not only a business licence but an occupancy permit, and then the fire marshal has to go in and do an inspection, so that is the difference. It's not only the owner; it's the request for a liquor permit at the lodge.

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

It's the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation, just to make sure I got that right. Thank you for the response from Madam Premier. My next question is: how will putting the regulatory burdens on a struggling tourism business help us emerge strong from this pandemic? Why is a MACA licence now required for remote tourism operations?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The assumption is that this is a new policy, and, actually, it's not. It's always been in there that, if you are looking for a liquor licence, if you are looking for a liquor permit, that you need to have both. The reality is that my opinion is that we were a little bit lenient with lodges before. We did a review of the Fire Prevention Act, and then it really did confirm that all remote fishing lodges are subject to the building code. It just happened that this lodge was one of the first ones after that review, so it's not that we want to penalize. We want to help them, but we also have to make sure that people do follow the law.

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you for the response again. I guess where I want to go with this is I want to get some assurances for people of the LKDFN and their business interests, to make sure that they get this up and running, because I think enough is enough. I think two months to get this up and running is far too long. I know that, if I was running a small business and if I had to start up, I would go under right now, so all this is really unacceptable. My next question is: what will the Minister do to resolve this issue so that community-owned businesses continue to operate under the same licensing terms and conditions that they have held for many years?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I think it's important as elected officials to actually take ownership when things aren't too good, so I will take ownership on this one in that some of the delay over the couple of months was on our behalf, on the department's behalf, because COVID-19 hit us, and we were scrambling. All government departments were told, "You are now working from home," and we had to figure out what that looked like, so I do take ownership for some of that delay. That is our fault, and there is not much we can do about that. We are trying to work with them.

How I am going to fix it, though, is that we have already reached out and told them. We have reached out to the lodge. We have talked to the MLA. My commitment is, for any business, and not only this one because it was brought to the attention, when people are having problems with our systems, we are not trying to set businesses up to fail. We are trying to support them, but, if there is anything we can do, if people have obstacles, call us. In this case, we have agreed to walk with them, work with them, help them fill out the paperwork. We have told them to perhaps get a consultant to go in and look at what they will need. We will work with people. We want people to succeed in the Northwest Territories. When you have issues, bring it to our attention, and we will try to address them.

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, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. On March 20th, the GNWT announced a $13.2 million economic relief package for NWT businesses. This plan committed the GNWT to creating a business advisory council. This council has turned into a bit of a hurry-and-wait exercise for businesses that really want an opportunity to provide some feedback. Will the Minister make a commitment that the membership, meeting schedule, and terms of reference of the business advisory council be made public during this sitting? Thank you very much.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The business advisory council is one of the three advisory bodies that our government is looking to put in place to guide our actions going forward. We have received initial input from the Members, so thank you for that, and we have incorporated their feedback into our terms of reference as well as our composition.

I appreciate it has now been just over two months since I and Minister Wawzonek first announced the proposed establishment of the council. It was partly due to our subsequent decision to establish the other two councils and then create an overarching theme between the three, so it did create some delays with getting the advisory council out. Our intent is that the role of the three advisory councils will complement each other so that we do capture as much as we can under the Indigenous community one, the health and social sector recovery, and then, as well, the business council. We are working hard to ensure there is a broad, diverse representation on the council and that there are inputs. Admittedly, this has taken longer than we anticipated, and we do appreciate the Members' patience with that.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Does the Minister have an idea when we will see the first meeting of the business advisory council?

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

We have contacted the organizations that we are using to sort of staff or populate the councils, so the idea is to organize within either this week or by the end of next week a membership meeting with them.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Is it safe to assume that the membership, along with the terms of reference, will then be made public during our sitting this time around?

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

We definitely commit to having an open and transparent and collaborative government. I would like to actually have the conversation, though, first, with the membership as well as the two co-chairs of the council so that we can determine if that is the best movement for it. Personally, right now, I think that should be fine, but I do want to respect their privacy and their thoughts and whether or not they thought there needed to be some element of confidentiality around the council.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.