This is page numbers 1945 - 1988 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

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

When the vaccine team returns to any of the communities, the people who did not receive the vaccine for the first time for any reason, whether they were not ready or they were not there or whatever, they are eligible to receive their first shot at that time. The complete vaccination schedule is available on the NTHSSA website, and the schedule goes until next Friday. Tuktoyaktuk is not on that schedule, but I am anticipating that, at some point early next week, there will be planning for the week of February the 22nd and that the Member can promote to his residents the timing of the clinic in Tuktoyaktuk. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Question 546-19(2): Diabetes Program in Small Communities
Oral Questions

February 11th, 2021

Page 1951

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Diabetes-related complications can be very serious and even life-threatening. Properly managing blood-sugar levels reduce the risk of developing the complications associated with diabetes. Having a good diabetes program can help to prevent this or delay the onset of these complications. I know for a fact that there is no diabetes program, a dedicated one, for the residents of my community, as I had spoken about my personal experience recently. It makes me wonder if there are any available services in all small health centres and in all small communities. I plead on behalf of the many diabetics in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services investigate to ensure that all small health centres are equipped to provide a diabetes program in all of the small communities? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that, for people who have a diagnosis and not a brand-new diagnosis, there are blood tests that are taken at the health centres and that blood is analyzed at one of the hospital labs. The results are sent back to the health centres with a flag if there is an issue that needs to be followed up. That is my understanding, that that is the way in which diabetes care is provided to communities outside of the regional hubs. I can certainly confirm, if the Member is particularly concerned about Fort Providence, that the general rule there applies to his community, as well. Thank you.

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Yes, I know for quite some time, even before the current Minister was the Minister, I had been expressing concerns with probably nurse practitioners in the health centre. Those are all of the complaints I have been receiving from residents, and I am not sure if there is anything related to my filing complaints that may have prevented my blood work that I did twice in that health centre from ever leaving the health centre or even being documented. That is my concern, and thus I ask for an investigation.

Plus, I have been asking for quite some time to have an evaluation program for all small health centres in all of the small communities because nobody really knows what is really happening in all those small centres, small health centres. Nobody is evaluating anything, any of the programs, if there are any, because I just spoke to a person on the phone this morning before showing up here. They are stating the same thing: there is nothing there; there is supposed to be somebody who is appointed to do it; they are just not doing it. I spoke to a nurse there myself, personally, and they said, no, they do not have a program. That is my concern. It could be the same in all the small health centres. There is quite a number. I just want the health Minister to say, "Yes, we will investigate and evaluate and look after the serious health concerns of the residents of the Northwest Territories." If she can't do that kind of work.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. I will take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was just about to email the questions to the Premier. Mr. Speaker, in the North, we have the "haves" and the "have nots." The "haves" are mostly government employees and those in YK or regional centres. The "have nots" are those mostly in the small communities. I would ask the Premier to tell those who are struggling when this government will seriously start to address the issues each is dealing with on a daily basis and when they can expect timely support to put a roof over their head and food on the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do always say that a society is judged by how we treat our most marginalized populations, and I do agree that our smaller communities are some of our most marginalized populations. In fact, a lot of the people who come to our capital city are from smaller communities and end up in homeless shelters and struggling in our income support systems and all kinds of systems that are not fair. It is close to my heart, and I am glad that we are looking at things. What are we doing?

Health: health has a community-based suicide prevention fund, money for them, peer-support funds for people returning from treatment. Expansion of homecare is going to happen. The Child and Family Services and the Healthy Family Program is going to be expanded, and there is on-the-land treatment funding. I do remember the Minister saying it was undersubscribed the last time she had spoken in the House, so I would really advocate for communities to access that funding if it is still undersubscribed.

Housing: dear to my heart, it's why I came into politics. In the last government, and I am confident that this government will do it, as well, there was a direction from the housing Minister at the time, who just happened to be me at the time, that homeless shelters need to be built in smaller communities. The majority, over 90 percent, of people in homeless shelters in our capital city are from smaller communities. In that government, we did build homeless shelters, I believe, in three, and hopefully that will continue. The hundred lease-to-own units, that is in our priorities. We do not own any property in Yellowknife; they are all apartments so that all of those would actually be outside of our capital city. That is a good news story. I did hear the Minister just talk the other day about dealing with the insurance and the land tenure for housing, which was always an issue, so that is something that will help our smaller communities.

The seniors' income threshold was just changed, one of the best things. I do remember an MLA saying in this House that a poor senior had a screwdriver stuck in their oil tank to be able to protect it. I'm not okay with that. That was changed. The housing Minister did a great job in changing that so only seniors get their own income, not their families', based on to determine if they needed help. Reducing the municipal funding gap is certainly going to help communities, as well. All communities that request have a surplus.

Education, child and youth counsellors, in partnership with Health, is a huge asset for our small communities. It's tough for children in the smaller communities. The northern distance ed program is going to be expanded to five communities in this government. That's huge. That's showed success. In Ulukhaktok, three students were able to graduate grade 12 and go South without having to do upgrading. It shows it works. I'm a huge advocate of that, as well.

The small community employment fund: in 2019-2020, there were over 750 jobs that were given. In 2021, there are 431 jobs so far to 32 communities. We're looking at getting daycares. Universal daycare isn't as easy as just saying it's free for people or for low-income people. We don't have daycares in communities, so that has been a priority of the education Minister to try to get the infrastructure to get those daycares in communities. Universal is only good if you have the services available. For the polytech, the Minister has talked many times about actually expanding and working with the 22 community learning centres, not only the three campuses, but what can we do with the community learning centres, which will help their people as well.

ENR has several new and enhanced programs to support harvesters and families getting out on the land, such as the grubstake's start up money to get people out on the land and the CHAP program for community harvesters. For the territorial protected areas, we're looking at the guardianship program, waste reduction, forestry programs, research and monitoring programs, firefighting programs; over 800 jobs in small communities.

Finance is going to do a BIP review, Business Incentive Policy review, that will maximize, as was stated earlier, to have jobs in the North, which will help small communities. The Indigenous government procurement policy that we are doing, it's my belief that, if we help Indigenous governments to help their people, we help our own government. That will help small communities.

Three large infrastructure projects, some Members are really fond of and others aren't: Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Slave Geological, and the Taltson Hydro. Those are projects that will bring jobs for people. We have the largest infrastructure budget in the history of Assemblies. Those jobs are hopefully going to be for northern people as much as possible.

Increase in the regional decision-making is a priority of ours. That will help to make sure that the regions are heard. The resource royalty-sharing within governments that sign onto devolution was not so great this year, but the goal of that was to put money into Indigenous governments so they could help their people.

Through that, Mr. Speaker, I know in the last government we always said to the federal government, flow the money through us and we will disseminate to the communities. We have taken a different stance in this government. We've talked with Indigenous governments and said, "We will be your partners." We will go to the federal government together, and if it makes sense, we will actually advocate for them to actually take their money to the Indigenous governments. Sometimes, of course, we need programs to support for our own, as well, but my belief, Mr. Speaker, is that if we do help Indigenous governments so that they can prosper and provide programs to their people, to their membership, it, in turn, ensures that all people, all communities, will actually have supports. It saves this government money.

Mr. Speaker, we have a long way to go, but I do think that this government is on the right track. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Just let me rephrase that question. No. Seriously, what I would like to hear from the Premier is when we can expect to see more public housing in the NWT. What I want to hear is a commitment that this government will support the private sector in providing housing in the market communities while this government focuses on the non-market communities. I believe that, in the market communities, most people can afford housing. In the non-market communities, I think we are dreaming if we think that the private sector is going to go there and do it. I think that's where our money should be going. I just want to know if we can get a commitment that we will look at that focus.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

That question is outside of my portfolios, and I don't have that information for the Member on hand. As the question pertains to the responsibility of the housing Minister, I suggest that the Member redirect the question as required by the rules of the Legislative Assembly.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Yes. Keep our line of questions to the appropriate Ministers. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another area, and maybe this isn't directly for the Premier, but since she is the head of this government, I will ask. One of the problems I see is that this government has said that there is no appetite to provide addictions centres in the Northwest Territories. What I would ask is: will this government commit to looking into developing a relapse centre to help those who need a place to go for a short period when they feel they need relapse and where they can receive some temporary support? Maybe they don't want to develop a full-blown treatment centre here, but on the street and talking to people, what they are looking for is something that is short-term where they can go. I talked to one of the Ministers the other day, and she indicated that people would go up to her and talk to her and just look for that support. They do that with me, as well. I would just like to see something where somebody can go for a short period of time. I hope that the Premier would be able to answer that question.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

That question is outside of my portfolios, and I don't have the information for the Member. As the question pertains to the responsibilities of the Health and Social Services Minister, I suggest the Member redirect the question as required by the rules of the Legislative Assembly.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have one other question here, and I know the Premier can answer this one. I would ask the Premier what this government is doing to reduce the overall cost of living for residents in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

That one does work more for the executive. The cost of living, we are not going to be able to reduce. The North is expensive. We're not going to be able to say that we are just going to get cheaper. Groceries are expensive here. Food is expensive here. Fuel is expensive here. Housing is expensive here. What we are looking at is programs to be able to support those costs of living.

The last government used to say that the best social program is a job. I never really agreed with that. However, I do believe that part of the best social program is having a job. If we can review our Business Incentive Policy, that will make a difference. The Minister of ECE is looking at doing a review of income support. That will make a difference. The housing Minister is working on how to be more accessible to people in the communities. That will make a difference.

I can't say that the cost of living in the North will be cheaper. I should say, though, if we can get people off diesel, that might make a difference, as well. We can't say that it's going to be the same price as the South, but we are doing as a government what we can to make sure that our programs, our services, address the needs of people, and addressing the needs of people means making sure that they can afford to live in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I had my questions up here, and I just have some technical difficulties. If you can just go to the next Member, please? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Good old paper. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, who is the lead on climate change. Can the Minister explain how the Northwest Territories could possibly be on track for greenhouse gas reductions to meet our national and international obligations when reductions last year were less than 1 percent of baseline? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, ENR's the lead, but we have many departments working on this. Infrastructure is the one responsible for greenhouse gas. I do thank the Member for giving his questions up ahead of time so I am able to give this information here today instead of postponing it or telling you you'd have to ask another Minister.

In 2018, the Northwest Territories annual emissions were 1,230 kilotons, so we need to reduce our emissions by about 136 kilotons to meet our target by 2030. In 2019-2020, the first year of implementation of implementing the 2030 energy strategy, the Government of the Northwest Territories directly achieved approximately 6 kilotons of greenhouse gas emissions reduction. This represents a 4.4 percent reduction towards the GNWT target and have achieved mostly through energy efficiency and conservation investment. As our strategy continues to be implemented, larger and larger emission reductions will occur as large projects are funded and built which will more than likely bring online. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

That's great. That's more information than is contained in the actual report, but 4.4 percent in one year. We've got to reach the target in 2030. We're not going to make it, 2030. This government promised integrated reporting on climate change, but the first annual report failed to calculate how the carbon tax has impacted fuel consumption, greenhouse gas reductions, or even the effects on the cost of living. There are few links drawn between carbon tax and greenhouse gas emissions. Can the Minister describe how the climate change reporting actually integrates the carbon tax, the energy strategy, and the climate change strategic framework, and how he plans to include this information in future reports?