This is page numbers 2019 - 2082 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 communities.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. I hear my colleagues on the other side. We need to see these legislations come forward and the significant changes to be made. I will be providing a summary and an update and looking at the phased-in approach that we have planned within the department, and I will look at the presentation to committee. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Do we have any other questions from Members for Municipal and Community Affairs, directorate? Seeing none, please turn to page 339. Municipal and Community Affairs, directorate, operations expenditure summary, 2021-2022 Main Estimates, $3,942,000. Does committee agree?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, committee. We will now go to public safety, beginning on page 342, with information items on page 345. Member for Great Slave.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am looking at the 911 program funding on page 345. I note that it sits at $1.24 million, the revised estimates from last year, where this was the same. There is no increase to the funding for 911, despite conversation back in October session. I look at the actuals for 2019-2020, and there is already a $1.7-million line item there, so already within the estimates we know we are under, $500,000 underfunded. Then when I look back at revenues for 911, there is a significant discrepancy between the $397,000 collected in 2019-2020 on page 328 versus the $1.027 million estimated for the upcoming year. Could the department please explain discrepancies in these numbers? Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. There was a review that was done and a report, I believe, that was submitted and completed in November. I will just have Ms. Eleanor Young reply. [Microphone turned off]

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Deputy Minister Young.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Young

Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry. I think I have just confused the Minister when I was looking over. We did submit our annual report in the fall, which is a requirement under the act. When we presented earlier to committee, we spoke about doing an evaluation this year to inform future changes, so although the Member is correct, you are noting that we have spent more than what the budget is there. We have been dealing with staff shortfalls through variance at this point in time, until we can complete the evaluation and determine exactly what the staff requirements are to be able to go forward. The plan is to complete an evaluation and come back with the results of that evaluation to inform what the appropriate level of funding to ongoing staffing for the 911 would be. At the current time, the department is managing this through variance, and that's what you're seeing in the main estimates versus the actual expenditures. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Great Slave.

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you for that explanation. I think that the hiring of relief staff, I'm not really sure how much you need to analyze the fact that you need relief staff and you need to have other management requirements that are not currently being met, so I'm not really sure that another study on what is lacking, it's my understanding the department actually has quite a good understanding of what's missing in this department, from a staffing requirement. Has the department looked at potentially moving Med Response out of 911, since there seems to be a lack of communication or working together there, over to 811 to start the implementation of a public safety department and, instead, transferring the $1 million that Med Response gets to 911 to properly fund it? Is that something that the department has looked at? Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will have Deputy Minister Eleanor Young respond. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Deputy Minister Young.

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Young

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this point, Med Response is a department of health-funded portion, so that isn't part of my budget and something that I would have the conversation about. Obviously, as part of the evaluation, the operating model will be part of what we'll be looking at and whether that is working, moving forward. I know that we've described the differences between what is currently in 811 versus what 911 does, and 811, whether that continues past the COVID arrangement, again, is a conversation. I think we all need to understand what the go-forward is for 911/811 to be able to make a fully informed decision.

The Member is correct. We have a lot of good information about what we need, but we also need to be able to put all of this into a well-thought-out paper about what ongoing needs are. We've had relief staff, but some of those have been related to COVID and other pressure points that may not be there in a normal year. We do have to be able to understand what the driving costs are to be able to inform the Members of the Assembly on what the cost requirements are. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Great Slave.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you for that, and I do appreciate the department is working on this. I'm not trying to say that's not the case. When I look at the budgets and we're asked to approve three times the amount of money for 811, which is only expected to go for the next eight months of the year, and that is looking to decline, to me, I would rather see us approving $1 million for 811, knowing it's the one that is going to phase out, versus us underfunding 911 right now and saying we're going to give all this extra money to 811, which might free up and then become available. Then again, it goes back to the general revenues and essentially is not guaranteed to go back to 911. I'm going to have a really hard time voting to approve a $3-million budget for 811 when you are only approving, what is the final number, $1.2 million for 911 when you already know it's $500,000 underfunded. As well, I think you've grossly overestimated the revenues, and I really kind of wonder at how that number ends up here at one point something million when you've only collected $400,000 before. More of a comment. They can respond.

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of MACA, did you have any comments? No? Thank you. Did you have any further questions? Are there any other questions from Members? Member for Kam Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

February 23rd, 2021

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Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. On page 344, there is ground ambulance and highway rescue. The budgeting numbers are the same every year, and the description on that is: "To enhance capacity in the areas of ground ambulance and highway rescue." In different conversations through different committees that we've been able to have with different community groups, ground rescue is something that has come up frequently as a concern for communities, especially ones based on busy highway systems. We've got Behchoko that's on a busy highway system; we've got Hay River, as well, that ends up supplying people for different highway rescues. We often hear, also, of different things that happen in the Beaufort-Delta and sometimes people having to be loaded into the back of a pickup truck in order to get to much-needed medical services. I'm wondering, given that this number hasn't changed, is it going to be able to expand or enhance the ground ambulance and highway rescue capabilities of our remote northern communities? Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking at the numbers that are here, there are not any changes there, but it does have a different approach. We're looking at the community of Inuvik and also the community of Hay River, as well, and looking at Behchoko, and it does entail a different approach. I'll have Ms. Eleanor Young just elaborate on that. It's different throughout the territory. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister Young.

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Young

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, the Minister is correct. In some communities, the ambulance system is provided by health. In other communities, it's provided by the community government, so we are dealing with different needs in different communities. The budget that the Member is referring to is an application-based program which is a support program. It doesn't fully cover the costs. It's a program for training and small equipment needs that the department has had for a number of years, and the department is very close to coming back forward with a more fulsome conversation on ground ambulance and highway rescue. It has been also tied to the conversation about Ingraham Trail and what emergency services are provided outside community boundaries, the cost of those, and how to pull all of that together into a department-supported initiative more fully. We are hopeful to be back in front of you with a more detailed approach on how we're going to move forward with this in the near future. What's here in the budget is just the current grant program until we have that broader conversation about where we go more comprehensively with ground ambulance, highway rescue, and emergency services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

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Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. No, I look forward to that review and to a report or a proposal coming forward. Just looking at the $185,000, that divided by 33 communities, which I know is probably not divided evenly. Even so, that's just over $5,000 per community, and so it won't go very far and probably doesn't go even as far as communities would like it to go. I definitely welcome that, and I would like to request that, as part of that report, if possible, it include cell service on our highways. That's something that we discuss quite a bit. I know that is a Department of Finance item, but I think that that also plays a huge role in public safety for people to be able to access things like 911. We can't control what portion of the highway, unfortunately, we have devastating accidents on, and so people being able to access life-saving support is crucial. If cell service can be included in that, it would be much appreciated. Thank you.