This is page numbers 1779 - 1798 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 housing.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I am concerned about the timing of all of this. If we are waiting for the working group and the terms of reference in each department, here we sit in another session without a meaningful piece of legislation to actually implement this, without any significant legislation which has devolved powers or changed the system of laws. I believe that we are behind on our legislative agenda. Has any legislation been identified that will bring forward declaration changes?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The purpose of the Legislative Assembly is to develop legislation. However, the purpose of the Legislative Assembly is also to oversee programs and services throughout the government. It's bigger than just legislation.

I know that the honourable Member would love to have the legislation proposal now and get it done in this government. I would love to have this done. However, I feel, respectfully, Mr. Speaker, that that is a little bit colonistic in its statement. I have a commitment that I will work with the Indigenous governments. They shall define the process; they shall define the timing. I have said in this House that, in the first meeting after this session, I will be bringing forward the BC legislation to them to review, but I will not stand there and say that this needs to be done by a certain date. They will tell me. We will work together on it.

In Article 38, "states shall work in cooperation." There is a statement made that "what does consultation mean?" Article 38 says, "States in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous people shall take the appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve the ends of this declaration." Again, if we are to honour what I believe is consultation and cooperation, then we will not push our agenda on them. We will work in cooperation together to define this.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I still am concerned about the GNWT's own role in this. What I am envisioning is each department being directed to identify their legislation and gaps; each piece of legislation having clauses that allow self-government to happen; each department looking at service standards such that self-government can happen. I think that there is a lot of work to be done within our own government, and I am not seeing that work be done. I have not heard any updates from that. Mr. Speaker, what I am looking for is: Are the departments developing action plans for their own areas of mandate and how they would devolve those? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I am sure that departments would love to be able to take the pen and write it out and say, "This is what it shall be." However, again, I have stated earlier that that, in my opinion, would not be appropriate to do. I have heard from the first meeting with the modern treaties that they wanted to go through each article individually to define that. That may take time, Mr. Speaker, but out of respect, it is their process. This is United Nations Declaration for Indigenous Peoples is for Indigenous people, and they have asked me to hold back and go through each article. There are articles about education, about healthcare; there are articles all over the place. Respectfully, Mr. Speaker, I would like to do this work in consultation and cooperation with the Indigenous governments, which is the intent of the declaration. 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

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This is in line with my Member's statement about mental health, and I want to thank my colleague from Great Slave for answering some of the questions. I apologize if I am being redundant here. Back in my Member's statement, I mentioned a little bit about mental health and susceptibilities and whatnot. Within my next few questions, in front of my colleagues, I want to think about those people who are suffering from mental health maladies in our small communities. I know that, in places like Yellowknife, here in Yellowknife and a lot of larger centres, there are a lot of resources, but if you're in a place like Colville Lake or Ulukhaktok or Lutselk'e or Trout Lake, you can't just get up and talk to somebody. My first question to the Minister of Health is: Where can one go after hours to help those who are in mental health distress? Marsi cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If people are in distress, they should go to the health centre. The health centre is there for mental and physical health. They should contact the nurse on call and tell them that they are having a mental health crisis. Thank you.

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho for the response. In my Member's statement, too, I want to keep it really simple out there for those who are listening, as well. Marsi cho for that. I know that there are still times where people are referred to mental health specialists, i.e., counsellor or psychologist, and I just wanted to see what some of the average wait times are once that ball gets rolling.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

We have instituted, as of a year ago, a new way of offering community counselling, which involves no wait time. Instead of scheduling series of appointments for individuals, there are blocks of time that are unscheduled where people can make a same-day appointment or they can make a drop-in appointment. The waiting time for the Community Counselling Program is zero, but for specialized services, such as needing to see a psychiatrist, there may, in fact, be a wait time for that. I can certainly find out what it is and let the Member know.

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Yes. That's a good bit of information. I look forward to hearing more back from the department on that. Just, again, switching it up a little bit, if you're in the communities, we don't have the resources that you have in larger centres, and I have a few more questions about the mental health first aid program that the department offers. Given the pandemic, is this program still being rolled out throughout the territory?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

No. That program has been suspended because of the pandemic.

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. That's really good to know. Just to close out here, when somebody gets cut or hurt or breaks a bone, the Salvation Army offers first aid. You can administer first aid. Same thing with mental health. It's just as serious. I think this is something that needs to be looked at. I think the department should look at this hard because, right now, like I said in my Member's statement, we are very susceptible, all of us, and to take a serious look at that. We need to get these programs rolling out to the grassroots level everywhere and address this issue. Marsi cho.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I want to emphasize again how seriously the department takes the need to provide a variety of mental health supports to all residents of the NWT. It's my understanding that, in the Member's riding, they don't have resident counsellors in Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution, but they do fly in on a schedule and provide in-person services. Between appointments, they can provide phone and virtual services. In cases where people don't have phones to do follow-up appointments, the department will also look at providing a cell phone for that purpose. Thank you.

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. I want to follow up on my colleague from Kam Lake's questions about universal childcare, so I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I know that he is good at thinking fast on his feet. We already know what the costs are for setting up universal childcare from a 2014 study done by people at the University of Toronto. I am looking at the study right now, Mr. Speaker. Back then, it was predicted that it would be $20 million a year to fund universal childcare across the NWT, the same level as Quebec, and $45 million a year if we were to do the same as Scandinavian countries. As a first step, would be the Minister be prepared to have this report updated so that we have an idea as to the true cost of implementing universal childcare in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are developing a strategy to advance toward universal childcare, and one of the things we have to do is figure out what we want to do and how much that would cost. There are different options, right now, for what universal childcare would cost. Do we stick with what we have now? Does the government play a larger role in terms of providing care, perhaps where there is no care? There are a lot of things, and so, while the paper was a good start, it doesn't cover all the different models. The numbers that the Member is looking for, we're working on all of those and we'll have those sometime. I can find out the timeline and be more precise with this, but the Member can be assured that we're doing this work. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that commitment. Look, the work was already done in 2014. You can probably go back and ask them to refresh it. I think part of the problem here is that our government has not identified universal childcare as a high priority. We've got something as vague as advancing it in our mandate and in the priorities that we developed. This needs to be a much higher priority with us when we go to the federal government. We shouldn't be asking for $800 million for a Slave Geological Province Road. What we should be doing is asking for 40 years of funding for universal childcare. Will this Minister commit to placing universal childcare at a high level when he goes to Ottawa, and the whole Cabinet? This needs to be a high priority when we go to Ottawa. He has a meeting next week, or this week, with the federal Minister responsible. Will he commit to making sure that this is a high priority for this government moving forward?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

It's a high priority for me. I told the federal Minister sometimes it may be difficult to figure out where we lie as a government, given that you can't just say we're this party or that party and you can basically understand our platform. That's why I told him, "Let me assure you that we are fully committed to advancing universal childcare and it is a high priority." That work is already done.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I appreciate the response from the Minister, but if you go to the federal government, you need to have an ask. You need to have a plan moving forward, a costed plan. I keep pushing my colleagues on the other side: When you go to the federal government, you have to have a specific ask. You have to have your act together. You have to have the money identified as to how to roll it out. We don't have that for universal childcare. It's something I pushed in the last Assembly, and I'm going to continue to push it in this Assembly. If the Minister is going to talk to the federal Minister responsible, you need to have a document, and you need to have the ask prepared. Can the Minister commit to get that ready in the next two months?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I want to assure the Member that everything he is saying is what we're doing. This is actually what we're working on. I wish I had a product I could pull out of my back pocket right now, but I don't. There have been endless reports on early learning, universal childcare, childcare needs across the territory. There has been engagement with childcare providers. There has been a lot of work done. Right now, the department is looking at all of that work, putting it all together, taking what they know from their interactions with early learning and childcare providers, putting it together with what we know from research from around the world in terms of early learning and childcare, and then coming up with a plan. We are going to have asks for the federal government. There is no doubt about it. I don't have a timeline, again. This isn't something I want to rush, so I can't say two months. I will let the Member know what sort of timeline we're working on.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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