This is page numbers 2743 - 2774 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

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, again, another detailed response. I'd love to see this analysis, because I've never seen it. I keep asking for it. But I welcome the Minister providing that kind of analysis.

So, you know, great to hear that systematic evaluation is taking place; I've never seen it. If I was listening and I was the federal government, I would not be giving GNWT any money without such analysis. So how could -- you know, how can we be sure that this analysis is actually being done when it's not been shared with the Regular MLAs or the public. So can the Minister tell us what analysis, if any, does the federal government require in providing funding to GNWT for use in energy projects? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, you know, you win some, you lose some. You know, if we give detailed information, it's too detailed. We don't give enough detailed information, it's just not enough. However, getting back to the Member's question, so we have different federal programs that have different requirements but they generally require an estimate of greenhouse gas emission reductions. Some programs like the ISA program, which is the Investing in Canada Infrastructure program, require a climate lens assessment, which is a limited lifecycle type of greenhouse gas reduction estimates for each project. So every project, through the federal government, has different -- different parameters, and that's something that we look at when we apply for specific federal funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, I said earlier I acquired a document entitled NWT Schools Capital Needs Assessment Summary dated April 2003. It states that by 2018, JBT shall be reviewed to determine if further renovations are worthwhile or if a replacement building is necessary. Can the Minister tell us if a technical evaluation was done to JBT Tyrrell in 2018 or any time since, or if one is being planned any time soon? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last technical evaluation for JBT was done in 2005. And I'm not aware of plans to do another one. There have been no major issues identified with this school. Issues are identified by the regional Infrastructure staff who regularly work with the school and maintain it through reports from the staff at the school, through observations from ECE staff when they're in the school, and Infrastructure has a database that produces a rating of schools, and the rating for JBT is based on its deferred maintenance and its condition, and the rating for JBT is .52, which is really right in the middle of the pack when it comes to all of our 49 schools. I think it's in better shape than about 21 other schools. And no major issues have been identified with this school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, the consensus I received from the constituents of Fort Smith is that JBT is the biggest priority to replace first because of the age of the school, the whole idea that it served as residential schools for the residents of Grandin Hall and Grandin College. Would the Minister take this into consideration when assessments on priorities are done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT uses a capital planning process when looking at what infrastructure to replace. It takes into consideration the following criteria: In order of importance, protection of people, protection of access, protection of environment, financial investments, and program needs or requirements. That being said, the fact that this school was a residential school is definitely something that we take into consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if the Department of Education has ever received any concerns about -- from people about the fact that JBT Tyrrell is a former residential school and is still being actively used as a school today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, the Member just brought concerns to me, and she's a representative of the people so I have to say yes, I've heard concerns from the people. The South Slave Divisional Educational Council has also reported they have occasionally received similar concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, PWK and JBT Tyrrell are the oldest schools in the Northwest Territories. Their increasing age, along with the historical baggage they carry as former residential schools, is becoming more challenging for Fort Smith as time goes on. For these reasons, Fort Smith is in need of a brand new school for both elementary and high school students. Does the Minister agree with these reasons that Fort Smith needs new schools? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, we can't ignore the fact that the schools were residential schools. But in terms of the age of the facilities and the technical status of them, they are in very good condition. You know, they -- what the -- what we don't do well is we don't keep up appearances well. So we don't refresh schools with new paint and those kind of things to make them look new but, really, the school itself is solid. And, you know, any new school would likely be, you know, significantly smaller. You know, the two schools might turn into one school based on the fact that they're both at about 50 percent utilization and that back then schools were built much bigger. So there's a lot of things to consider when we talk about whether or not, you know, we want to replace schools. But right now, technically, there's no need to replace the schools. They're solid pieces of infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of MACA. Can the Minister tell us what is the process for the review, updating, and training on emergency response plans for communities; when was the last time this occurred? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Emergency Management Act requires communities to prepare and adopt and maintain emergency plans and programming. MACA did support the communities through these -- through workshops, exercises during -- to prepare for these emergency, public alert testing was also conducted, public awareness and information. Starting in 2021, community emergency planning workshops were temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic started and refocused on updating community emergency plans to increase capacity to respond to the flooding. Due to the emergency response required for the spring 2021 flood season, some communities have deferred progress on their COVID-19 surge plans.

But then going back to the question, I'm just reading off of the notes, but you know, that during the flood season, I did travel over to Fort Simpson, and I did work with the MLA from the riding as well too. These were questions that I was asking - how did the community respond, how did they prepare, what does this look like, how could we have further determined what these water levels would look like.

I was soon to discover that, you know, we do have surveys that are done, conducted through ENR, that would be able to determine what this flood season could possibly look like. But the magnitude of the flood this year was nothing that was to be expected. But prior to the flooding in the affected community of Fort Simpson and Fort Resolution that were severely affected, there was EMO training that was provided prior, and there was workshops that were provided as well and also the support from the regional office, from the headquarters office, to support those emergency management plans.

And then it's -- this is going to be a long answer, but then I also further had to discover that, you know, did the community have the capacity? Did they have the capacity to work with the -- to work with the individuals? I soon came to discover that the community was under a lot of stress. There was a lot of people that had lost their own personal items, their homes, and that, you know, should we go back to that time? You know, there's always going to be lessons learned through the response as well too. So looking at that, we are going to be working with the communities once the flood season is completed. We are going to be travelling into the affected communities of Fort Simpson, Jean Marie, Fort Good Hope, and Aklavik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a lot to unpack in there so I'm going to have to go back probably and listen to the response again. Without getting into a big debate with the Minister, I would say that this high level of flood and water levels this year was anticipated. So I do not agree with that statement that it was higher than expected.

Moving on, can the Minister tell us what or if anything is being done to get cash into the hands of people now, not in a month or two's time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been working with the flood risk communities. We did provide and -- but no, we directed them to the financial -- I don't want to say grants but programming that is available to possibly the flood victims that are there. But to date, we haven't received a lot of requests for that, requests for financial assistance from the communities. We did provide the accommodations for the evacuees. We did provide them with places to stay, with food and shelter. So the request for basic needs, I haven't received that. We are working with the claim to the federal government. We do have navigators on the ground that are identifying what items that each of these flood victims have lost during this time, and we are collecting that information, and we are going to be working with the communities.

And just as a note as well too, we did have -- MACA and Housing are actually in the community as we speak. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm at a bit of a loss as to how the Minister can say she has had no requests for money on the ground. Perhaps she needs to friend some people on Facebook, including the mayor of Fort Simpson who has been all over social media asking for money in the hands of people now. So I just find that to be kind of a ridiculous answer.

Moving forward, can the Minister tell us what she is doing to get the federal government to provide more flexibility for the disaster assistance programs? What are you doing to -- sorry. What is she doing to impress upon her federal counterparts that the Northwest Territories is already behind the 8-ball when it comes to our extraordinary circumstances here and we need better assistance from the South, not just the typical that's afforded to the rest of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to go back to the question as well too, that, you know, MACA did provide food hampers to the communities. We did provide the evacuation centres as well too. And we also did provide the navigators that are on the ground that are looking at what may be required for the residents, for the flood victims, what can we further support. And looking for the financial contribution, we have provided it through assistance through looking at home repair for these individuals, looking at the environmental assistance. But right now, the department is concentrated on how do we return these individuals back to their homes and how are we going to further repair those homes.

But going back to the question that the Member had asked, preliminary discussions have taken place between the GNWT and federal officials on the GNWT's needs related to the 2021 flood season and the experience. We need to do a full review of our experience with this summer and the engagement more fully with the federal government when we have this information, and we are currently in the middle of the emergency and our attention is focused on the response and working recovery.

I'm committed to be doing a full review of the actions that we have taken this summer and where we could have done better. That work has already started and will continue as we recover. Community governments and their input will be a key part of this work, finding the related -- what's related to the federal funding programs will be discussed with them as well too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad to the hear the Minister commit to a lessons-learned type exercise. I would ask that actually a third party look into the handling of our flood response and providing an independent analysis of what's happened here.

I'm also glad to hear the Minister bring up the navigators. We all expressed that we would like to see more people in the communities interacting with community members and being interpreters, for lack of a better word, between the GNWT and community members. However, it's my understanding that only two people have been hired, and they're likely out of Yellowknife.

So will the Minister commit to contracting a community member in each affected community to act as a liaison with the assessors? And I would prefer that that person be someone who has construction or building experience. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.