Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to this document.
After a year, the NWT was expecting a gold plan to guide the NWT through economic recovery. The NWT expected a transformative document that would detail specific actions with creditable budget lines and timelines. Without these, it makes it difficult for our side of the House to hold the other side of the House accountable. Identifying broadly what sectors the government wanted to focus isn't enough. People want to know how the government is going to create an impact. And for example, what long-standing policy barriers the GNWT is prepared to change or let go of to create this transformational change for the people of the Northwest Territories.
Committee just read into the House the recommendations for the housing report. A lot of what was contained in there has been identified by previous Assemblies, previous nongovernment organizations, and so it -- really it comes down to what the government is prepared to listen to and what they're prepared to change in order to ultimately create change for the people of the Northwest Territories.
Specific to housing, Mr. Chair, housing was identified in the beginning of the pandemic as one of our biggest challenges in the Northwest Territories. Many Northerners live in overcrowded houses where communicable disease spreads quickly. The GNWT needs to quickly identify -- sorry, the GNWT also needed to quickly identify solutions for the -- to house the homeless. It did those things, and now they seem to be slipping away. We heard of challenges faced by the Arnica Inn earlier this week from MLA Johnson just here in the House. This government also has yet to produce the homelessness strategy that was committed to in the 18th Assembly. Housing doesn't only set Northerners up to participate in the economy, Mr. Chair, it also is an economy.
In regards to health care, during the pandemic we heard time and again how important resident health care workers were to the success of our territory, not only during the pandemic but also outside of a pandemic. We've heard reference in this House to policies that better support locum health care workers over resident health care workers. And we need to ensure that these are changed but they are not identified in the document. This document also does not address the specific recommendations from the virtual care team to expand virtual care in the Northwest Territories.
In regards to procurement, Mr. Chair, economic recovery depends on our ability to get money for projects out the door, for businesses to be paid promptly, and to ensure dollars are getting to -- getting Northerners to work. We just passed the largest capital plan in the history of the NWT with $450 million. But this economic recovery plan does not speak to how the GNWT is going to ensure the bulk of capital spending stays in the North, and this, we've heard time and time and again, is key to our economic success here in the Northwest Territories.
Unfortunately, with wording like "accelerate the review" of the GNWT procurement policies or "consider an Indigenous procurement policy," there's no tangible commitment made within this document.
In terms of remediation, Mr. Chair, that section has left me with far more answers than questions. Questions like what does reclamation or remediation economy actually look like in the Northwest Territories and what is the potential economic value compared to other economic drivers that are potentials for us in the Northwest Territories? How does the GNWT intend to work with the federal government to ensure remediation contracts not only go to northern companies but also local companies, especially when our remediation efforts are also so strongly tied to reconciliation. How specifically does the GNWT plan to support remediation and skill development within northern businesses and communities to capitalize on the reclamation economy?
Broadband infrastructure, as my colleagues have also referenced, internet is not just about entertainment. This pandemic has shown us that internet is very much about the economy. It's very much about education. The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce estimated that one-day outage results in a GDP loss to the territory of $4.75 million. But the problem is not only redundancy. It is equitable access to health information during a pandemic and also equitable access to education. The GNWT needs a costed plan with deliverables to get internet into all NWT households, including public housing.
Work force development. The GNWT was right to point out the difficulty with bringing in skilled workers. Many businesses still rely on out-of-territory workers as they simply cannot find the labour force to hire locally. What isn't addressed here is the inconsistencies businesses are having with exemptions from the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer. The GNWT needs to commit to standardized transparent exemptions so northern businesses can keep their local workers employed as well and continue to bid on local northern projects with confidence.
Given our most lucrative resource is the people through federal transfer payments, I was surprised to see that this document did not mention immigration anywhere, especially given our need for skilled workers. The NWT needs to make our immigration rules competitive with other Canadian jurisdictions. Of course, we need to continue to build our own workforce and ensuring they are training and retraining skilled workers is key. But there is a lack of tutoring and educational resources for people who need support to pass the trades entrance exam, and solving this is not a deliverable in this document either.
Lastly, I wanted to speak to partnerships. Partnerships with Indigenous governments and organizations, community governments, and the non-for-profit and charitable sector. We've also heard this from my colleagues here today. During a crisis or a pandemic is when we place the most need on NGOs. Now is that time. The last year and bit has been that time. So this government does not need an advisory table to strengthen partnerships; it just needs to do it. NGOs want more money in block funding for frontline direct impact funding and they want less administrative burden to access those funds.
With that, Mr. Chair, thank you for -- I know it was a long week and I know I'm at the end of that long week. So, thank you to my colleagues for listening to me and I'd like to thank Cabinet for the time they have put in to this and for coming to our side of the House for some feedback.
I'd also like to acknowledge and thank the Premier for saying that this is a living document. But for it to be a living document, it needs a feedback loop from the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.