The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Welcome back, everybody, today. I just want to recognize that we have all our interpreters here and just a reminder to everybody to make sure you remember when you're speaking to slow down and when you're communicating back and forth. Thank you. It helps a lot with the interpreters to be able to do their job.

Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Canada-NWT Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement was signed 11 short months ago. Since that time, every licensed child care program in the NWT has signed on to the fee reduction subsidy. Licensed child care fees across the NWT have been cut in half, new licensed child care spaces have been created, and now we are rolling out new wage enhancements that will allow licensed child care centres to pay their employees more.

We could not have done this without the involvement of child care providers, early childhood educators, Indigenous governments and, of course, the federal government. I would like to thank all our partners for their continued input and collaboration, as we work collectively to provide children with the best possible start in life.

The creation of a coordinated early learning and child care system is a complex task with many moving parts and requires a multi-faceted approach.

First, we introduced the child care fee reduction subsidy. As with any systemic change, there were bumps along the way. We rolled the subsidy out quickly so that families could benefit from a reduction in child care retroactively, and we have taken note of, and learned from, the issues and concerns that arose from that approach.

Madam Speaker, you cannot have a child care system without child care spaces. I understand that a lack of child care spaces has created incredible challenges for many parents throughout the territory so I am pleased to say that during the last fiscal year, 67 new child care spaces were created and more are on the way. I am confident that we will meet our target of 300 new spaces by 2025-2026 through the expansion of existing programs and establishment of new programs if necessary.

Madam Speaker, we can create all the new child care spaces we want but they are of no use without early childhood educators. We need to retain the early childhood educators that are currently in the system and we need to attract more people to the field. In order to create a strong early learning and child care system, our childhood educators need to be supported and valued. That is why I am happy to announce that the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada are creating a retention incentive by investing $4.6 million over the next two years to enhance wages for early childhood educators and licensed-centre-based programs. This enhancement is retroactive to April 1, 2022, and will provide operators with flexibility to make decisions on program and educator needs.

Madam Speaker, as I have mentioned earlier, we have learned from the roll out of the fee reduction subsidy. That is why we made sure to engage child care providers early and often in the development of the retention incentive. The GNWT will provide funding directly to operators which will then flow the money to their employees.

In the first year, licensed child care centres will receive $12,750 for every full-time position that is required under legislation keeping in mind that some centres have more than the minimum number of required employees. In the second year, the amount increases to $16,250. Child care centres will be able to decide how they distribute the funds to their employees so actual pay increases will vary based on the particular centre. This two-year program will bridge a gap until we implement a wage grid in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

To help develop a skilled workforce, we have also revised the eligibility criteria for the early learning and child care scholarship. Previously this scholarship was only available to full-time students but now part-time students can apply as well. By expanding the eligibility criteria, we are supporting flexible education paths and helping Northerners who are working in licensed early learning and child care
programs.

Madam Speaker, the creation of an early learning and child care system also requires legislative change. Earlier this year, the GNWT invited the public to have their say on proposed amendments to the Child Daycare Act. The results of that engagement are found in the recently published What We Heard report. The amendments would allow the government to establish a certification process and wage grid, increase inclusion and reporting measures, establish cost control measures, and protect the rights of families. These amendments would align the NWT with other Canadian jurisdictions as we move collectively toward a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.

Madam Speaker, we have come a long way in the past year. The GNWT and the federal government have invested millions of dollars in new child care infrastructure, reducing child care fees, and increasing the wages of child care workers. These actions have tangible results that are directly benefiting residents across the NWT. Although there is still a significant amount of work to be done, I feel confident saying that we are well on our way to creating a universal child care system that will give every family across the NWT access to high quality, affordable, accessible, and inclusive early learning and child care. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Ministers' statements. Minister for Environment and Natural Resources.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today I would like to provide an update on the 2022 wildfire season.

Wildfires are a natural and important part of the boreal forest. They help keep ecosystems healthy, and they burn off excess fuels like dead and dried out foliage that builds up within the forest, which can lead to more extreme fires. That is why our fire crews do not fight all wildfires, particularly if the fire poses no threat to values at risk. When communities, cabins, infrastructure, and other values at risk are threatened, however, our wildfire management team is ready to take action.

The 2022 was a long and busy fire season that started in May and continued well into October. We surpassed the 10-year average for the number of wildfires before the end of July. We recorded a total of 256 fires by early October, with nearly 600,000 hectares burned. This was more than any year since the outlier fire season of 2014. Fire crews fought 99 of the 256 fires that occurred in the territory this season, which lasted much longer than usual.

This year, we saw fires continue to flare up as late in the season as the first week of October, which is well beyond the end of the typical wildfire season. As Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, I am very proud of the excellent work of the wildfire management team this year. They worked incredibly hard to respond to every threat and keep NWT communities safe.

Every wildfire season requires careful planning to make sure staff are well trained and adequately prepared for the challenging work of fighting fires. The wildfire management team must ensure that the right resources are dispatched to the right locations to manage fires throughout the season. In total this summer, we had firefighters working on 34 crews in communities across the NWT, including 22 crews contracted from Indigenous companies. We also hired 131 additional firefighters to support firefighting efforts throughout the summer.

In addition to crews on the ground, we also work with pilots, air attack officers, and tanker base teams, to provide critical air tanker support to suppress fires from the air. Firefighting efforts also require staff with expertise in fire management, weather, remote communication, logistics, finance, administration, and public information, to help support decision-making, operations, and public awareness.

Over the course of the summer, we are grateful to receive support from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Parks Canada. This support is incredibly valuable, particularly in a busy season like 2022.

Madam Speaker, just 10 percent of wildfires this season were caused by humans. I am happy to report that this percentage has decreased steadily in recent years. It has come down from 27.1 percent in 2020 and 12.2 percent in 2021. This is a testament to the enhanced awareness and outreach campaign by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and it reflects the efforts made by residents and visitors to practice fire safety. I am also very proud to say that despite dozens of fires that approached several communities throughout the summer, none of these communities required evacuation.
Unfortunately unusually strong winds, coupled with very dry conditions late in the season, resulted in the loss of two cabins. We recognize this is very difficult for those impacted but thankful no people were hurt in those fires.

Madam Speaker, managing wildfire is not limited to the summer months. There is important work that must be done in the offseason as well. This work includes FireSmart projects and community protection initiatives, which will receive an unprecedented additional investment of $20 million from the federal government in the coming years.

In collaboration with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, we will work with remote communities to create firebreaks and implement fire fuel reduction strategies for over 12 hundred hectares of land across the territory, reducing the risk of wildfires and offering even greater protection to thousands of residents.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will continue to focus on staff training and development, building a skilled, engaged, and representative workforce to support those efforts for years to come. This year we offered extra firefighting training specifically for women and nonbinary individuals to increase diversity on our wildfire team.

We also make evaluation and planning a priority. Every season offers many opportunities to learn from our experiences, and we take full advantage of these opportunities. We regularly evaluate and analyze the research and data gathered and use this information to improve and plan for next year.

Madam Speaker, as most communities in the territory are situated in the middle of the boreal forest, wildfires will always be something we need to monitor closely. Our government will continue to work with our partners across the territory to ensure that residents, communities, and infrastructure are kept safe from wildfires. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, the value and potential of achieving greater economic diversification across the Northwest Territories has been talked about over the course of many years and multiple governments. The need to have that conversation meaningfully has never been greater. Even as we work to support new mineral resource exploration and development, the reality is that our existing economic drivers in the form of the diamond mines are approaching planned closure. We must face that prospect on all fronts, including economic diversification.

The fact that this conversation has been had, and that success in diversifying remains elusive, suggests it's time to try something different.

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is currently leading work on developing regional economic development plans. These will provide insight into economic opportunities and challenges that exist in six of the territory's regions. Regional economic development plans are a requirement of the Government of the Northwest Territories' mandated commitment to increase economic diversification by supporting growth in non-extractive sectors and setting regional diversification targets.

The idea of developing a regional plan is not in itself new, but I believe the way in which we are approaching this work is. Before beginning, we went out to the regions to ask how the process of development should be structured. With regional feedback, we established terms of reference for an overall facilitator to ensure there is a strong northern voice that emerges from these plans. We are also utilizing local facilitators to support the regional work.

With regional facilitators, it is my expectation that we will see more strongly the strengths of individual regions. It might be that directing government supports towards a promising area in one region only produces a small change to the GDP but has a disproportionate change on the local economy and employment. While sectors such as tourism, arts, the traditional economy, and agriculture, offer opportunities in nearly all Northwest Territories communities perhaps other forms or at different levels for each; opportunities in other sectors like fishing, forestry, satellite communications, and manufacturing, may be more specific to particular regions and individual communities. By both breaking down our constituent parts, but also keeping the strength of the Northwest Territories as a whole, I believe these plans together will provide a new, better road map to support residents, businesses, and local governments.

Madam Speaker, public conversations on the development of regional economic development plans began last week in Hay River and Fort Smith to advance ideas for economic development in the South Slave. From now through January, engagements will be taking place both online and in public meetings in five additional regions. Regardless of subject, progress begins with dialogue and a mutual understanding of possibilities, and I am looking forward to seeing the results of these important conversations.

Madam Speaker, our efforts to advance regional economic growth and diversity are not limited to the design of these plans. This effort is supported by ongoing work to advance innovation in the Northwest Territories and to foster a knowledge economy that will cultivate entrepreneurship through an innovation action plan due out later this fall.

ITI is also working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to deliver on the arts strategy and improve support for artists, musicians, and filmmakers. And, together with the Department of Finance, we continue the work to revamp our approach to government procurement and contracting in order to maximize benefits to residents and businesses. That work has also progressed significantly with some proposals for change due out this fall and some improvements to processes already implemented.

Madam Speaker, I cannot speak about economic diversification in the Northwest Territories without speaking to the tourism industry.

I had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the Council of Canadian Trade Ministers last week and discovered that many areas of predicted industry growth, such as Indigenous cultural experiences and opportunities for sustainable and regenerative tourism, are already present in the Northwest Territories. And as I prepare to address the membership of Northwest Territories Tourism next week, it is worth highlighting the extraordinary steps taken by the GNWT to deliver over $13 million in supports and programs for the industry since the onset of the pandemic.

Upcoming sessions to design and develop regional economic development plans are a space to have these kinds of conversation, to empower residents and their businesses, to identify, develop and pursue the economic potential that we know is there that they identify. Guided by Northerners, supported by governments, and driven by regional business and investment, regional economic development plans will set the stage for increased economic opportunity and diversity across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I don't think I've ever got to go first. I like this Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I was at the city council for Yellowknife election forums, and I kept having déjà vu, because it sounded like the exact same forum I was at in 2018. Everyone there was talking about the bulk land transfer to the GNWT to the City of Yellowknife. And I thought to myself, wait, didn't we solve this problem? Isn't there a clearer process in place for transferring land? Well, I guess not, Madam Speaker. I'll have questions for the Minister of Lands/MACA on why we can't give those poor councillors something else to talk about other than transferring vacant land. And, Madam Speaker, for the hundredth time, I want to clarify that no one is talking about the land currently withdrawn by the YKDFN in Akaitcho. I'll have questions for the Minister. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you treatment programs. Madam Speaker, according to the Canadian history, it is well documented that explorers and traders introduced alcohol in different ways to the Indigenous people, including the consumption of alcohol in official dealings and as a trade item. In other words, alcohol was used as a tool to influence Indigenous people and to benefit the explorer and fur traders. When alcohol was introduced to our people, alcohol abuse and destruction followed.

This alcohol abuse has continued over decades as Indigenous people in the Northwest Territories have continued to survive the impacts from colonization and systemic racism embedded in the government. As individuals, families, and communities emerge from the genocide inflicted upon Indigenous people, many turn to alcohol and other substances to cope. This perpetuates the intergenerational trauma that continues today.

Madam Speaker, the NWT desperately needs a territorial-based addiction treatment centre. Madam Speaker, how can we support the recovery and healing of our residents if we do not have an addiction treatment centre that is accessible for all residents?

Madam Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories must also recognize the importance of cultural and traditional Indigenous healing to support residents as they try to break free from the chains of addictions. This is a finding from the 2022 Auditor General of Canada Report to the Legislative Assembly on addictions, preventions, and recovery services. Quote, "that health and social services authorities did not do enough to provide residents with accessible, coordinated, and culturally safe addiction services", end quote.

Madam Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories had a relationship with Poundmaker's Lodge in Alberta for several years but now no longer has contract with this Indigenous healthcare organization. Madam Speaker, can I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you. Poundmaker's has always been a good treatment option for Indigenous NWT residents. Poundmaker's have an in-facility detox function that allows their program to remove one of the major barriers for many Northerners wanting to attend residential treatment - needing to be sober before they can access treatment. Currently the Government of the Northwest Territories policies require people to be sober for a given period of time and then attend several counselling sessions before they will be considered eligible for southern treatment. For many people having made a decision to reach out for help, this is a barrier that is more than they can manage at this fragile point in their life.

Poundmaker's has also developed a community outreach program where their treatment program can be offered in a six-week program in northern communities. This is followed up with a year of aftercare activities that help people in recovery to prevent relapse and deal with the triggers, stress, and craving that they will face when they come out of treatment into their family and community again.

After our healthcare system struggling to fill positions across the Northwest Territories, Poundmaker's Lodge provides wonderful opportunities to provide highly trained staff with Indigenous sensibilities and methodologies for even our smallest communities. Madam Speaker, how is it possible that the Government of the Northwest Territories does not have Indigenous addiction services for residents and when they were able to contract for these services, the Government of the Northwest Territories was unable to maintain their contract with Poundmaker's due to contract disputes related to medical and other contract details? I will have question for the Minister of Health and Social Services at appropriate time. Thank you

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Just remind everybody, you have two and a half minutes for your statements. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I'm not sure what to do because I'm not used to going second, or third.

Madam Speaker, I want to end this week on a positive note therefore I am going to talk about the Kole Crook Fiddle Association and the positive impact it has on youth in the NWT.

Madam Speaker, if you are from anywhere in the Northwest Territories, I would expect that you know the legacy left behind by Kole Crook. Along with his big smile and zest for life, his legacy was his love for the fiddle and entertaining.

Madam Speaker, I personally had the privilege of knowing Kole, and I still remember the last time I saw him. It was years ago in Fort Simpson and, in typical Kole fashion, with his fiddle and duffle bag, he was standing on the side of the highway, with his big smile, thumbing a ride back to Hay River.

Madam Speaker, in Kole's memory, the Kole Crook Fiddle Association was born. It is a non-profit volunteer organization that provides music opportunities and youth leadership through use of the fiddle and music. Kole's legacy, through the Kole Crook Fiddle Association, has spurred a whole new generation of young and old fiddlers alike. Madam Speaker, the Kole Crook Fiddle Association is a medium through which to promote and preserve the northern style of fiddling that was taken away from many by the residential school system. To accomplish this revival, and as part of Truth and Reconciliation, qualified instructors travel throughout the NWT to expose youth to this traditional style and method of teaching. Madam Speaker, many youth, throughout the NWT, travel to attend and participate in events such as the upcoming fiddle and music jamboree in Fort Simpson this coming January which, without financial support from this government may not happen. For those that participate at such events, each has prepared by spending countless hours of instruction time, both in person and virtually. As each event nears, the excitement felt by those young people is electrifying when they hit the stage and perform. It is priceless when you see their faces light up.

Madam Speaker, the goals of the association are met through ongoing fundraising, community and government support. This fundraising activity and support has allowed the association to lend out musical instruments and have instructors, such as the famous Linda Duford from Hay River, and others, to travel to places such as Fort Smith, Hay River, Enterprise, Fort Simpson, Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope and Deline, where many students have now taken up the fiddle. In the coming years they are hoping to expand the number of communities and students they can reach. Thank Madam Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.