This is page numbers 4833 - 4860 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 know.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost estimate that is currently available has a contingency built into it. But there's a very important "but." If the site changes and it is no longer going to be where the old HH Williams Hospital was and it's now going to be over near the new health centre, getting the land ready for the construction has not been factored into that cost and so those costs may, in fact, rise. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the delay, like, we're going to need beds for -- you know, for people who are going to be requiring them in the next six years. So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm what the plan is for the older portion of Woodland Manor as we will need -- well, we will need those beds. And my understanding from past discussions is that it will require major repairs, such as roofing, mechanical, and interior upgrades if we delay this project. Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the question. My understanding is that there was an addition built on Woodland Manor and opened in 2018 to provide nine new rooms that were previously part of HH Williams Hospital, which was at that point being phased out. So there's the newer part and the older part. The older part has a life of approximately ten years remaining. And to verify that, we have asked the Department of Infrastructure to do a technical evaluation next spring on the existing Woodland Manor to confirm the useful life it has left.

Now, if the new long-term care is not attached to Woodland Manor, then likely the money will go to the new long-term care rather than to Woodland Manor. This is going to have to be resolved through the bed allocation because as the Member has said, we're looking at -- I think it's a 24-bed facility for Hay River. So if we're going to take the current Woodland Manor offline, we would have to account for those residents plus the number that we've already committed to.

The last thing I'll say about this is that the current waitlist in Hay River is four. So it is, while a problem for those four families, not a problem that we can't solve with the current projection. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I understand that, you know, the waitlist, it might be short but in six years, you know, I might be on it. So, Mr. Speaker, if the project is delayed in 2027-2028, will the Minister confirm what additional funds will be provided to the Hay River Health and Social Services to expand home care supports and services while we are waiting for a facility? Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member better watch out or maybe by then I'll be a personal support worker helping him get in and out. So just pray that doesn't happen.

So what we've been able to do to supplement home care is provide funding for three additional positions in the last two years so that there is more staff available because, in fact, there are greater demands for that. The detail there is that's two home care nurses and a home support worker. The additional nursing position has enabled us to create more hours of service. So the service hours are now 8:30 to 4:30 seven days a week. We've also got the Paid Family Caregiver Program active in Hay River, and that is in place for this fiscal year and next. So we have a variety of supports that are available, and more are likely to come as we go further into implementing the home care review, which was completed in 2019. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if delaying the project to 2027-2028 will trigger a reevaluation of the number of beds required, possibly an increase from 24 up to 48 of 60? Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reason that the bed evaluation was redone is because we had better information from ten years of data as well as better population projections. Following the reevaluation, we committed to further reevaluations every four years. So there is every possibility that the number will change. And we will build the facility to meet the need that we know of, the most recent need that we know of.

One of the reasons that Hay River bed size went down is because it turned out there was a greater need in Fort Smith so it made sense to build two long-term care facilities, one in Hay River and one in Fort Smith, so that people could continue to live as close to home as possible. We understand that that's a priority and that home care assists with that priority, which is part of our mandate.

I also just want to mention, for those people who are on waiting lists anywhere in the territory that has a long-term care facility, there are respite beds available that families can book if they need a longer-term break. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's become a bit of a tradition for me to ask about the Fort Good Hope Seniors Home every session, which has proven that not all traditions are good, but it's been 20 months since the Minister opened that facility. And my question for the Minister of Housing is when can we expect it to actually open? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. We did end up with a lot of different contractual situations, I guess, within talks with the fire marshal as well too which caused a huge significant delay. Housing NWT is aiming for April 1st of 2023 of this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, admittedly I've been asking about this for quite a while now, and I'm still not really sure what occurred here. You know, initially I thought it was just our usual fight with the fire marshal but it's clear there's some larger contractual issues or contracting issues. Can the Minister just try and, you know, in simple terms explain to me what exactly has occurred here? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member as well too that, you know, this nine-plex is actually in my riding. I've had further conversations with the leadership as well too because they're quite anxious for this building to open immediately. But we have been informing leadership as well too as we progress and try to get this building opened. We did have a lot of deficiencies within the building and I just would like to follow up with the Member as well too. I don't know if it's -- I don't feel that it's appropriate to be speaking about that because we did have some issues with the previous contractor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I think at some point the public record probably needs to clarify what exactly occurred here and maybe that's once we've opened the building and it's all finally said and done, there's perhaps some lessons to be learned. But, you know, I imagine that since it's been so long this is not going to be cheap. Does the Minister have an estimate of what we expect this all to additionally cost us? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question as well too, as this seniors complex is a priority in the community of Fort Good Hope as well too, and we do have elders who are eagerly waiting to be moved into this facility. But right now I don't have a tallied-up number of what this is actually costing us right now. I'd have to follow up with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is going out to -- a question for Minister of Health and Social Services. If a previous treatment centre did not work in the NWT, what has the GNWT learned from this? Did the GNWT consider that GNWT was not implementing the treatment program effectively rather than suggesting addiction treatment facilities do not work. I would like to hear from Minister of Health and Social Services her thought on this. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I've learned in the two years that I've been in this role is that people want options when it comes to achieving their sobriety. They want the option of being on the land, in the community. In order to protect their privacy and not to engage with people who are also from the NWT, they want the option to go to different places. So what I've learned is that choice is really important. Telling people they have one place and only one place and one way to go for treatment has not been successful. And just as a matter of clarification, Nats'ejee K'eh was operated by a non-profit organization, not by the GNWT, although the GNWT of course funded the cost of people to attend. Thank you.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

What has the GNWT learned to do differently in regards to addiction treatment based on past experiences already tried and how will the GNWT approach treatment program differently? Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not able to speak in a very informed way about the content of treatment programs. I am not in a position to deliver them, I'm not in a position to need them fortunately, so I can't give any detail to that question. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

The Child and Youth Care Counselling Initiative is one of the Government of the Northwest Territories' programs intended to increase mental health supports for children and youth. The initiative was administered by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment until its multi-phased multiyear transition to the Department of Health and Social Services.

In its action plan, in response to the 2020 Auditor General's report recommendations, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment committed to improving mental health counselling services to children and youth to improve JK to 12 student outcomes in the Northwest Territories by supporting the regions with 42 child and youth care counsellors and seven clinical supervisors. (Action Plan page 21 commitment 4.6).

I submit the following questions to the Minister of ECE:

  1. Can the Minister explain what engagement or consultation the Department of Education, Culture and Employment conducted with counsellors already working in the school system prior to implementing the new child youth care counsellor positions?
  2. Can the Minister detail the qualifications typically accepted for child and youth care counsellors in place in our school system?
  3. Do school principals get to evaluate the child and youth care counsellors?
  4. Is there a way for school administrators to speak formally to the effectiveness of this program operating in the schools? And,
  5. What evaluative feedback mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of the child and youth care counsellor's program?
Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

My second set is for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

The Child and Youth Care Counselling Initiative is one of the Government of the Northwest Territories' programs intended to increase mental health supports for children and youth. The initiative was administered by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment until its multi-phased multiyear transition to the Department of Health and Social Services.

I submit the following questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services:

  1. Can the Minister explain how the Department of Health and Social Services prepared for the new child youth care counsellor positions; for example, did the department consult with existing child youth care counsellors and were other programs consulted on the integration into the department's existing activities?
  2. Can the Minister explain the turnover rate for child and youth care counsellors?
  3. Can the Minister describe how the child and youth care counsellors work with school administration?
  4. Can the Minister describe how the Department of Health and Social Services works with school administrators to evaluate the effectiveness of the program? And,
  5. Has there been any reporting or results produced from the child and youth care counsellor program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.