This is page numbers 5309 - 5352 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.

Topics

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. I have some questions for the Premier, if I could. I'm reading today, right now, on Cabin Radio, a news story about how they broke the story about how the Northwest Territories is going to get $8 million a year under a new ten-year federal funding arrangement for all the provinces and territories, and there's supposed to be a special fund set up for the Northwest Territories for $5 million for the next five years.

I'd like to ask the Premier why am I reading about this on Cabin Radio instead of getting this kind of communications directly from the Cabinet? That's not the way consensus government is supposed to work, Madam Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The health minister would like that deferred to her. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you. This morning the Premier, the Finance Minister, and I met with our federal colleagues, the Minister for intergovernmental affairs and the Minister of health. We had some questions about what we had been offered at the -- the Premier had been offered at the Council of Federation last week.

What I can tell you is that the net new money available to the NWT is $12 million. That includes a $2.9 million increase to the territorial health initiative fund which is spent partly on medical travel and partly on bigger picture items like health sustainability.

There are four areas in which there are tailored -- what they call tailored bilateral agreements. They're worth $7 million a year for the next ten years. There is a $2 million top-up to the CHT which will be for hospital services. It's a one-time only. There will also be some money for the escalator, the CHT escalator which is tied to inflation at this point so we don't have a firm figure on that. The personal support workers wage subsidy, we don't have information on that. The health equity fund for Indigenous people, we don't have information on that. So there are some considerable loose ends.

It was our intention to communicate all of this to the Members by the end of the afternoon. The meeting just happened this morning, and I had a subsequent meeting that ended at 2:30. So the information is coming to the Regular MLAs, and there will be a news conference tomorrow in which we will answer questions. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the health minister for that. I'd like to know why I'm reading about this on Cabin Radio instead of getting the information from the Minister or the Premier. This is just not the way that consensus government is supposed to work. Why am I reading it on Cabin Radio first? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I can't control who the federal ministers decide to talk to in media interviews. I didn't know that they were going to do that. I learned when the Member learned, and I was probably just about as happy. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Yeah, I actually sent three Ministers an email about this while I was sitting here, before I had even read the Cabin Radio story, saying you guys are doing a media briefing tomorrow, you haven't told us anything? So why are you doing a media briefing instead of talking to us and telling us this news? Thanks, Madam Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you. Just to say again we met with these Ministers this morning. They choose to do their own media engagement. We decided to do ours tomorrow. We have in the works a message to Regular MLAs. We have provided them with advanced notice of a media release -- or a media advisory. There will be advanced notice of a media release. So we are not working as quickly as the federal government is but we are prepared to answer any questions that may arise, whether it today or tomorrow after the news conference. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. So is this the kind of precedent -- like, this is the way that we used to get communications in the last Assembly; I can tell you that. But is this the way that we're going to continue to get information moving forward, is through Cabin Radio instead of communications directly from our colleagues on the other side of the House? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

The Member for Frame Lake can rest assured this is not a new way of communicating. I've already explained that the federal government is doing its own communications. We don't have any control over that. I've told him what we're doing. And, you know, that is what we are going to stick with. I think I already said, but I will say again, I wasn't best pleased either to read on Cabin Radio that coming out of that meeting, apparently somebody had -- Minister Duclos had done an interview with Cabin Radio about the health agreement. We didn't have a specific embargo in place, so we have to go with the flow. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Madam Speaker, today I spoke about sustaining and growing our population in the Northwest Territories, and a key tool to grow our population is using immigration. The GNWT currently does not fulfill its annual immigration quota allotted by the Government of Canada through the nominee program. This is a big concern especially within our business community.

So I'm wondering if the Minister can explain why we're not hitting our quotas and tell us what his department is doing to fill the quota and provide guidance if this week's newest immigration pilot will help us actually hit that quota? Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister for Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The quota, as dictated by the Government of Canada, was established years ago. I would have to assume it's based on our population. I would imagine that as soon as we hit that quota, that quota would be increased. We're never going to be continuously hitting the quota. We always want to strive for better. I will say that during the life of this government, we have done a lot in terms of immigration and increasing the population, you know, and I'm happy to announce that since I took office we've doubled the number of people coming in through our nominee program. Back in 2019, there was around -- less than 50, with their families less than 70. We're now up to 108 nominees; with their dependants, 140 individuals immigrated to the Northwest Territories last year. So we are making progress, Madam Speaker.

And to the other part of the question, what are we doing? Well, we have done quite a bit. We're developing resources. We've created a welcome to the NWT booklet for potential and actual immigrants to the territory. We've updated and modernized the nominee program website. We've made the application accessible online. We've introduced a Francophone stream recently. We've made changes to our nominee program. We continuously make changes to make it more accessible for employers. We are working to implement a new stream focused on in demand occupations. We are participating in an economic pathways pilot to attract skilled refugees from abroad.

And to the Member's third question in that series, we expect that there -- well, hopefully some modest increases, maybe five or ten applicants through that stream. But if we keep chipping away at this, those numbers will continue to go up. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the success that has happened over the course of this term, but there's still room for us to grow and there's still room for us to welcome more people to the Northwest Territories. One of the things that I like to do in this job is pick up the phone and call people. And I've had the opportunity to speak to people working in the immigration sector from other jurisdictions who have literally said, why aren't you guys getting closer to your quota? So I think there's room for us to grow.

Madam Speaker, the department's response to the Assembly's motion indicated that ECE's immigration strategy is up for renewal. The strategy concluded in December, and it's not clear what the next steps of this government are. So can the Minister tell this House the status of the review, including who will be consulted, what the scope is, and when it will produce a new strategy? Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So the strategy was from 2017 to 2022. Part of that strategy -- or included with that strategy was a performance measurements plan. So the department is now reviewing the data, reviewing the administrative records and reaching out to stakeholders to complete that work and conclude that report. There have been discussions between ECE and ITI about the overall future of the program. And so those discussions, while they're ongoing, I expect that near the end of this Assembly/the beginning of the next Assembly, they will ramp up again when we have that capacity to do so. And a determination on, you know, perhaps how the GNWT internally deals with immigration will help inform a future strategy as well. So that work is on the way. I don't expect that we'll be seeing a new strategy during this term, but it is underway. Thank you.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this time last year when I asked the Minister to create an immigration advisory council, the Minister informed me that, quote, "ECE and ITI are proactively reaching out to businesses and people who are familiar with the nominee program to find out what we can do to improve the program."

So I'm wondering, Madam Speaker, since there is no intent to create a strategy in the life of this Assembly, where I can find that information that the Minister has been collecting with his department over the last year? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So we did reach out. The level of engagement wasn't what we would have hoped. Nonetheless, we did identify some areas for improvement. And so the Member can see the result of that engagement in the changes that were made to our nominee program stream, so changes to job advertising requirements and some other streamlining efforts. So that is where she can find those results. The proof is in the pudding. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

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

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, earlier this week I made a statement about Nunavut 3000, Nunavut's ambitious aim to build 3,000 new homes by 2030. Its ambition that we desperately need in the NWT but lacking sometimes, especially when it comes to creating new housing to meet our need. So I'm wondering -- because housing is such a huge barrier to sustaining our population, I'm wondering if this Minister will advocate for an ambitious house building and house repair strategy and action plan to support the sustaining and growing of our population, especially since he is the Minister who holds the immigration portfolio? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Speaker. I'm always advocating to increase our housing stock. It doesn't just have to be the Government of the Northwest Territories building houses. When I meet with other groups and with Indigenous governments, I often speak to them about the need for housing and the roles that they can play as well, so I do do that work on a regular basis. It doesn't just impact immigration. It impacts our ability to staff teachers in communities and nurses, and all of those other things. So this is something that is at the forefront of my mind and the department's as well, and I will continue to be an advocate. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker Lesa Semmler

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

Question 1379-19(2): Rights-Based Cabins
Oral Questions

February 15th, 2023

Page 5318

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I spoke in my statement today how I think cabins are really a bellwether for how settling land claims are going and, you know, we've seen a number of court cases over the years. I think one of the main problems is that if you have a -- if you're an Indigenous person and you're using a cabin for rights-based purposes, you're treated just like anyone else. You have to get the same leases, pay the same taxes, and follow all the same conditions.

So I'm wondering if the Premier will work to create some sort of different tenure for those rights-based cabins, to put them in a different category than, say, someone who just wants a recreation cabin on the Ingraham Trail? Thank you, Madam Speaker.