Merci, Madame la Presidente. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. First off, is the Minister aware of the release of the new federal long-term care standards, and are these under review in light of our 2015 continuing care standards? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I have all kind of good news for the Member from Frame Lake.

The standards for long-term care were released on January 31st by the health standards organization. And what's very important to know about these standards is, not only there are lots of them, but they really are aimed at ensuring the comfort, safety, and dignity of seniors who are in long-term care.

I'd like to say that developing the standards was a collaborative process. It involved the Department of Health and Social Services from the GNWT at a government advisory table. There were several forums, and the department had an opportunity to review the standards and provide input into them. We are using them to develop our own long-term care standards which will be complete by the end of March and go into effect immediately after.

The other thing I want to say about the standards is that they are about more than just the response to COVID. They were in development prior to COVID and so they look at a whole range of issues, not only things like infection control and prevention. Thank you.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I think that was a yes; that was great. I'll keep it rolling. Our continuing care standards have been in place since 2015 and reviewing that document, I did not see any discussion of the special precautions and practices necessary during a pandemic or a public health emergency.

So can the Minister tell us whether these revised standards that she mentioned, or the review of our 2015 standard, whether there's going to be anything in there in light of any lessons learned from the COVID pandemic? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Yes, thank you. Given the disastrous start to COVID and the large loss of life, up to as many as 18,000 seniors who died in the early days of COVID, the health and social services authorities developed a management policy for long-term care facilities in the NWT. And this was aimed at managing the outbreak that was happening all across the world at that point, and also with the support of the chief public health officer who provided her input as well. So the document was a living document. Each wave of COVID was different and so the policy was updated each time we confronted a new situation, a situation where it was more contagious or a situation where it was more lethal, and the results of that have been incorporated into the standards I mentioned earlier. Thank you.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. So I had a chance to look at the discussion paper that was released around learning from the response to COVID, and there didn't seem to be anything in there about continuing care or long-term care standards or how the pandemic response relates to seniors in particular in long-term care.

So can the Minister tell us whether there was any public engagement as part of that review of our COVID response that dealt with long-term care standards and whether any public concerns were raised as part of that review? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this work is not being led by the Department of Health and Social Services but what I understand is that there was, as the Member said, a discussion paper and a period of time for people to discuss the things that they wanted to be recorded as lessons learned from COVID. So my hope is that when I see this report, there will be the reflections in there of the kind of questions I got during COVID, which actually had less to do with the health side of COVID and more to do with the social side about isolation, visitor policies, and so on. So I'm looking forward to seeing that report and seeing how we could incorporate the information into the standards or into new policies that deal with pandemics. Thank you.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister again for that. This one might be a bit of a stretch, but I gave the Minister's a headsup, so.

Can the Minister tell us when the results of the learning from the response to COVID-19 public engagement and the actual report will be released, and whether standing committee will be given an opportunity to review and comment on them first? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that the report is not yet complete but that the production of the report will follow the normal practice of providing it to Regular Members for comment. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that the Minister of Finance would like to take my question rather than the Premier, as I stated in my statement.

My question has to do with the CRTC, and would the Minister commit to, on behalf of the entire Cabinet, so having the Premier's signature there, send a letter to the CRTC explaining how Yellowknife works and our small business of Cabin Radio versus our southern international firm of Vista Radio, and intervening on Cabin Radio's behalf? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Department of Finance does maintain the relationship with the CRTC through the office of the information -- or the Office of the Chief Information Officer so that is the reason that the question was more appropriate to go to here. I certainly can't commit any other Member of Cabinet, certainly let alone the Premier, to signing any letters. That said, Madam Speaker, I'm certainly happy to say that it would be within the Department of Finance to put together some sort of letter to comment upon or to express some concern that there may be around this decision. We aren't experts in telecommunications/radio broadcasting. We do work more directly with CRTC with respect to broadband. However, in just a brief review of this and in a brief discussion with the department, it would be within our purview to be able to comment on the decision in that regard. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's response, and I'm sure Cabinet will be willing to work with her to ensure that the CRTC does recognize that it's not just the Minister of Finance that would like to see that. But I think I speak for my colleagues as well, that all of us would like to see this looked into.

Can the Minister speak a little bit about the fact that Vista Radio or True North is still a BIP'ed registered company with the Northwest Territories government? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So the Department of ITI maintains the BIP registry, which fortunately I'm able to speak to a little bit. And as I've mentioned I think earlier this session, we are conducting certainly the procurement review in looking at the registry for the BIP, wanting to ensure that it's reflective of what an appropriate definition for northern businesses is. The final version of what that definition might in fact be is not now final and so in that regard, the Schedule 3 to the BIP remains as it is from something that long predates, I think arguably most, if not all of us in this room. However, again, as I had previously committed, that work is underway; I do expect changes to come and if the current businesses on Schedule 3 continue to meet the definition, they'll find themselves under BIP and if they do not, well then they won't. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. I'm just going to remind Members their line of questioning should remain on the same Minister with the same topic. But this time I will -- if you can keep it on the same topic. Thank you. Supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And Madam Speaker, I was going to thank you for your latitude in that last question. And given that it's not a super controversial topic, I do really appreciate that. I will leave this as my final question.

If it should be required, will the Minister commit to meeting with Cabin Radio to better understand the situation and ensure that whatever correspondence goes forward to the CRTC that it is, you know, with their input and the Minister's full understanding of the situation? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, certainly have an obligation, as I see it, to not any one single company but to the market as a whole, and I certainly only read the decision very briefly today. Would want to ensure that, really, that the CRTC is fully aware of the nature of our economy, of the nature of the business environment here. That is exactly the kind of thing we want to be speaking to. And so in that regard, more than happy to meet with the local players to ensure that anything that comes from government reflects and properly balances the interests. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is for the Minister of ITI. I didn't give her a heads up on it but I know she will answer these ones; they're pretty easy. I'm just asking about the status of the fish plant in Hay River and a possible opening date? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am happy to speak about the fish plant. There is quite a lot of activity underway and senior members from the department were, in fact, in Hay River just recently, and we are still anticipating a summer or early spring opening to the fish plant. It'll be commissioned in the spring with an opening to follow I believe in line with the summer fishing season. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can the Minister tell me if the CFI certification process has been completed or underway? Thank you.