Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question 48-19(2) asked by the Member for Great Slave on October 26th to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding delivering the Child and Youth Care Counsellor Program.

This program has recently been re-branded from Child and Youth Care Counselling to Child and Youth Counselling. The purpose of this re-brand is to improve recruitment efforts and increase the number of candidates we receive for these positions. Throughout this response I will use this updated language.

• • 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?

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment, or ECE, engaged superintendents through the NWT Superintendent Association, where Superintendents bring the concerns of Education Body staff to the table and suggest ways to resolve issues moving forward. Prior to the introduction of the Child and Youth Counselling, or CYC, initiative, there were 18 counsellors employed in the school system. Affected employees were considered for the new CYC initiative positions if they could demonstrate they:

• • Met the qualifications of the job description, which requires a master's degree in Child and Youth Care, Counselling, Clinical Social Work or Education with a focus on therapeutic counselling;
  • Had equivalencies in terms of education and experience; or
  • Had similar qualifications for a developmental transfer into the position.

Education Bodies were informed within a year of the initiative being launched. As the initiative was rolled out incrementally across regions, Education Bodies had between one and four years of notice. Existing counsellors were given the opportunity to seek additional qualifications to meet the criteria of the CYC position.

1. Can the Minister detail the qualifications typically accepted for child and youth care counsellors in place in our school system?

The current job descriptions require a master's degree in Child and Youth Care, Counselling, Clinical Social Work, or Education with a focus on therapeutic counselling. The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority is currently in the process of updating the qualifications and screening criteria included in the CYC job descriptions to allow for a larger hiring pool. This may include expanding the description to allow for local counsellors who can demonstrate equivalencies that meet the requirements of the position.

1. Do school principals get to evaluate the child and youth care counsellors?

School principals are not involved in the performance evaluation of the Child and Youth Counsellors, as they are employees of the health and social services authorities. ECE has an Education Body committee System through which Education Body input and feedback is provided; within this system, Education Bodies inform ECE of both successes and issues so that the department can collaborate with regions and with the Department of Health and Social Services to address issues and provide support. ECE recognizes there is a need for a formal and direct communication mechanism between Clinical Supervisors and school principals.

1. Is there a way for school administrators to speak formally to the effectiveness of this program operating in the schools?

As Members of the CYC Steering committee, Education Body Superintendents can raise concerns and ideas for improvement during those regular meetings, as well as through the NWT Superintendent Association and the Student Support Subcommittee meetings. There is also a monitoring and evaluation plan for the CYC initiative in place, which includes formal mechanisms for feedback. I'll speak to the monitoring and evaluation plan, and the associated formal mechanisms for feedback, in my next response.

1. What evaluative feedback mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of the child and youth care counsellor's program?

When the CYC program was launched in the 2019-2020 school year, a monitoring and evaluation plan was launched along with it. Annually, ECE and the Department of Health and Social Services gather monitoring data about the CYC initiative that speaks to regional successes and challenges, in the regions where the initiative was implemented. As part of the monitoring and evaluation plan, these annual monitoring activities are then used to inform the CYC initiative evaluation, which is currently taking place. Examples of monitoring information that have been collected include: Turnover rates, number of monthly sessions by session type, average weekly hours that CYCs spend in schools, and number of individual students seen by school, by region. This data is collected and shared annually with the CYC initiative team for the purpose of ongoing program improvement. Due to its sensitive nature, this data is not reported publicly. The monitoring information that the CYC initiative partners collect does not include annual feedback from children, youth, and families. Child, youth, and family feedback, as well as feedback from CYCs, educators, and administrators, is instead built into the evaluation stage of our monitoring and evaluation approach the CYC initiative. That evaluation phase is taking place this year. The department has begun gathering feedback from CYCs, educators, and administrators, as well as Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations.

The department is also working with a consultant and a youth advisory committee on the child, youth and family portion of the engagement and feedback, which will take place between February and April 2023. As part of the evaluation taking place this year, in May 2022, ECE and the Department of Health and Social Services surveyed health and education stakeholders, including school administrators, on the CYC initiative. An internal "What We Heard" report was prepared and this information will also be used as part of the evaluation process and report to inform the overall program design updates.

Another mechanism for child, youth and family feedback, for those families that participate in the CYC initiative is the NWT Community Counselling Program Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. This tool is part of the Department of Health and Social Services' regular monitoring and reporting processes. Client Satisfaction is an indicator of the extent to which services and supports meet the needs of individuals and families and is considered a key dimension of service quality.

The questionnaire is administered regularly, every two to three years. The most recent survey was issued in 2021 and a targeted effort was made to include the CYC initiative. Results of the questionnaire will be used to support monitoring of the CYC initiative. Responses from children and youth, or their parents or guardians, who have experience receiving services from CYCs also help to inform levels of satisfaction with the initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question 50-19(2) asked by the Member for Kam Lake to the Minister of Health and Social Services on October 31st, 2022, regarding treating infertility.

In the case of infertility, when a known underlying, medical condition is identified as the. Probable cause of the infertility, treatment of that underlying condition is covered under the NWT healthcare Plan as an insured health service.

Where the cause of the infertility it is not readily known, these cases may be submitted to the Medical Advisor for review of the specifics of the case and decision. This process, referred to as 'prior approval', is used in situations where the treatment may be outside the Health and Social Services system's usual referral pathway or when circumstances warrant deeper examination.

To clarify, it is important to differentiate between specialist services for treatment of an underlying condition and specialist services providing fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization.

Fertility treatments, are not considered medically necessary procedures in most jurisdictions, including the Northwest Territories. Public policy regarding funding of fertility treatments varies across Canada. For example, in Alberta and British Columbia, fertility treatments such as intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization are not funded, whereas in Quebec some fertility treatments are funded, such as one single in vitro fertilization cycle if the woman is between 18 and 40 years old.

The NWT Medical Travel program is in place to assist eligible residents to access medically necessary insured services not available in their home community. The NWT Medical Travel program requires a medical referral from an NWT medical practitioner. This requirement is to validate that the medical travel is tied to an insured health service, the referral is to the appropriate service provider and nearest facility, and to ensure continuity of care is maintained.

The request made by the Member for direction to the Medical Travel Office to accept referrals from specialists outside of the territory does not align with the practice of ensuring NWT residents' health needs are managed and monitored through NWT primary healthcare providers as a best practice for continuity of care. There is no plan to move away from this practice.

The assertion that vasectomies and vasectomy reversals are covered, whereas fertility treatments for birth givers are not covered, is incorrect. Vasectomy procedures for men are covered in the NWT, as are the analogous tubal ligation procedure for women. Neither the reversal of a vasectomy nor the reversal of a tubal ligation are covered in the NWT.

The determination of services medically necessary and who makes that decision is not straightforward. Under the Canada Health Act, services delivered by physicians and within hospitals are generally considered insured health services. Medically necessary services are not defined in the Canada Health Act. Provincial and territorial healthcare insurance plan providers consult with their respective physician groups and across jurisdictions to identify a set of services that each jurisdiction accepts as medically necessary, insured services provided by physicians and in hospitals. This common set of services then meets the Canada Health Act's Principles of Universality, Portability and Accessibility.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question 51-19(2) asked by the Member for Deh Cho on October 31st, 2022, to the Minister of Housing Northwest Territories regarding Housing Northwest Territories off-loading housing units to First Nations.

• • 1. Can the Minister explain the reason for off-loading public housing units onto First Nations organizations;

Mr. Speaker, the disposal of residential property is conducted in a manner that promotes fairness, equity and transparency and that makes the best possible use of public resources. This process supports and encourages the development of housing markets in all communities. Housing NWT is committed to working with any Indigenous government to address their housing aspirations, including the administration of public housing. It is important to note that through the disposal process, Housing NWT approaches Indigenous governments first, but they are not obliged to take on the units. If they are not interested, Housing NWT will put the units up for public tender, and if after going through the process no owners are secured, Housing would look at demolishing the building. This would make the land available for future development.

• • 1. many are not high market communities, has the Minister explained the financial obligation and problems associated with being a landlord of public housing;

Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT places a high value on collaboration and would work with all relevant parties regarding best practices of public housing administration. Housing NWT has been encouraging and supporting the development of community housing plans in all communities. With the arrival of funding from Canada directly to Indigenous governments, we understand that Canada has also required a high-level plan from each Indigenous government regarding their housing aspirations. In some cases, in these discussions Indigenous governments have spoken about the desire to assume and renovate some of the older units in their communities to address some of the housing pressures in their communities. As part of the conversations, Housing does share information on the operating costs of units and we have spoken about the tools that Housing has to assist in property/tenant management, things like education tools, leases, preventative maintenance checklists and many other tools. Housing NWT is also looking at expanding training opportunities as part of the conversation that has taken place through the Strategic Renewal, and if property management training for other stakeholders is a priority Housing is willing to work with all parties to find a way to ensure that training is available.

• • 1. Treaty 11 of 1921 was to ensure free housing for First Nations peoples and hence First Nations housing was devolved to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation (now Housing Northwest Territories). Can the Minister provide an update on progress on this obligation;

Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT's mandate is to provide a variety of housing supports to NWT residents who need help the most, regardless of whether or not they are Indigenous. Housing NWT recognizes and supports recent efforts by the Government of Canada to flow significant funding directly to Indigenous governments for their own housing priorities. While there is no reference to housing in the words of Treaty 11, there are negotiating processes available with the federal government to clarify the extent of any obligations under historic treaties.

• • 1. The Federal Governments Rapid Housing Initiative states only 49 units for the Northwest Territories. As these are 100 percent dollars, why is there such low application numbers for the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, the Rapid Housing Initiative is a Government of Canada program, and they control the application process. In fact, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has recently opened the application process for Round 3 of this program. Housing NWT will continue to support all interested proponents from the Northwest Territories and continue to advocate to the Government of Canada that housing funding opportunities be designed in a way that works for the North. This includes wherever possible either removing the requirement for a cost-share to access federal programs, or at least reduce the cost share to at least a 75/25 with25 percent being the NWT recipient's obligation rather than the 50 percent or higher required in southern jurisdiction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question 52-19(2) asked by the Member for Deh Cho on November 1st, 2022 to the Minister of Infrastructure regarding the settlement maintainers training program.

Mr. Speaker, regarding the request to provide details on the number of indeterminate settlement maintainers, the number working in small communities, the number of vacancies, and a list of the current training opportunities offered to settlement maintainers during their employment, I will table a document later today at the appropriate time. There are 14 positions that provide maintainer services throughout the territory, all of which are filled. These services are augmented by two contractors and an apprentice.

The Department of Infrastructure will continue to collaborate with external agencies and post- secondary organizations to provide a range of training opportunities that allow settlement maintainers to advance their workplace skills and competencies.

I appreciate and share the Member's continued interest in settlement maintainer training, including the questions specific to oil and heating technician training. I can again advise the Member and the Legislative Assembly of the department's commitment to providing all our trades employees with opportunities to acquire the relevant technical and workplace training, knowledge, and skills they need to be successful in their work.

Specific to oil and heating technician training, the Department of Infrastructure continues to support qualified tradespeople, including settlement maintainers wishing to enroll in Aurora College's 12-week Oil Burner Mechanic program. Prerequisite skills and experience are required to be eligible for this course. Where possible, Infrastructure will support individuals in gaining these qualifications.

Finally, the Department of Infrastructure, and indeed the Government of the Northwest Territories as a whole, are fully committed to ensuring all employees are provided ongoing training opportunities to enhance and advance their skills and competencies. We support a broad spectrum of theoretical and practical training experiences, both in-House and contracted with credentialed and reputable external agencies. Methodologies are specific to organizational and individual needs and may include on-the-job training, job shadowing, apprenticeships, and a variety of other innovative delivery formats. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question 53-19(2) asked by the Member for Kam Lake on November 1st, 2022, regarding the Northwest Territories Power Corporation to facilitate alternative energy.

The Member has asked four questions on how NTPC will integrate renewable or alternative generation and one question on the governance of the Corporation.

I will answer these questions separately. In response to the Member's first question on the funding of alternative and renewable energy projects, NTPC works in cooperation with the Government of the Northwest Territories to advance and fund alternative and renewable energy projects. NTPC can continue to incorporate alternative and renewable energy projects in two ways. In situations where new green projects are fully financed through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, or ICIP, Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund and GNWT funding, NTPC can move forward with greenhouse gas reducing projects such as the proposed Fort Providence-Kakisa transmission line. Where existing NTPC infrastructure is at end of life and requires replacement, the aforementioned funding sources can greatly reduce the capital investment required by NTPC if these projects incorporate greenhouse gas reduction opportunities.

Technologies such as more efficient engines, incorporated in the Łutselk'e and Sachs Harbour plant replacements, or allowing existing green generation to continue to operate, such as with the Taltson and Snare hydro site refurbishments, can meet funding guidelines. The list of the alternative and renewable energy projects that NTPC and the GNWT is advancing can be found in NTPC's 2022-2023 Corporate Plan, the 2030 Energy Strategy, and annual GNWT Energy Initiatives Reports. In response to the Member's second question requesting information on NTPC's investment in alternative and renewable energy.

Last year, NTPC generated over 75% of its electricity through hydro generation and each year, NTPC invests in capital projects to ensure the continued hydro output by the Snare, Bluefish, and Taltson systems. Since 1998, NTPC has invested in clean burning natural gas and transitioned to Liquified Natural Gas when the Ikhil field output was reduced. NTPC has incorporated solar arrays into several communities either through agreements with independent power producers or through its own investment, such as the hybrid power plant in Colville Lake. In 1996, NTPC partnered with the Gwich'in Development Corporation in the development of a residual heating system, utilizing heat from the power plant in Fort McPherson.

NTPC has a long history of investing in alternative and renewable energy. NTPC has used a wide range of contractors over this period and will continue to do so in the future to complete alternative and renewable energy projects. Northern contractors are benefited by NTPC's Northern Preference Policy. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document showing current and planned alternative and renewable energy projects by community, with associated capital investment dollars and contractor utilization. None of the projects noted within the this document will be impacted by sunsetting of federal funding. Regarding the Member's third question on NTPC's reporting of performance metrics, the NT Hydro/NTPC Corporate Plan is tabled in the Legislature every March. This Plan provides seven metrics which compare corporate performance year over year. March 2022 metrics compared favorably over the previous year, but metrics may be influenced by both internal and external factors. Our corporate metrics are not available on a community basis.

The NTPC/NT Hydro Corporate Plan may be found within the tabled documents on the Legislative Assembly website https://www.ntassembly.ca/sites/assembly/files/td_636-192.pdf.

With respect to the Member's fourth question on NTPC's involvement in increasing alternative and renewable energy in housing, NTPC works with homeowners, Housing Northwest Territories, developers, and Indigenous business development corporations in the implementation of net metering installations on homes. Broader alternative and renewable residential energy projects are the responsibility of the Arctic Energy Alliance, or AEA, and NTPC sits on AEA's Board of Directors. The Member also enquired about the benefits of NTPC's current governance structure. In 2016, the GNWT replaced the public Board of Directors for NTPC and NT Hydro with six deputy ministers .

This was done for several reasons including:

• To provide better oversight of NTPC operations and better support to the Minister responsible for NTPC
• To improve accountability and provide more GNWT oversight including ensuring major policy or project issues received Cabinet consideration
• To ensure that NTPC decision making was done with a whole of government lens.
• To save on the significant expense related to operating a public board.

With respect to oversight, accountability, and decision making, the involvement of DMs on the NTPC Board has contributed to better alignment of NTPC and GNWT priorities. For example, there has been greater ability for advanced planning with respect to NTPC borrowing, which has an impact on the GNWT's ability to manage is borrowing limit. In addition, NTPC has benefitted from some cost reductions in public relations, donations, professional association dues, professional development, retainers, utility advisors, consultants and contractors, and the board chair contract. In the period from 2014 - 2020, these savings ranged from approximately $415,000 to $500,000 each year. Early in 2019, the GNWT initiated a review of NTPC governance. While there has been some benefit from the makeup of the current NTPC Board, I look forward to the completion of the governance review and anticipate a decision early this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.