The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, good afternoon. As Minister of Health and Social Services, I am deeply concerned about the harm alcohol does in our territory. Alcohol misuse continues to have significant, even devastating effects, on individuals, families, and communities, resulting in poor health, social problems, and economic costs. We know that alcohol impacts NWT residents disproportionately compared to other regions in Canada and alcohol-related hospitalizations and deaths remain several times higher.

In January, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction released new guidelines with the message that all Canadians who drink any amount of alcohol should consider the harmful effects on their health. The guidelines elaborate on the risk of violence and injury which increases with every drink beyond the low threshold of two standard drinks per week.

Mr. Speaker, this is a considerable reduction from previous low-risk drinking guidelines. The new information is based on updated research about the links between alcohol and the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases, and the relationship between alcohol misuse and the risk of experiencing or perpetrating violence.

In 2019, the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation Report gave the Northwest Territories a failing grade on our alcohol policies and recommended the territory develop an alcohol strategy. The purpose of the alcohol strategy for the Northwest Territories, which I will be tabling later today, is to reduce alcohol-related harm for the whole population of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, this strategy was shaped by a thorough literature review and engagement activities, undertaken using a gender-based analysis plus lens. Multiple rounds of feedback collected from community and Indigenous leaders and advisory bodies with cultural knowledge and lived expertise helped us to validate the strategy. Addressing alcohol-related harms requires the collaboration of several departments and agencies including health and social services; finance; justice; education, culture and employment; infrastructure, the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission, and the three health and social services authorities.

Mr. Speaker, the actions align with many of the calls to action published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and will help to address the recommendations emerging from the Office of the Auditor General Report on addictions prevention and recovery services in the NWT. There are 15 actions in the strategy, focusing on communications, policy development, prevention, public safety, and treatment. The strategy is accompanied by a work plan developed collaboratively with the involved departments. It provides steps and timelines for each action, as well as monitoring and evaluation plan to track outcomes.

Mr. Speaker, work has already begun on several components of the strategy, and we look forward to working closely with communities to tailor these actions to their needs and priorities. We heard repeatedly that trying to get and stay sober was lonely. Many communities are "alcogenic", meaning there are few social activities that do not involve alcohol. A direct lack of social support was a common reason that people experienced a relapse in their drinking. We also heard that connections to family, community, and culture were important factors in lasting recovery and wellness. The actions in the alcohol strategy aim to shift the focus around alcohol in our communities and build communities that support recovery over the long term.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that addressing alcohol misuse is a complex issue that requires a coordinated and collaborative approach. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to working with our partners, including Indigenous governments and organizations, communities, health organizations, and others, to reduce the harms associated with alcohol. The NWT Alcohol Strategy aims to engage everyone in the NWT in addressing alcohol-related harms by reflecting on our own behaviour, celebrating those who are in recovery, and providing support to one another to improve wellness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged our entire society on a fundamental level, forcing us to grow and adapt in the face of unprecedented threats to the health and well-being of our loved ones and our communities. Three years since the outbreak of the pandemic, it is still easy for many of us to recall the fear and the uncertainty of those early days, as the world searched for answers amid reports of the rapidly rising death tolls. Almost every Northerner has a story to tell how the pandemic touched their lives in some way. Some lost loved ones or were forced to miss out on major life events. Some saw their businesses suffer while others had to rethink their livelihood altogether. All faced a sacrifice of some kind as we dealt with this deadly crisis together.

After declaring a public health emergency in the Territory, the Government of the Northwest Territories continued to respond with urgency, launching what would become an intense, whole-of-government effort to protect the residents of our territory, especially those most vulnerable. We had to maintain our already limited health resources, redirecting and refocusing our services on the go, while avoiding the kind of systemic failures and social disruptions that were happening in other jurisdictions around the world. Through much hard work and sacrifice on the part of all Northerners, together we have largely succeeded in minimizing the worst impacts of the pandemic. Now, as a government, we need to take a moment to step back and learn from our actions over the last three years and take the lessons we have learned about our systems and processes and apply them to improve how we respond to a future public health emergency.

Mr. Speaker, later today I will table the COVID-19 Lessons Learned Report. We are one of the first jurisdictions in Canada to initiate this kind of public review of our actions during the pandemic. We have heard from public servants most directly involved in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and from residents, Indigenous governments, and other northern leaders, about the GNWT's operational management during the pandemic.

We learned a lot from this exercise about the need to better coordinate emergency responses specific to a long-term public health emergency. The COVID-19 Lessons Learned Report includes 23 recommendations to assist the GNWT to better coordinate measures, improve accountability, and better serve the public and support employees in responding effectively to an emergency. We have already begun implementing some of these recommendations.

I want to thank all of those who participated in our surveys and our interviews. They described real challenges but also showed how people made their best efforts to respond to rapidly changing and unprecedented circumstances. These are lessons that we will carry with us into the future. I would like to take a moment to thank all the people who worked tirelessly within the Government of the Northwest Territories and across the Northwest Territories, responding with all their heart to the call to protect and care for their fellow Northerners. I also want to acknowledge my fellow Northerners for demonstrating resilience and resourcefulness as we grappled with unfamiliar and often frustrating realities. We were greatly challenged, but we met that challenge with strength, unity, and compassion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to creating a public service that ensures underrepresented groups are genuinely included, celebrated, and supported to meet their full potential. It is a public service that strives to be welcoming, culturally competent, and free of discrimination; one that serves in a way that respects and includes the diverse population of this territory. Today, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Finance is launching its Diversity and Inclusion Framework to help the GNWT not only improve the diversity of the public service but to work towards the full inclusion of all people. The objective is to create a public service that is representative of the communities we serve. Celebrating diversity and taking mindful actions towards inclusion within the GNWT will encourage the creation of inclusive and welcoming spaces for those that we serve.

Mr. Speaker, over the years the GNWT has implemented several diversity and inclusion initiatives in order to create safer spaces where all employees feel seen and valued. The GNWT anti-racism campaign offers anti-racism training and resources for employees to support the commitment to provide a diverse and inclusive workplace. The GNWT Advisory Committee on diversity and inclusion provides advice to the deputy ministers' human resources committee on improving access for designated employment equity groups in the public service. The Mitigating Unconscious Bias in the Workplace training offers GNWT employees the opportunity to develop practical tips on how to limit the damaging power of stereotyping and build inclusion in the workplace. We offer all employees a range of training opportunities that will assist them in ensuring our workplace culture continues to celebrate inclusion and that we maintain a physically and emotionally safe workplace for all GNWT employees.

• The 2SLGBTQQIA+101 Inclusive Workplace Awareness Training;
• Living Well Together;
• Equitable Workplace: Cultivating Attitudes of Anti-racism and Ally-ship for employees and managers;
• Harassment Free Respectful Workplace Training for managers and supervisors;
• Duty to Accommodate Training for managers and supervisors;
• The Working Mind; and,
• Mitigating Unconscious Bias in the Workplace

are just a small sample of the training the GNWT provides. Each of these programs provide tremendous benefit to our workforce and our territory.

However, I fully acknowledge there is room for improvement to ensure that we are providing our employees with a variety of learning opportunities to help them embrace diversity and explore other avenues of inclusion.

Mr. Speaker, this framework will take a whole-of-government approach to tackling barriers to a representative workforce and inclusion. It will serve as a blueprint as we set our sights on creating a public service that is welcoming and respectful to all its employees and the people it serves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last three and a half years, I have been listening to this government provide reasons as to why we are not willing to move towards an addiction treatment centre specifically for the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, this, and previous governments, continually commit to doing better. Indigenous people are asking them to do better. Yet we continue to receive independent audits that say better is not happening. The Auditor General of Canada in its report on addictions, prevention, and recovery services in the Northwest Territories stated the following: "We found concerning shortcomings in the provision of addiction services, from ensuring equitable access to services for all residents to ensuring that services are culturally safe for Indigenous clients, and that aftercare services are sufficient to support client's recovery goals."

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we continue to strive for equitable access to culturally appropriate southern facilities, local outpatient services, on the land programs, and aftercare. We also need to understand that southern facilities provide mainstream colonial type treatment or that based on southern Indigenous culture. Does this work for Indigenous persons from the NWT? According to the auditor general's report, there's a lack of tracking on patient success so we may never know.

Mr. Speaker, while we are willing to send residents to southern Canada for alcohol and drug treatment, then why is it that we are not willing to entertain setting up a standalone inpatient alcohol and drug treatment centre in the NWT? We often hear the department referencing the treatment centre which was once located on the lands of the K'atlodeeche First Nation and how it did not work. It is time to put that excuse to rest and move forward with an evaluation to determine the feasibility of having an inpatient treatment centre in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, we know that this government sends approximately 200 persons per year to southern treatment centres which confirms the need for such a facility. It is important for those that wish to be closer to home and closer to family to have access to a culturally appropriate treatment facility. The reality is that though we have access to cultural expertise, we are missing the licensed health component which is required in the treatment process.

Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of health to consider a NWT culturally appropriate treatment centre be established, if not on the ground in the NWT then in Edmonton or Calgary where staff are willing to reside and recruitment may be easier. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about government decentralization. This is something that I have spoken about several times throughout this term and something that nearly all members have spoken about at one point or another.

Mr. Speaker, decentralization of government jobs and services is a priority of this Assembly. It is a concept and practice that is vital to strengthening small communities and regional centres. For far too long, the Government of the Northwest Territories has normalized and made it standard policy across all departments to centralize all or most government jobs and services to the capital. This has severely limited what type of services are offered or available in communities. This practice removes the option for all people who reside outside the capital from accessing most services from their home communities or regions.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, the decentralization of government jobs has required people, in most cases, to relocate to the capital to work in certain public service positions. And that's a point that was raised in the affirmative action committee report that was read in the House just yesterday. As deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, I heard direct testimony from many residents across the NWT who mentioned that decentralization of public service jobs is a barrier for them seeking employment in that sector.

Fin closing, Mr. Speaker, all throughout this Assembly I have heard dozens of stories from people across the NWT who were forced to go to the capital whether for medical travel purposes or even to relocate in order to take a new job. In this day and age, people should not have to do that all the time but let's be honest here, it's cumbersome, it is stressful, and inconvenient for residents to have to travel to the capital for every little thing or for jobs that can be located in their communities and regional centres.

I could go on about this, Mr. Speaker, but I will leave it at that. I will have questions for the Premier later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have raised this government's faulty project assessment policy many times as an MLA, and here I go again.

Cabinet approved the project assessment policy on April 13th, 2017. The project assessment policy requires quote, "any technical advice and evidence provided to boards by the respective staff is in line with legislation, cabinet direction, and ministerial policies established under this policy." This policy reads like a way of muzzling our scientists and preventing presentation of evidence that may not be consistent with Cabinet's way of thinking. My concerns were borne out by the review board in its March 29, 2018 report on the Tlicho All-Season Road. The board found that the so-called whole-of-government approach quote "has limited the ability of evidence and expertise from GNWT departments about potential impacts, concerns, and mitigation on issues within their respective mandates and jurisdictions."

As a result of this harsh criticism of GNWT, the Department of Lands commissioned a "lessons learned" report on the Tlicho All-Season Road environmental assessment. That report concluded that quote "a whole-of-government approach is not necessarily best suited to all projects where the GNWT is the proponent and should not be the default approach for future projects where the GWNT is a proponent". It also said quote, "a whole-of-government approach, particularly in the context of a public review process, cannot be successful without an explicit commitment to greater transparency and evidence-based decision-making."

The formal response from the Department of Lands committed to reviewing the project assessment policy by the end of the 19th Assembly. I am still waiting, Mr. Speaker, and there's not much time left. This work is increasingly important as GNWT is likely to become a proponent for large infrastructure projects that will require very careful scrutiny.

I asked written questions on this topic in March 2022, almost a year ago. I was told there would be no public engagement or work with Indigenous governments in revising the policy. That's a big disappointment. I will have questions for the Minister of Lands on whether this work is really going to get done by the end of the 19th Assembly. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.