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

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.

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

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.

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

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member for 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.

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

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member's statement's on income assistance clawbacks. Today I rise and bring attention to the clawbacks on income assistance in my riding. Over the last weeks, I have received concerns that income assistance recipients that are penalized because of the federal benefits that were received during the COVID pandemic. These benefits include the Canada Recovery Caregiver Benefit, CRBC, Canada Recovery Benefit. Mr. Speaker, many Nunakput residents are in need of these benefits and now it's -- they're being clawed back. They're being penalized. They claimed these benefits, most of the residents had to call an automated number to punch in their information, then the federal government gave direct deposits right into the people's account. But the automatic deposit did not often give a printout to the benefits. Recipients had nothing to give for income assistance officers so now the people are getting their T4s, and the GNWT is penalizing people and cutting them off for 60 days at a time. I have a mother of four in Tuk being cut off for two months that has no job, and that's unacceptable. I can't imagine the hardship that dependent on income assistance that we give payments to take away payments for two months that the GNWT is pushing people into poverty. It's unacceptable. There are families having trouble putting food on the table, having to ask their siblings for help, they're falling behind on their rent, they're being forced out to living daily essential items like toilet paper, other care products, diapers for kids. It's a shameful situation. Our residents shouldn't have to make these kinds of choices. The federal government says that they're not responsible for what the GNWT does. The GNWT says that the people should have declared their income sooner. But like I said earlier, many recipients never got a printout of the benefit. I hope the Minister hears me when I say he should not penalize people today for administrative problems from two years ago. The Minister might say ECE is following regulations but has a cruel effect on most vulnerable people. We're taking our -- and we're talking about our elders, disabled people, low income people, illiterate people, people who don't understand why the federal benefits for two years ago are being applied against their income assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Minister to look into this issue for positive solutions. This case is a bad benefits administration should not punish residents in my riding and people across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe I brought up health centre concerns related to ailments of residents that were not diagnosed at the initial visit but rather looked at and sent home with a Tylenol. Mind you, these were all serious concerns having to do with ailments that weren't diagnosed in time, which most times were serious in nature, serious enough that patients had to be medevaced out to Yellowknife or Edmonton.

Mr. Speaker, recently a young resident went to the health centre for an ailment believed to be gallstone inflammation. I believe the nurse concurred with the ailment and gave medication and sent the patient home. Six days later, and in pain, it was decided to medevac the patient out to Stanton hospital. The doctor at Stanton informed the patient his gallstones were too inflamed to consider surgery and was given more medication for the pain and was told of the possibility of being sent home while waiting for the inflammation to subside. The patient notified me of the situation and was very puzzled by what was transpiring and all the while in pain. This added more stress on the patient.

When I followed up with the patient of his situation in which the hospital was releasing him to be sent home, the patient stated the operation did take place and was now mending. That was a quick turnaround and has me puzzled as well.

I have brought forward many times the need to do evaluations of health centres, which would include evaluations of staff, evaluations of diagnostics and medications administered, availability of programs and services for residents dealing with chronic diseases, and so forth. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the health minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, between 2003 and 2021, the senior population in the NWT rose from 2,787 to 6,920. Although we should continue to focus on attracting people of all ages to the Northwest Territories to live and work, we must also focus on supporting our seniors and their ability to age in their home communities within the Northwest Territories. We have many benefits for seniors, including resources to help access medical care and medication which makes the Northwest Territories an attractive place to live, work, and retire for seniors. However Mr. Speaker, I worry that the government is not reacting fast enough to our growing rate of seniors.

One area we need to continue to support is housing for seniors. I look at the Avens pavilion as a piece of infrastructure which will help support a key demographic that brings so much to our community. The goals of the expansion of Avens include providing Northwest Territories seniors with:

• Increased residential living choices, including:
• (92) one-bedroom units; and,
• (10) two-bedroom units.
• Adequate, accessible and affordable housing;
• Energy efficient homes;
• A sense of community within a multifamily complex; and,
• Support seniors so they can move seamlessly through the continuum of care without leaving the Avens community.

This critical piece of infrastructure must be complemented with aging-in-place services, resources for seniors, and a strategy from the government to systematically ensure our seniors have what they need so they can continue to play the vital role they do in Northwest Territories society.

More work is needed as the NWT's population continues to age. We must ensure services and programs are in place that encourage our most precious resource, our seniors and elders, to stay in the North.

I want to thank Great Slave constituent Daryl Dolynny and the staff at Avens for advancing their pavilion project and the myriad of community members who worked tirelessly and raised funds to support them. I would also like to thank the Yellowknife Seniors' Society for the important work they do, the programs they run, the information they provide, and the overall support they give to this important group. And I want to congratulate their recently elected board and I look forward to collaborating with them in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How much is the Taltson project going to cost? Where is it going to go? Who are we selling the power for? Mr. Speaker, people in this House have been asking those questions for two decades. In 2004, Joe Handley said that a line to the diamond mines was expensive; it was going to cost us $170 million, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, if we could get a line to the diamond mines from Taltson for $170 million, I'd build it tomorrow. However, Mr. Speaker, what happened in 2014 is after spending $18 million in studying, we found out the diamond mines didn't want to buy our power, Mr. Speaker, and they were not willing to enter into a long-term purchasing agreement. So we scrapped that iteration of the project. And then we looked to see if the southern provinces would buy our power, Mr. Speaker. And the Minister announced in this House well, they weren't really interested because they had some hydro projects on their own. And so, Mr. Speaker, for two decades we have been asking for a public business case on the Taltson Hydro Project, a clear evidence-based business case to see whether our power corporation can actually make a profit off of this project, Mr. Speaker, because if they don't, all of our rates are going up, Mr. Speaker. We need a clear, evidence-based decision-making project that tells us how much power are we trying to sell, who are we selling it to, Mr. Speaker. If it's not the diamond mines and it's not the provinces, I don't know who it is, Mr. Speaker. And at what rate are we selling it?

Mr. Speaker, the reality is our current power rates are more expensive than it is to burn diesel, and mines have to make a decision. Is it really worth their shareholder investment to get into Taltson power and is there even a route to where they're going because we have, for 20 years, been trying to figure out where exactly this transmission line is going. Is it going north, south, east, or west, I don't know, Mr. Speaker, and I hope the Minister of Infrastructure does before she goes and asks for any more money from this federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the headwaters is the life and blood of our homeland in the Mackenzie River basin. Throughout the years, we have been forced to adjust to a confluence of industrial threats upstream from us, a toxic cocktail of deadly contaminants flowing past our camps, communities, and impacting our waters -- sorry, cocktails impacting our waters, lands and animals and the people. The health of the water and the land is connected to the well-being of our people. We face increased health problems from a rare disease and a climb in cancer rates throughout the North but, in particular, around the Big Lake in the riding of the Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding. People are dying. We need answers to understand why this is happening.

Mr. Speaker, 45 years ago the entire globe was transfixed on us here in the North. That's when the cold war aired nuclear power Soviets by satellite fell out of the orbit and crashed in the Northwest Territories.

The story of the Cosmos 954 were something out of a science fiction story that fascinated the world by terrorizing our people. Cosmos 954 was a Soviet spy satellite designed to look for US nuclear power submarines in the ocean. The radar on board was the most powerful in the late 1970s. The powerful radar required a nuclear reactor for the satellite. The reactor contained over 100 pounds or 50 kilos of uranium 235. Scientists at the time estimated that it's a reactor containing the power of about a hundred thousand tonnes of TNT to fix into context. That's five times the force of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

On January 24th, 1978, Cosmos 954 and its nuclear reactor crashed over the frozen Great Slave Lake. The crash scattered an enormous amount of radioactive debris over 124,000 square kilometers; some large pieces but most peppercorn sized bits of radioactive black soot that rained down. Over the frozen land and lake, recovered pieces emitted a radiation level of 500 rad tonnes per hour, enough to kill a person in a few hours. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member's statement.

---Unanimous consent granted Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. For the first time in the North, a massive international military joint task force of United States and USA joined up. It's what they call a clean up and recovery. The extensive multi-year mission was called Operation Morning Light. After the crash, phase one of the operation was able to recover 12 large pieces, ten of them which is radioactive. As the operation continued, international tension was warned and was eventually nearly forgotten. The cleanup effort is estimated to only have recovered .01 percent of radioactive raining core. The rest melted in the water and lands when spring eventually turned into summer. The half of the enriched uranium 235 is 700 million years.

Mr. Speaker, the crash left this mark, and there is a strong concern that the source of the drastic spike in cancer around the lake in the early 1980s that continues to this date. 45 years later after the crash, there are still only questions. Over the decades, there is growing urgency for answers from the people and communities in my riding. We need answers. We want them.

Nearly two years before the crash of Cosmos 954, the country was focused on the North and typical work on the Berger Inquiry. It was the first time a government funded commission operated in that way. Listening to intently and truly, the Dene-Metis and Inuit people of the North. The report funded a northern frontier northern homeland changed the course of history. This type of work that needed to be done once again for the health of our lands and water, for the health of our communities and people, we need answers. We need government and the country to listen. We need them to care.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I'm calling for a public inquiry into the crash of Cosmos 954 but only to address the confluence of industrial threats flowing past us every day. This is a real concern about lasting health effects from the crash which may be the reasons for increased rates of cancer or other illness.

The people of Fort Resolution, Lutselk'e, Dettah, and N'dilo had been left to deal with the consequences of this incident for far too long without receiving any compensation, public apology, or support they deserve. Mr. Speaker, I'll have questions for the Premier at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Colleagues, let's be mindful of the time. “To conclude your statement” is to conclude, not to do another. But I'm in a good mood today so I'll let it slide.

Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are in year two of the UN's decade of Indigenous languages. Here in the Northwest Territories, we have 11 official languages, nine of which are Indigenous languages. Half of our 6,800 Indigenous language speakers are over 50 years old and one-fifth are over the age of 65.

Mr. Speaker, the UN considers all nine of our official languages endangered. During the standing committee's engagement on official languages, committee heard that young people are losing their traditional language and language teachers shared concern over students being able to maintain language learned when language is not visible or actively used around communities.

The GNWT, Mr. Speaker, can play a significant role in building language speakers and a system for residents to access services in an Indigenous language by creating a meaningful system of public servants able to provide services in any official language across the Northwest Territories. But, Mr. Speaker, why is building a territory-wide system important to equitable access to service and language revitalization?

Mr. Speaker, one out of ten Tlicho speakers are not Tlicho beneficiaries in the Northwest Territories right now. More than half of all Chipewyan speakers are not Akaitcho territory government beneficiaries. Mr. Speaker, a significant amount of Gwich'in speakers are not Gwich'in Tribal Council beneficiaries in the Northwest Territories right now. But all of these language speakers have rights in the Northwest Territories regardless of their membership to a beneficiary.

Mr. Speaker, so why is understanding the demographics of language speakers across the territory important? Well, Mr. Speaker, the highest number of all Chipewyan speakers in the Northwest Territories live here in Yellowknife and N'dilo. More Cree speakers live outside of the Fort Smith area than in it. Most of them live in a combination of Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Yellowknife. And the third highest number of all NWT Gwich'in speakers live in Yellowknife and N'dilo area. And NWT Gwich'in speakers who live in each of the non-GTC settlement area communities of Fort Smith and Hay River than in Aklavik alone. And more than one-quarter of all NWT Gwich'in speakers live in non-GTC settlement areas or communities. So, Mr. Speaker, it is really that we understand that regardless of where language speakers live, that revitalizing language and caring for language speakers is a GNWT-wide issue. Mr. Speaker, language revitalization is possible but it will take targeted meaningful funded solutions that consider our territory as a whole and the members of the public service itself, supported by its employer, have the opportunity to play a significant role. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the new agreement that gives Nahanni Butte more control over the Nahanni National Park Reserve. It has been a work in progress with the Government of Canada. This agreement will boost the community's economy by creating ten new jobs. Beside the new jobs, the community will see three new buildings being built. The three building are a Parks Canada office, a guardians program office, and a lodge for elders and tourists.

In speaking with Jayne Konisenta, a long-term councillor, she was very happy to see the commitment made by Parks Canada fulfilling a request by the elders. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that she spoke to a lot of the elders throughout the years. Unfortunately some have passed away and some felt things were not going the way they wanted. She told them it's not going to happen overnight; it's not an overnight process; it's going to take years. She advocated for these facilities when she was younger, and now she is becoming an elder and she still at the table but the different is that we have come to a good place.

Mr. Speaker, when speaking to Chief Steven Vital, he stressed this agreement is for our past elders, it's what they wanted, and it's for our future generation.

Mr. Speaker, could you imaging ten new jobs coming to any community let alone a community the size of Nahanni Butte? These jobs are going have a huge impact on the residents and the community. We will see young people wanting to stay in their home community now. This agreement is a new and innovative model for cooperative management. In practice, that means reshaping the existing co-management where Nahanni Butte has a larger role in the Nahanni National Park Reserve. The beautiful thing about this agreement, the band will now have the resources to bring their traditional knowledge and to collect scientific knowledge to bring it to the table on their own terms. It was a true partnership with Parks Canada.

Mr. Speaker, part of the agreement is funding for a new on the land guardianship program which will operate within the park reserve. More on the land programming will be opened to the local youth and elders. Mr. Speaker, the Nahanni National Park Reserve is a giant park, the third-largest in Canada, spanning everything from canyons and mountains to waterfalls. Virginia Falls and the Cirque of the Unclimbables are among its treasures.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the community, chief and council, and Parks Canada for this signing.

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With us today we have Mr. Matthew Miller, the president of the NWT Teachers Association, and Mr. David Murphy, the executive director of the NWT Teachers Association. They're joining us today for the rest reading of the Education Act bill that I'll be moving forward later. And Mr. Speaker, I also want to recognize my mother Bayline's in the gallery, as well as my spouse Chantelle Lafferty. Welcome.

Thank you, Member for Hay River North. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize two pages from Inuvik Boot Lake, Cayley Rueben as well as Angelina Wainman. And I'd also like to recognize Mr. Matt Miller who used to be a teacher at the East Three in Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this session I rose to acknowledge my page, and I realized I did not use their preferred name. So I would like to recognize my page Andy Sieben who is here from Great Slave, and all of the pages who have done a wonderful job. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to have a page from Yellowknife South here again, Cayley Ibusosch is with us. If we could recognize her today, please.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife South. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't recognize my wife who is in the gallery, but I will recognize the Minister of education's mother. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we have missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber and I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It's always nice to have people in the gallery. Mahsi.

Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I brought up the recovery of households getting income assistance frozen across the North and especially my riding who people who need it most, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me how many residents are having income assistance file reviewed or files frozen? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have those numbers on hand. But I can say that what the Member is speaking about is a few years ago, the Government of Canada introduced a number of different benefits for Canadians to help them get through the worst days of the pandemic. We as a department exempted CERB payments so those were not counted against income assistance applications; however, the later benefits were not exempted. And so clients who received those benefits, all they needed to do was declare that they received those. So even just verbally telling the client service officer that they received them so that we could count that because that's all income needs to be declared to receive income assistance. So what's happening now is that we're discovering clients who did not declare that income and we're following the regulations, and unfortunately there are some individuals who are being cut off. Not individuals. I've given direction to take a compassionate approach to this while still making sure that we comply with our own laws. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister consider putting the Canada Recovery Caregiver Benefit, which was more important than CERB as far as I'm concerned because people needed it the most. Would the Minister consider stopping penalizing people who needed the help the most at that time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as I said, we did exempt CERB, but we did not exempt the subsequent support programs, but we did inform all applicants that if they received those programs, they needed to declare it. So at this point, I can't go back and exempt some individuals and not others because others did declare it, and they didn't receive this benefit. And so it wouldn't be fair in that sense. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I think this Minister has the authority to do that. Like I said, CERB payment was given by the government so easily at that time making themselves look good. Now they're doing clawbacks, we're doing the federal government's dirty work by taking CERB payments, Canada recovery, taking it all back. People with nothing -- that have nothing in their fridges, elders got no food. What's happening? This government, no empathy on this side? This government has to take a step. Our Premier said take a step back, let's help the people. Let the Minister make the right decision, Mr. Speaker, and get this -- go down that list. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I agree it's a terrible situation. There's some individuals who are suffering. And if you're on income assistance, you're not making a bunch of money to begin with and so I get the concerns. And we took a more compassionate approach than other jurisdictions by exempting certain amounts, but at this point I can't commit to exempting these amounts now. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our Premier said it best before, lessons learned, take a step back. All this money that was given by the federal government, we should take a more lenient approach and put it all under from your T4, for your CERB payment, for your Canada revenue payment plan, should be all exempt from people. Our government, there's no jobs. There's nothing going on in the Beaufort Delta and in my riding. There's no jobs to be had. We live -- they have no choice but to go get income support. This Minister has the authority. Our Premier has the authority to take this off, Mr. Speaker. Do we have to make a motion in the House? Mr. Speaker, this government could do that. All it takes is a Minister's directive to make it happen. This government should show empathy on the people that we work for across this territory and have -- I guess not have it as good as down here in Yellowknife or in the south. People are suffering. You know it too, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And we did learn lessons from COVID. That's why this budget includes the biggest overhaul to the income assistance program in a generation with millions of dollars more budgeted that will go directly to clients. The situation the Member's talking about, though, in the future we're still going to see those situations because at the end of the day, the program requires people to declare their income. And if they don't declare their income, there's consequences. However, we are looking at even that aspect. There needs to be some rules but we're definitely taking a more compassionate and lenient approach going forward. We want to avoid these types of situations. We want to help people budget. We want to help them so that they don't run into these situations. But unfortunately this is the situation we're in. Thank you.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Lands. I think he's got three days left, but on the review of the project assessment policy. The Minister committed to have the review completed in December 2022 in response to my written questions in March of last year.

Can the Minister tell us the status of that review and whether the work to revise this antiquated and regressive policy will be done by the end of the 19th Assembly? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands has engaged with other departments and has completed an initial review of the project assessment policy. With the announcement of the merger of Lands and ENR, further work of the policy will continue under the Department of Environment and Climate Change. And I expect some -- to share some of the information on the project assessment policy with committee in upcoming months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. The clock is running out. In response to the written questions I submitted in March 2022, the Minister said that there would not be any public engagement or work with Indigenous governments on the review of the project assessment policy. We have these public engagements on such mundane matters as renaming the old Stanton Hospital and a product survey for liquor and cannabis, but we're not going to ask the public about how GNWT should be involved in environmental assessment major projects? Can the Minister explain why the department does not want to seek public input into revising the project assessment policy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the project assessment policy's an internal policy that defines how the GNWT works internally amongst departments for project assessments. So at such time, we will not be or planning to have public engagement on this policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Although it may be an internal policy, it's a public interest. That's why I keep raising it in the House. A key feature of the devolution agreement was the establishment of an Intergovernmental Council to allow the public and Indigenous governments to cooperate and collaborate on matters related to lands and resources management. The goal of the Intergovernmental Council is to work together to explore ways to coordinate the respective lands and resource management practices, share capacity, and avoid duplication.

Mr. Speaker, those two sentences are directly from an IGC website. So can the Minister explain why his department does not intend to work with Intergovernmental Council in reviewing the project assessment policy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the policy's not solely focused on land and resource management issues as defined in the intergovernmental agreement as the Member talked about. As I stated earlier, the policy defines how the GNWT works internally among departments for project assessments. As such, there is no requirements or plans to work with IGC on this policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final short supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'll try my best here. You know, the Minister talks about this not being part of the work that the Intergovernmental Council does but I think he probably needs to check with them. But, you know, this project assessment policy is not about an evidence-based make -- or evidence-based process. It's about preventing presentation of evidence and expert opinion that is not consistent with Cabinet's views.

So can the Minister tell us whether this government is really committed to evidence-based decisions and how that will be implemented in the context of GNWT sponsored projects and related decision-making? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, government is committed to evidence-based decisions, and as I've said previously, the project assessment policy will continue to support the representation of the GNWT's evidence and expert's opinions. Currently the Department of Lands and, on April 1st, the Department of Environment and Climate Change, is working to define how the GNWT can be more transparent in environmental assessments, including decision-making of the GNWT's project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke about the importance of decentralization of government jobs and services. Can the Premier confirm if it's a priority of the executive and of Cabinet to promote and support the decentralization of public jobs -- public service jobs away from the capital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within the priorities that were developed by the Legislative Assembly, there wasn't a decentralization; there was a priority around regional decision-making however -- and we're working towards that. However, in saying that, Mr. Speaker, decentralization has been a priority of the previous governments, and it's a priority of our government. It always should be a priority. Many of the Members from the Cabinet are outside of Yellowknife. They're constantly reminding us all the time that -- and I recognize that myself, that we need jobs in every single community, and we're doing the best we can to make sure that that happens. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier provide some concrete examples on what efforts the executive has done throughout the 19th Assembly to support the decentralization of public service jobs away from the capital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a couple of things that are examples that have actually carried on into this Assembly that have been from previous Assemblies, though, such as the priority hires. It's still a priority. Every position that comes across the Cabinet table is always scrutinized. Are they a priority hire? If not, why not. So that's one example. The other is, again, from previous governments that we continue, secondment so that -- both ways so that if, for example, Indigenous governments need a worker in their community, we will second from the GNWT and vice versa. That helps in actually building the skills that I think people need. One of the best ones that I do have to give credit for Minister Wawzonek from finance is the remote work policy that was just brought in. After COVID, I mean, we realized that we could use the internet more. So the remote work policy, my recollection is correct, is that you can -- if you have a job that's offered in the headquarters in Yellowknife, you can talk to your supervisor and if you can do it remotely, you can do that in a community. It only goes one. That cannot happen for jobs in communities that that person can come to Yellowknife. So that's a great example of work that were done in this government to make sure that we have jobs in the communities and decentralize positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us if she believes her government has been successful with decentralizing jobs and services into the communities and regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mean, I'd like to say yes but the reality is is that it's work that's always going to have to happen. Like I said, it's a concern for all of us, and it should be a concern. We need to make sure that all communities actually have the economic opportunities, including jobs, which is economic opportunities, to be able to support their residents. Like I said before, Mr. Speaker, I think that the biggest achievement to this government has been the remote work policy. I think it's a little bit too early to actually give stats on that, though, because it's only been a few months. But I am looking forward to actually seeing the stats on that and actually seeing if it works. And it'll take a little bit of time. Things take time in government to change the culture. But I'm a big advocate of it. I think -- I do thank the Minister for actually bringing that forward and I am thinking that hopefully within a year or two, you'll see huge results because of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.

Mr. Speaker, could the Premier tell us if she considers the centralization of government services and jobs as a problem, and does she consider it as a threat to small communities or regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I -- again, I think that it's always a concern when the majority of problems are in one community and we have many communities that we have to take care of. I know that we do try to make sure that we have regional positions for all departments within the communities. But I do think that there's more work to be done. And I don't think that it's only this government. I think that it's going to have to be work done for many governments to come. We need to look at the jobs. We need to look at the departments. We need to look at positions. So it's ongoing work. Our commitment as Cabinet has been to try to get as many jobs in the communities as possible, and I'm hoping that the next Assembly will continue that work and try to get as many jobs into the communities as appropriate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for your latitude in extending me some time to conclude my Member's statement. And thank you to all my colleagues as well.

Mr. Speaker, whenever I go back into my riding in Lutselk'e or Fort Resolution, they keep talking about Cosmos 954 and the impacts and the cumulative impacts as well. And that happened in 1978. And I know bringing this up now, but I didn't give enough time to the Premier, and I do apologize about that as well. But I just wanted to see if there's a way we could work with this government and Government of Canada to start bringing this issue out and really take a look as to how we could work together and call for a public inquiry. My question to the Premier. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm trying to figure out the question in that. I think there might be a couple in that one.

I do thank the Member. I do kind of wish he would have given me a heads up because I was trying to rush and read what the Cosmos 954 was. It was in 1970 something -- '78. I was 18 years old. I wasn't looking at what the sky was doing in all honesty. But I do think that I would be more than willing to actually sit down with the Member and actually find out more about this because I'm not sure if it's a public inquiry, what work has been done, what's out there. So more than willing to sit down with the Member and get more educated on this Cosmos 954 and the results after. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I go back into the communities, like we got a lot of community members and elders talk about that there is still probably a large uranium that's probably in the water and they're concerned about that. That's also on the land. So that affects the fish and the aquatic life and birds and everything else. So I look forward to work with the Premier on this. But this is going back to 1978. Giant Mine, you know, it happened in 1946, 56 years later it closed, and we had a public inquiry, a public inquiry which essentially is like an environmental assessment hearing. And I was the chairman. I chaired that. To clean up that mine now we're looking at about $1.4 billion. So I'm just saying on Cosmos 954, there's got to be a way to work with Government of Canada and ask for a public inquiry. So, yes, I look forward to working with the Premier but at the same time we need your help to bring this out in the open because this is significant. We got trappers that go out into the land and they make tea in the wintertime; they add snow and they make tea and then they drink the water that came from the snow. A year later they died. So I'm asking you for your help to bring this out and to work with the Government of Canada to ask for a public inquiry on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is a good example. Like I said, I'm just learning about it, but it's an example of many things that have happened in the Northwest Territories. There's been, you know, either there's been mines, like you used the example Giant Mine. There's been uranium mines in the Northwest Territories. One of the mines my father worked at and died of cancer, but he was also a smoker so I can't trace if that was smoking or if it was working in the uranium mine. But many people in the Northwest Territories have examples of cancer that have impacted us because of we're not sure what. So, and that's why we're so tough on the way we monitor our land and water and why we work with Indigenous governments to make sure that it's clear.

But what I can commit to -- I can't commit to a public inquiry yet because I need to find out what happened after this. Once I find out what happened, I'll get back to the Member and look at how we can move this forward and to see what responsibilities we can talk to Canada about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Premier, for your response. Normally at the end of a public inquiry, through that process we also could look at, you know, compensation and also a public apology. So that's kind of what I'm hearing from the community, from the chief and council in Lutselk'e, and they brought that to my attention. So in our dialogue, I guess as we bring this out and look at it and how we're going to approach it, that's also something that the people are looking for. So just so the Premier knows about that so maybe if she could just add a comment to that as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Taken as a comment. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't speak for the federal government, but I do believe in my heart that the federal government is talking about reconciliation and trying to figure out what that looks like. So, again, I'll look into what's happened with this, but I can't commit that the federal government would do a public apology. I'm just hopeful, I know they're listening that actually they will consider that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Standing Committee on Government Operations put forward its report on official languages. One key recommendation from that report is to transform the GNWT as an employer into a creator of Indigenous languages speakers. This would be a game changer.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT seems to have already started moving in this direction. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan includes a goal to develop an Indigenous language professional development program. So can the Minister provide a status update on this program, including targets for how many employees will receive training and when the training will become available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it so happens as that report was being read in yesterday, I asked for a status report on action 2.2. I can say that the Department of Finance and ECE are working together with the Indigenous -- or interdepartmental Indigenous languages committee. We are on track to have that delivered -- sorry, to have the program ready for delivery third quarter of 2023-2024. So basically that would be this fall. I don't know obviously yet how many residents or how many employees would be participating in that, but would certainly be looking forward to promoting that to the public service in due course. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, this is a good start but to reverse the decline of Indigenous language communities, the GNWT needs to do so much more. One key area for improvement is around the bilingual designation policy. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan talks about celebrating and recognizing employees speaking an Indigenous language but there's no reference to modernizing the bilingual designation policy, including to ensure that employees who speak or are learning their language are properly remunerated. So will the Minister make a commitment to revise and modernize the bilingual designation policy so that it better supports language revitalization as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I'd like to say is I'm going to make a commitment to looking at the impact of the policy. I don't know exactly yet what the parameters of it or a full review would be or where it might fit. But I certainly agree that if a public servant speaks one of our official languages, they should be receiving some sort of recognition for that. And if right now we're not achieving that through the way that the policy is being applied, then from what I understand of the policy and its overall intent, then I certainly do think that we can look at better achieving that so that everyone that speaks an official language are being recognized and that employees are encouraged to improve their skill set to be able to be recognized as speaking an official language. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And just so that I'm clear too, and I think that sometimes different words mean different things to different people, and one of my concerns there is that the word "recognition" could be, you know, we recognize and appreciate that you speak your language, and one of the things that I want to make sure is that the language spoken is valued by the GNWT in the form of remuneration. So, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to state that there.

But will the Minister also consider committee's recommendation to create a new category of bonuses for Indigenous employees who are learning to speak their language. So they might not be considered completely proficient right away, but they might -- because in order to be considered proficient, you need to be able to speak the language as well as write in the language. And there might be tiers or levels of where people fall as they're relearning their language and reclaiming their language. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not in disagreement and I don't think the department's in disagreement. I just want to figure out how to roll that out. As I said, I was listening, and the department was listening, I and was in conversation with them as we were listening virtually. So right now it's a $1,200 bilingual bonus paid to employees who have Indigenous language skills. But it's indelible employees, so someone who's in a position or a role where they can see some sort of benefit of speaking that official language.

Mr. Speaker, there's always a benefit in speaking that official language, and that's I think the point that we want to convey. That's the place we want to get to, is that when the policy's applied that that bonus can be applied to anyone that's speaking a language. And then where in terms of the language learning state that an individual might be at, when they should get some sort of recognition financially or otherwise, I certainly would like to take that away and look at it. I think we can do better to encourage employees to go out to get training, to participate in ECE's programs, to participate in mentorship, and ultimately to participate in the programs that we're looking to develop here so they could start to speak their own languages. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be very, very short. Does the GNWT plan to identify positions that can and should be staffed by Indigenous language speakers? Right now there are some French specific positions within the GNWT. There might also be a small number of Indigenous language specific positions but there's not a large number of them. And I'd like to know if the GNWT plans to be a lot more proactive in identifying positions where they'd like to see Indigenous language speakers and grow them in those positions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know that that's a specific action item right now under the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, but it is certainly in keeping with the spirit of that framework. So certainly, as I've said, we do right now track, through ECE's official languages guideline, a list of communities that have different needs for languages but our understanding of the role of language and the place of language as part of delivering public service, I think is only ever improving. We can certainly continue to do a better job of that and to expand. So I'll certainly take the committee's recommendations away and the Member's questions away and hopefully have a more robust place to go with this in the life of the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these questions are for the Minister of health.

Mr. Speaker, every day when I'm back in Hay River in my home office, the issues that I deal with are -- or many are related to addictions. It's quickly destroying individuals, families, and it's only getting worse and we're seeing more people dying. So, Mr. Speaker, the 2022 Auditor General's Report states the importance of equal access to addiction and aftercare treatment. Can the Minister of health confirm what initiatives and progress has been made in this area when it comes to residents of the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the questions. So in the work plan attached to the response to the Auditor General's Report that was tabled in May of last year, we made a commitment to engage with Indigenous governments and communities to inform approaches. First of all, to define what is equitable and what do people want in more detail. So I've met with the NWT Council of Leaders to begin that discussion. And in the next year, according to the work plan, we will be establishing a territorial addictions working group with key stakeholders and to develop a work plan to implement activities that will reduce barriers and improve service delivery. So that is not a commitment to building a treatment centre.

A treatment centre, I want to strongly urge everyone who's listening, should be a priority in the next Assembly, or at least if not one treatment centre, which we have had trouble sustaining historically, then multiple regional approaches to treatment so that people can achieve treatment closer to home which is something we hear consistently that they want. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Colleagues, before we continue, I'd like to recognize Chief Danny Gaudet from Deline. Also former Chief Leonard Kenny, also from Deline. And also Joseph Kochon, president from Colville Lake. Welcome to the Chamber.

Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, an important component is northern culture -- is a northern culture treatment component for Indigenous persons is vital to success. And that cultural component must be based on the person's traditional culture and not that of another Indigenous person's culture.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm what southern treatment facilities under contract with the department provide the cultural component that best reflects Indigenous peoples northern culture? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to take the liberty of recognizing my constituent Stephanie Irlbacher Fox who is in the gallery today with the Indigenous leaders.

Mr. Speaker, we do not have a treatment facility that is based in Indigenous culture. We do have treatment centres that provide Indigenous content in their treatment. All of our centres are AA 12-step-based facilities, which would be very familiar to people in the North.

I think the Member is aware that Poundmaker's withdrew from providing treatment last fall and that we have been on a journey to find a new treatment centre. We didn't receive any successful proposals in our last round but that doesn't mean we've given up on it. And I hope to be able to report progress on this in our next session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Clause 21 of the TRC Call to Action states: We call upon the federal government to provide sustainable funding for existing and new Aboriginal healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by residential schools and to ensure that the funding and healing centres in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories is a priority.

Mr. Speaker, has the Minister's department begun the process towards meeting objectives of this clause; more specifically, establishing a healing centre or treatment centre in the NWT? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my view that this recommendation to the federal government by the TRC should be pursued by the Indigenous governments. That's what's happening in Nunavut, and I would encourage the same thing to happen here. Instead of having us interpret what the Indigenous government organizations want for treatment from this TRC recommendation, I think it would be more effective if they took the lead and we worked with them. That's something we have talked about at the NWT Council of Leaders, and I look forward to progress on that in the coming year. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the North, we have access to those persons that can bring cultural suitability to treatment programs. What we are missing is a certified or licensed health component due to recruitment issues.

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister willing to consider establishing a treatment centre, whether in the NWT or in the south, that provides clients with treatment that reflects northern appropriate culture in addition to services provided by licensed health workers? Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that the Member would like me to say yes, and he wants me to leave the past behind. But I think that when we're looking at spending tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, I think it's really important that we take away the issues from the previous treatment centres. Most importantly, that they were never more than -- they were never filled to capacity, that there were issues that related to staffing, that related to the programming, that kept people away. So the idea of committing tens of millions of dollars to do the same thing again simply doesn't make sense to me.

What we've heard consistently from Indigenous governments is they want a regional approach so that people in the Gwich'in settlement area can deal with a Gwich'in healing camp. Likewise, the Tlicho and so on. So I think that one treatment centre for the whole of the NWT is not something which I'm confident will work but I think there are other approaches that will, and I look forward to working on them. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are related to my Member's statement regarding diagnosis at small community health centres. I note the vision of the health department is for best health, best care for a better future. One of the values is caring, which states we treat everyone compassion, respect, fairness, and dignity. Another value is accountability, which states system outcomes are measured, assessed, and publicly reported on.

Mr. Speaker, I have repeatedly been asking the health department if they would consider conducting professional evaluations on the delivery of health care, especially in all the small centres, to no avail. I ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if she will give direction to the department to begin to develop a system to conduct professional evaluations of all small health centres and that these be conducted on a yearly basis. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we have to take a step back from this question and the efforts that this Member has made, and which I appreciate him making, to try and improve the quality of health care in small communities like his.

What I see is that there is a historic mistrust of the health and social services system, which I understand. It has very deep roots and despite our best efforts at cultural training, cultural sensitivity, and anti-racism training, those problems persist. And it is my goal to live up to those values which the Member enunciated in the preamble to his question.

What I have seen work in the time, that I have been health minister, is developing relationships between the chief operating officers of the regions and the people in the communities that those regions serve. And so it's my hope that the Member will reach out to the chief operating officer of the Deh Cho region, get to know her, and to talk to her about his concerns so that relationship-based care has a place to start for him in improving the relationship between the health and social services system, himself, and his community. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Of course it's another case of passing the buck, getting me to do the work of her department. The Minister herself should be relaying these messages to all the health and social services authorities.

Mr. Speaker, one of the values of the health department is accountability in that system outcomes, and I'm stating it again, are measured, assessed, and publicly reported on, and that sounds like an evaluation type of value.

Can the Minister apprise this House and the residents of the Northwest Territories when we may see fruition of the department's value of accountability? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have layers of mechanisms to ensure that the services that we deliver are appropriate, culturally safe, and effective. We have, of course, the new patient advocates. We have the office of client experience, which will look into particular complaints of the kind the Member has brought forward. The people who work in the health centres are licensed by regulatory bodies. Those bodies have complaint processes. We also, of course, are accredited on a regular basis. The next accreditation exercise will take place in September. So accountability is happening at many different levels in the health system, and we strive for continuous performance improvement to better meet the needs of the NWT. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the young person I spoke of in my Member's statement is one example of how the health care system is failing our residents despite the vision of best health, best care for a better future.

Can the Minister explain what the health department is doing to provide the best care, the best health care that speaks of compassion, that speaks of respect, that speaks of fairness and, most of all, that speaks of dignity of our residents. Mahsi.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a department with over 1,800 staff and a $610 million budget. So I don't know if the Member really wants me to explain everything that we're doing to serve the residents of the Northwest Territories. I support, and our staff supports, the goals that he has enunciated - that people are treated with respect, with dignity. They are provided with effective care that resolves their issues.

Diagnosis is a really complicated process. It can vary between a practitioner being able to look at somebody and diagnose an ailment almost immediately to something that is much more complex beyond the skills and equipment available in local health centres, and that's when people are medevaced or referred to Yellowknife for additional treatment.

We, I think, are trying our best. We don't always get it right. I really encourage the Member, as I did previously when he brought this case to my attention, to contact the office of client experience. We want to learn from things, which people are dissatisfied with or consider mistakes, so that we can improve the services we provide to all NWT residents. Thank you.