This is page numbers 5641 - 5694 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.

Topics

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we don't pay for people to bypass the public system. They need to engage with local healthcare providers in order to get a referral for services not offered within the territory. And if they obtain that referral, they would also be eligible for medical travel. But these are things that need to be done in advance. I see a trend of people coming to me after they have spent the money asking for a reimbursement. I want to be clear that's not how it works. How it works is you go to your healthcare team and you tell them what your issue it and you get into the referral process, which will then provide the care that you need. So if that is not happening for the Member's constituents, I recommend that they contact the Office of Client Experience and point out the gap in that service and have it rectified. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NTHSSA recruits positions for Hay River, and it is not working, as we continually see notices from HRHSSA confirming physician shortages which translate into fewer services.

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the HRHSSA, I ask the Minister if her department is willing to shift the responsibility of physician recruitment back to the HRHSSA? Failing that, then maybe, just maybe, it is time for this government to dig deep and come up with the required funds to integrate the HRHSSA into the NTHSSA and if that is what is needed to improve healthcare for Hay River and area residents. Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NTHSSA has a MOU with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority to provide physician services. And that MOU is now under review to determine what the best way forward is. So it's unclear to me that not having this MOU or not having some kind of formal arrangement would serve Hay River any better than it's being served now.

In terms of bringing the Hay River authority into the NTHSSA, that was last looked at seriously in 2015. A lot has changed since then, but there hasn't been any additional work done on the cost of bringing the health authority in. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, healthcare in the North appears to be falling apart. And I know people not receiving proper medical diagnosis or not receiving proper medical care at all. This is causing stress in the community, families, and patients' physical and mental health. Mr. Speaker, right now we need physicians in Hay River. We have none. In fact, we need 5.6 FTEs, Mr. Speaker. I ask the Minister if she will commit to providing Hay River with those positions immediately? After all, our health is no less important than those living in Yellowknife or other areas. Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me say initially that this isn't just a Hay River problem. With a 45 percent vacancy rate, there is a doctor shortage throughout the whole of the NWT. We continue to actively recruit doctors, and we have had some success but, ultimately, we still do have a large vacancy rate. So there's no way I can commit to immediately providing the seven doctors allocated to Hay River Health and Social Services. The best thing that can happen here is for word of mouth from existing physicians and medical people to their networks to encourage them to give the NWT a try.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Question 1430-19(2): Power Services in Nunakput
Oral Questions

March 6th, 2023

Page 5646

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, at 5:30 a.m., I received an email from Minister Archie. I want to thank her for that in regards to working together with us in regards to trying to get the resupply of Sachs Harbour power, to get that generator sorted out. Can the Minister update the House in regards to the status of the power generation in Sachs Harbour? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member and I have good communication in terms of, you know, some of the events happening in his High Arctic communities. So until the new power plant is commissioned, Mr. Speaker, we had originally planned this for February to get the new plant commissioned. You know, with some of the delays that happened, with COVID in the community, and delay in our barge system as well, has a big impact, you know, on getting the work done in the community. Right now the power is getting supplied to the community using our two backup generators. Both generators had issues at 5:30 this morning, Mr. Speaker, which caused the outage. One generator was repaired by the operator with assistance from some of the maintenance crews in Inuvik. However, there was still issues with the other generator. So Northwest Territories Power Corporation, staff organized a charter first thing this morning, as soon as we were aware of the situation. The charter could not be found because of lack of pilots or airplanes. Mr. Speaker, we flew one in from Norman Wells immediately to get in the community. That charter arrived at one in the afternoon. You know, concerns like this are raised with me by northern carriers for several reasons. When I was in Ottawa, I took the opportunity to meet with Transport Canada, the minister of Transport Canada, on some of the regulations that are imposed here in the North by northern carriers and the duty hours that pilots have to now adhere to. It's impacting all the work here in the North. Thank you. Especially the small airline companies and the helicopter operators. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for that update to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, the new power plant shouldn't be taking that long in regards to setting it up. I know we're passed COVID now. It's starting to get back for parts and stuff and what's needed for the units. So what's a hard timeline in regards to getting that new generator up in the community of Sachs Harbour? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't want to keep using COVID as an excuse but, I mean, predominantly that was the reason that we could not get this commissioned in February. As a result of not having the barge now not come in, we're looking at end of August 2023 to get the new plant commissioned. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What support's in place for emergency generators if they're not working? I mean, if the main power plant doesn't go down again, are they going to be sending in technicians or mechanics in from Inuvik to get the generators that are broken down now serviced and up and running so we don't have this issue? It's going to be minus 40 tonight, and I don't want to -- you know, at 5:30 this morning you're already worrying about what's happening in the community. So is the Minister going to make sure that happens? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the incident happened at 5:30 this morning, we were in contact with the community and the generators at the school and the health centres were up and running and ready to receive any residents if it were required. You know, I also kept the Member updated, and we advised his office and staff, at 10 a.m., that the power was back up and running. So, I mean, I kept in contact all morning with the community, the Members, to ensure that this is a priority for us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I just want to thank the Minister for all the work that she's done with the power corporation to serve the community of Sachs Harbour. And I just want to make sure, Mr. Speaker, that August 2023, that generator is up and running and no more excuses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, these are timelines. I mean, we had a timeline to get the plant going in February. As a result of, you know, things beyond our control, we weren't able to make it happen. We wanted to get it serviced sooner and, you know, we couldn't get the barge in the community. That's a result. I mean, there's so many different factors that we want to say August 2023. We don't know what's going to happen, Mr. Speaker. That's a timeline that I have committed with the community and with the Member. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure otherwise known as the Minister for e-bikes. My statement dealt with the upcoming rollout through the Arctic Energy Alliance of an e-bike purchase rebate. My information is that this rebate will be available only in communities with hydro power. I stated the good reasons why it makes sense in diesel communities too. Will the Minister ensure that e-bike rebates are available to all NWT communities? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This Minister of e-bikes is happy to know that another Member's all charged up for this pilot rebate program, Mr. Speaker. So I can tell the Member that we had reassessed where rebates for e-bikes would be available since the release of the three-year energy action plan which was last fall. I'm pleased to let the Member know that the rebate will be available to all the communities now, including the diesel-powered communities. This is different from we do with electrical vehicles at the moment as e-bikes do not require much power and will not stress our isolated grids in that same way. So, yes, we are working with all the communities, including the diesel-grid immunities as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'm pretty charged up, thanks to the Minister. Great news. My statement also dealt with reprofiling of funds between programs offered by Arctic Energy Alliance. I'm not sure that all the on-the-land e-vehicles fund is going to be subscribed so I'm hoping that the Minister's going to allow for funds to be switched around within the e-bike -- or sorry, the e-program.

So will the Minister ensure that funding within Arctic Energy Alliance for electrical vehicle rebates can be reprofiled to where the need is greatest? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intent of this pilot program is to better understand what the demand for e-bikes are across the Northwest Territories. So should the demand exceed the funding, we will look for ways to meet the demand from other programs for which are undersubscribed. So there's kind of a second yes in there, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member will be happy with that answer as well. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I can feel the electricity in the air here; it's just great. So I see that the Yukon is offering e-bike rebates up to $750 for a regular e-bike and up to $1,500 for cargo bikes. At $10,000 for the NWT, that would be about 13 e-bike or less. Can the Minister tell us what the individual rebate will be for the NWT and whether we will allow rebates for more than 13 e-bikes? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not to shock the Member but this rebate program will be delivered through our partners at Arctic Energy Alliance. We're working with them to finalize some of the program, the guidelines and details, including the amount of the rebate. We're not sure yet, but as soon as the program gets announced I'm sure we'll have some great news to share.

I also want to reiterate, Mr. Speaker, that this is a pilot program. I think I've said that in three of my answers standing up here, how important it is. We've heard from Members that this is something that the territories and residents wanted. This is something we looked at. You know, we also want to encourage people to be able to transition to less GHG intensive modes of transportation. This program will start April 1st. I'll have more details that I can share. And the information, once we gather, the program is launched with some adjustments if we have to move forward on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.