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

Members Present

Hon. Diane Archie, Hon. Frederick Blake Jr., Hon. Paulie Chinna, Ms. Cleveland, Hon. Caroline Cochrane, Mr. Edjericon, Hon. Julie Green, Mr. Jacobson, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Martselos, Ms. Nokleby, Mr. O'Reilly, Ms. Semmler, Hon. R.J. Simpson, Mr. Rocky Simpson, Hon. Shane Thompson, Ms. Weyallon Armstrong

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

---Prayer

Prayer
Prayer

Page 5641

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, with the new year ahead of us, I am pleased to highlight the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission's new strategic plan, Paths Towards Safety 2023-2027, which is available for everyone to view on the WSCC's website. This document, along with the ongoing input from employers, partners, and workers, will guide the Commission's work over the next five years. Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission's mission is to promote workplace health and safety while providing no-fault insurance to employers and care for injured workers. The new strategic plan provides a roadmap of how the WSCC will move forward by identifying the short-, medium-, and long-term goals during the five-year strategic cycle.

WSCC's three priority areas are:

  • Advancing safety outcomes to eliminate workplace disease and injuries. WSCC has an ongoing commitment to support safe workplaces, to continuously raise awareness of safety rights and responsibilities of both workers and employers, and to prevent and reduce workplace accidents and injuries.
  • Delivering quality services by enhancing processes and empowering staff to provide timely, accessible, understandable, effective, and culturally safe services and clear communication to northerners. Quality services incorporate WSCC's organizational values of respect, engagement, integrity, openness, cultural safety, excellence, and stewardship, are a foundation of our mission. And,
  • Ensuring financial sustainability so that every injured worker is cared for now and into the future. The WSCC maintains the workers' protection fund, which covers injured worker claims costs by using a fiscally responsible funding mechanism that is fair to all employers.

A high level of transparency, accountability, and engagement is critical to the success of the Commission's work. Each section of this plan describes the performance measures that shows progress. WSCC will use these measures to guide their annual corporate planning process and to report on progress each year.

There is no single path to achieve the WSCC's vision to eliminate workplace disease and injury. However, Paths Towards Safety represents that many different approaches that they take to make workplaces safer every day, as well as the diverse paths many employers across all communities in the Northwest Territories take to improve the safety culture at each worksite. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Mr. Speaker, at long last, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the members of the new Aurora College Board of Governors have been selected. I would like to welcome and congratulate the following individuals on their appointments:

  • Joseph Handley of Yellowknife;
  • Lorraine Tordiff of Fort Smith;
  • Lucy Kuptana of Tuktoyaktuk;
  • Rebecca Plotner of Yellowknife;
  • Tom Colosimo of Hay River;
  • Jack Rowe of Hay River;
  • David Hurley of Yellowknife;
  • Kevin Antoniak of Fort Smith;
  • Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox of Yellowknife;
  • Richard Boudreault of Quebec;
  • Student member, Cayla Gillis;
  • Instructional staff member, Wanda Roberts; and,
  • Non-instructional staff member, Xiaoyi Yan.

---Applause

Thank you, colleagues. The board of governors is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Aurora College Mandate Agreement, which is an agreement between the Minister and the board that sets the shared strategic priorities and the scope of activities to be undertaken by the college. The first mandate agreement was released on March 1, 2023.

Mr. Speaker, the commitment to transform Aurora College into a polytechnic university was first made in the 18th Legislative Assembly. The selection of the board represents an important step we are taking towards shifting this institution and establishing a fully-accredited polytechnic university in the Northwest Territories.

I also want to note another critical milestone. The Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Social Work programs have been reviewed and will be offered once again beginning in September 2024, along with a new general arts and science program. These made-in-the-North degree programs will allow students to complete their education close to home, stay connected with their culture and land, and help fill critical gaps in the labour force.

Although the timing of certain critical milestones related to the transformation have been adjusted, all commitments are still on track to be fulfilled by October 2026. This includes the planning for the establishment of the Indigenous Knowledge-Holders Council, which will ensure an Indigenous lens is applied to all aspects of the college. I encourage everyone who is interested in the transformation or the new timeline to visit the Aurora College transformation website.

Mr. Speaker, there is still a lot of work to do. I would like to thank the champions of the polytechnic university for their continued efforts, and I look forward to keeping Members and NWT residents informed along the way.

In closing, I would like to thank Mr. Denny Rodgers for his nearly six years of service as the administrator of the Aurora College. Mr. Rodgers provided stable and consistent leadership during a time of significant change, across multiple Ministers and presidents, and through a worldwide pandemic. I have enjoyed working with him, and his efforts and contributions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Caroline Wawzonek will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Prospector and Developers Association of Canada's convention in Toronto, Ontario. Also, Mr. Speaker, I will be absent for a portion of today's proceedings to participate in a meeting with honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, too often residents are receiving notices of physician shortages in Hay River. And without physicians in the community, proper health care cannot be dispensed. This may mean turning away those who are in need of emergency care, routine appointments, palliative care, detox services, and mental health services. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the community of Hay River is having issues with staffing of physicians for the Hay River Regional Health Centre. This issue has been ongoing for some time and continues to affect timely access to healthcare and degrades the quality of services expected by residents.

Mr. Speaker, the catchment area for the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority includes a population of approximately 5,000 people. Canada has an average of 2.41 physicians per 1,000 population - a statistic that would translate into approximately 12 physicians for Hay River. At present, we have one locum in the community when, in fact what is needed as a minimum to provide proper and timely healthcare services, is 5.6 FTE positions.

Mr. Speaker, Hay River is fortunate to have dedicated permanent healthcare staff in place; however, without physicians and a full staff complement of healthcare workers, we may well see many of those employees leave to seek employment elsewhere. Working with limited physician support places stress on staff and management. When I say stress, I am talking about frontline staff and management working in an environment where they are unable to provide consistent, quality, and timely healthcare to residents.

These frontline workers are hearing and feeling the frustration of residents who are seeking timely access to a system that appears to be crumbling around them. Mr. Speaker, except for physicians, the Hay River HSSA recruits all other medical staff. But for some reason, and consistently, Hay River is without a full complement of physicians or, for that matter, any physicians at all. This is placing residents' health and life at risk. Although we welcome locums, our reliance on their services may result in their unfamiliarity with patient files, local cultural differences, medical staff, and processes, all which may affect one's diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up visits.

Change is needed in how physicians are recruited at HRHSSA. After all, we have a department with a $600 million budget whose sole responsibility is that of providing and delivering timely and quality healthcare to residents - and with that budget, we are failing those residents in Hay River. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Richard Edjericon

Richard Edjericon Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some would say you can't put a price on Indigenous knowledge that has been passed down since time immemorial. But that's exactly what the GNWT has done with their honorarium policy. It is a pittance. The knowledge passed down since time immemorial when Indigenous elders is the foundation of our northern society. Indigenous knowledge is a set of complex knowledge system based on our world views, it reflects the unique culture, language, values, histories, governance and legal system of Indigenous people. It is based on cumulative and dynamic First Nation, Inuit, and Metis communities' whole knowledge system that involved living well and being in a relationship with the natural world. These systems build upon the experience of earlier generation and informs the practice of current generation and involving contemporary society.

Mr. Speaker, I am calling on this government's ongoing disrespect and undervalue of the Indigenous knowledge-holders who are requested to share their expertise. Not much has since the duty to consult with Indigenous people was checked, the consultation box, and the government not really wanting to hear from us.

This is slowly shifting to actively learning and listening but for far too long, the GNWT has set aside standard rates as a fixed honorarium of $250 a day for Indigenous knowledge-holders. $250 day is taken advantage of Indigenous people. It is insulting and it is clear, and it stems from colonization and constant evolving of our Indigenous teaching and wisdom.

The events that shines the light on inadequate compensation is upcoming for a fur forum planned for the end of March. We all know that the fur industry has been steadied attacked and for decades by so-called animal rights activists and demand for fur has been on the downward spiral since. What was once a thriving economic livelihood for Indigenous people is almost non-existent. Now, finally in 2023, the Indigenous government is planning to bring together those who have taken a stake in these resurgence and revitalization of the NWT fur industry. Make no mistake, we have something very marketable to the world economy here. Wild fur harvested by Indigenous trappers is culturally appropriate and harvested in a humane manner. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member's statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, colleagues. Trappers are the knowledge-keepers with the equivalent of PhD in this industry. The artist of business owners working with fur hold integral knowledge to moving this industry forward. Their world view and Indigenous knowledge are vital to the success of this government's efforts. We need to the shift our mindset to understanding the immense value of knowledge-holders in the participating of informing government direction and policies. These contributions to public policies are more than valuable. They are integral for reconciliation and collaboration. It is time that we ensure that these knowledge-holders be fairly compensated and respected for their vital contribution and service to our territorial economy. I would have questions for the appropriate Minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we speak, Mr. Speaker, as of 5:30 this morning, Sachs Harbour is under level 2 emergency for the power. The generators being used to power the community are having difficulty to restart. The Minister reassured me that they have a power crew going in to work with the community to get the power back up and running and get the work done but unfortunately the situation is that our backup generators, our the last line of power in the community, are not working either.

Mr. Speaker, Sachs Harbour is the most northerly community in the Northwest Territories and the farthest north, the coldest tonight; it is minus 40. The power in the community for extended period of time, and it is a matter of survival. There is no other generator in regards to powering up and heating homes for the community, Mr. Speaker. This is far too cold for our elders, our young families, and just for anyone to go without power, Mr. Speaker.

In 2019, nearly $10 million was secured to replace Sachs Harbour and the 43-year-old diesel plant. But Mr. Speaker, this is almost four years now later, and it still hasn't been complete. NTPC reports that the construction and the new diesel plant in Sachs Harbour will begin early 2020 but unfortunately the community is still waiting, and it's not done. Mr. Speaker, now we are barely hanging on to our backup generators in place. I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for my statement today I am going to talk about the disaster assistance policy under the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, last year, the Government of the Northwest Territories completed a comprehensive review of MACA's disaster assistance policy following the flood disasters of 2021. I agreed with this review for a variety of reasons but primarily because the policy was outdated and needed modernizing to account for climate change and the changing nature of natural disasters. I was initially hopeful that this review might address some of the service gaps that the old disaster policy did not cover, but I was very disappointed with the updated policy that came out last May.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, I had suggested to the Minister of MACA several times that the updated policy must be expanded and eligible to more people when a natural disaster occurs. I told him that the new policy must account for unique and extraordinary events that may occur within the NWT, especially with the onset of climate change which brings an increased likelihood of extreme weather events. However, Mr. Speaker, I was disappointed to learn that the updates to this policy did not go far enough in helping victims of natural disasters.

The first part of the new policy I didn't like was the way the term "disaster" was defined, which is an emergency caused by a natural phenomena of unusual proportion affecting a large number of people which threatens loss of life, injury, property damage, or economic disruption.

The second aspect I didn't like was that under the list of emergencies that will be eligible for assistance, there is no mention of tornados which is odd because, while very rare, there has been least one well documented tornado in the NWT in the last few years.

The third part of this policy that I did not agree with is the section that lists excluded situations where assistance is not eligible which includes an event affecting a single sector or property. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I don't want to start any conspiracy theories here, but it appears awfully coincidental that among the new changes to the disaster assistance policy, there are specific allocations that would make what happened to my constituent whose house was destroyed by a tornado ineligible for any coverage under this policy. It just does not make any sense to me that the Government of the Northwest Territories would not extend this policy to events that only affected one property. Why is that victims are only eligible for coverage under this policy if there was damage or widespread that a significant number of people or properties were affected? These are questions that need to be answered publicly. I will have questions for the question of MACA at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier this sitting, my colleague from Yellowknife North gave a statement promoting the virtues of electric bicycles, or e-bikes, and questioning the government's level of support for their introduction. I'll add to that endorsement today with some further thoughts received from a resident.

The main point is that the very limited $10,000 devoted to e-bikes compared to electrical vehicles fails to put the money where it will do the most good. Electric cars are great but e-bikes have a more significant environmental benefit, don't require expensive charging infrastructure, are being purchased by northerners in much greater quantities, and are more suitable for our northern climate because the batteries can be removed and kept warm inside a building. The proposed limitation of rebates for e-bikes to people living in hydro zones fails to recognize the immense environmental benefits provided by e-bikes. Calculations indicate that a full charge on a typical e-bike would use less than 1 kilowatt hour of electricity and require about 0.3 litres of diesel at the power plant. An average truck will burn more than that amount in ten minutes of idling, Mr. Speaker. By the time a driver warms their vehicle in the winter, it's already consumed more diesel than the power plant would to fully charge an e-bike. So e-bikes make sense in non-hydro communities. So if someone charges an e-bike in a diesel-powered community and uses that bike rather than a passenger vehicle, the emissions reductions are even more significant. We should expand this program to the entire NWT.

Other the opportunity will be re-profiling of funds within Arctic Energy Alliance. My understanding is that there will be $10,000 for e-bike rebates, $20,000 for on-the-land e-vehicles such as snowmobiles and quads, and $200,000 for e-cars and charging stations. There are not a lot of proven designs for on-the-land e-vehicles now so we should ensure that money can be re-profiled to the e-bike fund, when demands exceeds the mere $10,000. I'll have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure regarding the e-bike rebate program.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, since 2020, I have been raising my concerns with the delivery of dental services in the Northwest Territories. In the NWT, in order for a dental hygienist to work they need to be under a dentist. So if you are a dental hygienist in the Northwest Territories, you are not able to provide your services unless you work under a dentist. This is not the way many other jurisdictions in Canada operate.

Mr. Speaker, we know that oral health in the Northwest Territories, and especially in small communities, is a problem. We also know that oral health in Indigenous people is extremely different than non-Indigenous people. We know that prevention is the key of oral health. Recognizing the difference in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, dental prevention services in the NWT need to be greatly improved and this should be considered an act of reconciliation.

Mr. Speaker, prevention services for oral health has always been limited in the North and this problem has been amplified since COVID-19. Now Mr. Speaker, we are seeing all patients from all communities in the NWT who are in pain and struggling to take care of their teeth. From young children to the elderly, we are seeing major challenges with dental problems. The problem has increased so much we can't even get through the dental emergencies.

So why is the NWT limiting dental hygienists' services in the NWT right now? The Dental Auxiliary Act requires dental hygienists to be registered under a dentist, that's why. And so all service provided by a dental hygienist are at the discretion of a dentist. Mr. Speaker, we know that there is a major backlog in dental services in the NWT, and that are people are literally in pain. If we change the legislation to recognize dental hygienists are professionals in their own right, we open up the doors to letting them get into our communities and to provide the much-needed preventative services that are required. Not only could our Indigenous government contract these dental hygienists to provide much needed service to their communities, the GNWT could support dental hygienists' travel just as they do for dental travel. If we can get the hygienists into the community, we open up the opportunities for them to do business and services our residents broadly and consistently need. So why are we preventing the delivery of this much needed service? I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services later today.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About a century ago, we got the five-day work week, which was great. And it wasn't just brought to us by labour movements asking for it. It was also championed by industry titans like Henry Ford, who quickly found out none of his workers could afford to buy his cars; and, even if they could, they didn't have any time to drive them. Well, Mr. Speaker, not having enough money or time sounds like a problem we all know well in the North, and that's why I propose we become champions for the four-day work week, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the four-day work week, it's not just about working less. There is this idea that if people aren't working - they're not doing anything valuable with their time. Mr. Speaker, we have seen the rates of volunteerism decline steadily. We saw many of our volunteer initiatives dive through COVID and have yet to come back. We are seeing people struggle to find child care, struggle to find the time to find a balance between their work and their life. And to me, Mr. Speaker, a four-day work week is the solution to that.

Multiple studies have shown that multiple companies have done it. There is really no downside. Workers are more productive; they take less sick days, Mr. Speaker; you get better retention - all things we struggle with in the North.

Mr. Speaker, we know right now if you are a worker and you are not getting about a 7 percent pay increase this year, you are effectively getting a pay cut. And we know many workers are not able to negotiate that additional income out of their business, their employers, and many employers can't afford it. So I encourage all of our workers and all of our employers to look at some more creative ways. Perhaps we start with half-day Fridays, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps we start with flex days. We need to rethink how we do work in this territory to make sure that people stay in their jobs and make sure we have happy healthy employees going forward. I will have questions for the Premier today, Mr. Speaker, and whether she thinks the four-day work week is awesome. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, more needs to be done to protect our people, especially our young people from crack cocaine and other drugs. At one time we all know that we had no drugs in many of the small communities. It was unheard of. Now we hear about it and see it everywhere and the communities have had enough.

In 2018, the NWT tobacco, alcohol and drug survey shared that 16 percent of people aged 15 and up had used crack cocaine at least once in their lifetime. Additionally, Indigenous people in the NWT had used crack cocaine at 22 percent. This is two times greater than non-Indigenous people. In Behchoko, youth are being targeted. Our young people are our future leaders. We need to do everything possible to protect their lives from drug dealers and ensure they have a good life ahead of them. The RCMP need to act and work with the Indigenous governments to understand the challenges. They need to talk with the community. We know who the drug dealers are, and we know some of them even live in public housing. Beyond enforcement, Mr. Speaker, we need to be able to direct our young people to safe healthcare and treatment. Our young people need opportunities for their lives, for their health, healing, and strong cultural identities.

Our people never traditionally used drugs. We are in crisis in many of the small communities. The accessibility of crack cocaine is far too easy. Our communities need more RCMP on the ground and as this crisis seems to grow, the drug dealers are killing the dreams and aspirations of our future generations. These kids are not safe in their own homes where family Members are also abusing drugs. This is a pandemic of another kind, and one that is just as deadly with no discriminatory purpose. It could potentially wipe out an entire generation if we don't do something about it right now.

CBC News report "family and community mourn two teens found dead in northern Manitoba. The girls took drugs before freezing to death." This was reported on March 5th, 2023. Mr. Speaker, this is happening, we cannot avoid it, and we must work to protect our communities right now. This is not a big city problem or southern problem. This is right in our backyard and it is making its way into our homes and destroying the families. I will have questions for the Minister of Justice at the appropriate time, thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.