Debates of Oct. 29th, 2024

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is consensus in the Northwest Territories for Indigenous governments to govern themselves. And in the selection of the Premier this year, we talked about making it happen within the next 50 years. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier update the Assembly on the progress made this year towards improving self-determination as we approach the end of this first year of this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, that's a big question, what's been, what progress has been made towards self-determination. It's not an easy path, as everyone is well aware, but this government, we've released a mandate that makes very clear that we intend to work with Indigenous governments as partners, not as, you know, vassals of the state. So we've done our best to implement that work. The Council of Leaders meetings have been, I think, more successful every time that we've met. We recently travelled to Ottawa with a number of Indigenous leaders to lobby on shared priorities. And I think that when you do that, you're empowering, from the GNWT's perspective, we are working with the Indigenous governments that so their voice is also heard. They're helping determine the resources that are coming to the territory by going to Ottawa together with them. And just in case I misspoke, we didn't bring Indigenous governments to Ottawa. We went together as the Council of Leaders. So that's one area.

Earlier today, we heard about the project finance for permanence that the government and a number of Indigenous governments have been working on together, and that's a way to advance self-determination. We are working together with Indigenous governments on implementing or creating an action plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, so that work is ongoing. So those are a few examples of the work that's happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier. The 1992 Bourque report made it clear that the work towards self-determination and decentralization couldn't be accomplished without constitutional reform. The Bourque report lays out much of the groundwork needed towards more equitable future for Indigenous governing. My question to the Premier is does is the Premier agree on the relevancy of the recommendation of the Bourque report provides, and does he support revisiting the updating -- revisiting and updating the report's recommendation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I've been furiously trying to find the Bourque report online. It's not that easy to find so I don't have it at my fingertips right now. But from what I've heard in the territory, the path forward is settling land claims. That's what I'm hearing from the Indigenous governments. I am interested in looking at the report. Whenever I hear about constitutional reform, I think that that would take all of our efforts and all of our focus would be on that and we wouldn't be achieving other things that might be more close -- closer in reach for us. So I'll leave it at that, and I'll have a look at the report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier. During the previous Assembly, a special committee on reconciliation and Indigenous affairs was struck to study the implementation of UNDRIP.

My question to the Premier, will the Premier commit to striking a similar committee or a comparable working group that can work alongside the Council of Leaders to maximize Indigenous and self-government in the Northwest Territories and to ensure the working group establishes proper consultation and engagement on the subject? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act does require the Government of the Northwest Territories to work with Indigenous governments, and there is a working group actually struck right now that is working on developing that action plan. So that work with Indigenous governments is happening. I'm not sure if the Member's speaking of a group of MLAs, but we're definitely working with the Indigenous governments. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier, for your response. Can the Premier commit to providing more transparency around the process of obtaining greater self-government and decentralization of services and provide regular timelines and updates on the work towards these goals? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I need a little more specificity in that request. That's a lot of reporting. We will have reporting through the UNDRIP Implementation Act plan. You know, we have a Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight attending the Council of Leaders meetings. We do share negotiation updates with the Members. But if there's something that we can do, if the Member has something specific in mind, I'm happy to work with him and see what else we can make public. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This is a collaborative exercise that we work very closely with the ICGS in how we move this forward. So the department, although we may have the wish to be as timely as possible, we need to consider all of the other participants in the process and ensure that we're communicating and we're collaborating to achieve the best results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the Minister doesn't want to preclude anything that happens at the IGC, but I just want to note that, you know, this is something that we've been -- that I've been raising since right at the beginning after we got elected, and we're already a year in. If we commit to 2025, we'll be two years in for a process that was supposed to be targeted and quick. So that's why I'm trying to push the Minister to commit to something. Could the Minister commit to working with the parties to set a date and come back to Members with a timeline that they think is realistic? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I will certainly reach out to the department and ensure that we are having the appropriate conversations with our partners to determine the best path forward, and hopefully that will result in a timeline that I can return to the Member in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was getting phone calls, text messages, yesterday from people in the South Slave, more particularly in -- both in Hay River and Fort Smith, regarding the layoff notice the given to the Fort Smith correctional centre staff. And if I remember correctly, 32 employees work there. The finance Minister did say during Committee of the Whole back in June that they were pausing it with an uncosted plan, unplanned, but they were going to propose something, Mr. Speaker. I e-mailed the Premier last night for an update. I am going to ask the finance Minister, could she explain the initiative -- or sorry, the steps they're taking with respect to these layoff notices to these 32 people in Fort Smith. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say at this point staff are not being given layoff notices, but we are trying to take a much more proactive approach here. As such, there was an informal initial meeting held in October 25th with some senior members from the Department of Justice, Department of Finance, human resources, in order to start to communicate to staff so that when the time, it does come, that the funding here is for one year, and so if the time is coming up, rather than waiting until formal notices are provided that staff actually have information in advance, they could have choices, they could ask questions in advance, and that way when the clock does start to tick on getting a formal notice, people have the opportunity to make choices well in advance and with lots of time ahead of them. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, my question really isn't being answered in the sense of was this just a friendly conversation that we don't know what we're doing, or what type of notice was specifically given to these 32 employees? What I'm hearing are concern that they were giving specific job action notice. In other words, your job's ending and here's your notice. Maybe the Minister could be very clear on the record to say -- to explain what exactly was told to the employees with respect to their employment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wasn't present at the meeting so I'm not going to try to quote anyone that was present. Mr. Speaker, whenever there is a situation where individuals or staff are facing a change in their status, we have what are called the staff retention policy guidelines. We have staff retention policy, and we always make every effort to ensure that any employee who is facing a change in their status of employment has that full benefit.

What happens is that under the staff retention policy, a staff member would get a 21-week notice period. That clock starts to run when someone gets their notice. They were not given their notice. Rather -- rather than waiting until someone gets their notice, senior members went and met with individuals ahead of the time when that notice would have to be given so that when they get their notice, they are actually able to make choices about what types of route they may want to take in order to enact under the staff retention policy.

Some individuals are eligible for retirement. Some individuals may be interested in a transfer. But, again, waiting until that clock starts to tick when you get your notice is not the way we're going here. We want to empower our staff and make sure they have all their options available to them. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, so in other words, is the government planning to lay these employees off noting that the official paperwork of layoff notices isn't given but this 21-week articulation of be aware of, well just be aware, and we don't know yet. So I need to understand, was it just a shout out over their bow to say we're not laying you off today but we don't have a plan, which means there may not be a job for you? Thank you.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Finance Minister has answered the question twice now. So the Member can check Hansard once this is over. Thank you.