Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

All right, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, employment issues are varied throughout the Northwest Territories. There's not a one-size-fit-all solution. You know, there's those positions where we want to hire local employment, but sometimes we need skilled and foreign workers to come to our communities, whether it's Inuvik opening up -- or making sure the restaurant's opened. It's in Nahanni; we need a SAO. We need specialized skills sometimes in special places.

I'd like to ask the Minister what is she doing to support employers to bring in specialized skills, often referred to as skilled workers, into our northern communities. How is she supporting that and developing that opportunity?

Thank you, Member. Minister of ITI -- or ECE. Okay. Minister of ECE.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are like many jurisdictions across the country where we are relying on Canadian newcomers to help fill some of our employment gaps in our territory. Over the course of the -- so far this year, I asked for engagement to take place to see what people, including employers, wanted to see as far as immigration and an extended immigration strategy. So right now we are compiling that information to see how we can work with employers to better serve them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be able to elaborate on what type of hands on support does the department offer so employers can fill out these applications and potentially fill skilled worker openings? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECE has approximately three staff members who are accessible by phone and by e-mail to members of the public and also to employers to be able to provide some direction and let them know different programs, different entry streams that are available, and then ultimately, though, the bulk of that work is done with the Canadian government. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hope that any public servant that answers the phone is willing to field questions from the person on the other end of that phone. I know that, you know, paperwork can be intimidating and there can be a lot of it, and so I would hope that employers would be able to communicate what their needs are and staff of the public service would be able to let them know what they can do to support them, but this is definitely a tricky realm where it includes a lot of work from the federal government as well to make this happen. I know that there are employers in town who hire consultants to help them through the bulk of the process because it is a lengthy process as well. It's not a quick process. It's not one piece of paper. And so there are employers in town who have definitely invested a lot of time in figuring this out, and I'd be happy to act as a connector between those employers who are wanting to learn the process and learn the ins and outs and also with employers who have essentially, to the best of their ability, mastered this process. Thank you

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister recognizes this is a daunting process, if the Minister recognizes that it's challenging in the sense of that it affects a lot of people, Mr. Speaker, why isn't the Minister advocating that there is some actual hands-on people to help steward employers through this process? Because we know it is complicated and sometimes quite lengthy. So would she do this, or what will she advocate for?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I can say wholeheartedly I've been talking about immigration in this House for over four years and will continue to do so at the department level. I think that making sure that we have easy to use processes is really important, not only for enriching our communities but also for filling our labour shortages. So I'm committed to working on this not only with the department but also with employers of who I represent most. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have further questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding daycare.

So on February 9th, the Minister and the Department of ECE shared a very helpful package of information with Members on this side of the House that included detailed numbers broken down by NWT communities and regions about the number of child care providers, the number of spaces we have, and changes over the past decade or so. So will the Minister commit to sharing this information with the Early Childhood Association as they have been requesting? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm absolutely committed to being as transparent as possible and to ensuring that I'm working with the sector so that we're working together to create the number of spaces that are actually needed. And so as long as there's no information that would breach anybody's privacy, I'm happy to share information with the NWT Early Childhood Association. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Yellowknife North.

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Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My initial question is for the Minister of ECC. Proposed traditional cabins. Earlier this week, Mr. Speaker, the Minister and the Member of Inuvik Boot Lake had an exchange on leases, rents, for Indigenous users of the land. Can the Minister just clarify why the GNWT charges lease rents fees to Indigenous users? Mahsi.

From the Sahtu. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. As the manager of public lands, the GNWT is required -- legally required to charge rents and fees for use of public lands. However, as I mentioned previously in this House, the GNWT would like to collaborate with the Indigenous governments and find a way to change the administration and management processes on traditional lands and cabins on public lands. But until that work is complete, Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories will have to continue to charge fees on those cabins as is outlined in our legislation and our regulation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that clarification here. My next question is in that same exchange, the Minister confirmed that his department will pause collections onto the lease rents arrears from the Indigenous recreational leaseholders. Can the Minister confirm what this means? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as of August 28th, 2023, the department committed to not sending any arrears for Indigenous leaseholders that qualify to collections. And they would also go so far as to suspend any of the collection actions that were previously started against Indigenous leaseholders from that while we work on a collaborative process to address the concerns regarding the traditional lease. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks for that clarification. It's comforting to know that these collections for additional costs will be paused on the leaseholders.

The Minister mentioned collaboration with Indigenous governments on a new process to address traditional cabins. Can the Minister confirm this work is just about lease rents, or is this engagement broader? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is looking to work collaboratively with the Indigenous governments across the Northwest Territories to develop a new approach to administration and management for camps and cabins on public lands that support traditional use. We are hoping to talk about the administration and management of these structures in a more broad way than has been done in the past. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.