Minister of ECE.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. There was a lot of excitement in August when this announcement was made and, unfortunately, these changes to the programs have been delayed due to some systems issues that are outside the department's control, and we're currently working with the Department of Finance to resolve these. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. Do we have an idea of which of the programs would be implemented first? Would it be the one that was deemed complete in August? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member from Mackenzie Delta.

My questions are directed to the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services. Will the Minister direct her staff to look at these existing programs in hopes of implementing them in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Member for Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the questions. Based on the past engagement of addiction in the Northwest Territories, residents want options and so hearing from the Member, these are some of the things that we heard during the -- sorry, when it went out to the public, like, for their -- sorry, for their input on addictions in the Northwest Territories. So the department is considering how best to meet the needs of the residents knowing what we've heard from them, and we know that one facility type is not going to meet the needs. And so these are options that we're looking into and, you know, I thank the Member for the information on the one in Whitehorse as right now I don't have the information and so it would be good, like, for the Member to be able to provide that information to me, and then I can give that to my staff. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response. Will the Minister be willing to collaborate with the Indigenous leaders to implement these family orientated programs that are in existence in other jurisdictions? Thank you.

Thank you to the Member for the question. And, yes, you know, I think that is how this government really wants to work, and that's how I kind of want to work within the department of health is getting that input and working in partnership with Indigenous governments. And as I've said, even in some -- the instances before becoming a Member is, you know, in order for us to do this properly, we need to be engaging with our Indigenous partners as majority of our people that are struggling with addictions in our communities, in Yellowknife, we see it, it's visible, it's our Indigenous people. So working with our Indigenous partners is key to coming up with the programs and stuff that we need. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past, we've been mainly targeting the individual. The families are the ones that are hurting at this time. So I would like to see this government target the families as well, where the whole family's counselled. Can the Minister give me a timeframe on when the department will be able to start the process of consultation to get these programs underway? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member. The process of consultation began under the last government and, yes, I'd like to continue this work, and I would like to be continuing the work with our Indigenous partners to fully understand what the needs are and, like the Member has said, in having family programs, if those are what is necessary, and that's what we're hearing from our Indigenous partners, then, you know, that's something that our department will take away and work with them. And if it's not us doing the programming and supporting them in how to run these types of programs, you know, and I think that's where the stage is right now. I don't have a timeline as to how this is going to be born, but it's key early on in this government, especially, you know, with our priority setting coming up that how fast this will move in this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

This approach is kind of sensitive area for me. Maybe if a family orientated counselling services was available or was available in the past, I would have definitely benefitted with my family. Will the Minister and her staff be willing to visit Whitehorse centre to get some information on the pros and cons of this family orientated counselling service? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm aware that as part of the work that we're doing -- the department is doing is exploring options for more addictions support. They're already in contact with colleagues both from Yukon and from Nunavut to see what sort they provide. As I mentioned before, I'm not familiar with this specific program but if I get the information from the Member, then I can forward that on to the department to get more details and, you know, that could be a possibility in the future that, you know, the department does go to and see what the program offers. But I am aware that there are other programs, especially for Indigenous people under -- like the Indigenous Service Canada has approved programs throughout Canada, and there are some approved programs that target families. So if the Member wants more information on that, I can provide that information to him. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So following up on my Member's statement earlier and given that the government has committed to oversee an after-action review into the 2023 wildfire season and given the blind spots that I drew our attention to in our emergency planning response so far, so my question is for the Premier. Will this government be examining how the 2023 evacuations may have inadvertently increased risk or vulnerable people's exposure to risk during displacement to southern jurisdictions and to come up with a plan for how the government and its nonprofit agency partners will identify and mitigate those risks going forward in any future emergency response?

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. One question, please, not two. So if the Premier answers the one question, then you'll have a supplementary. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And what the Member is talking about is exactly what we need to make sure happens. We need to ensure that the things that went wrong, that we didn't prepare for, that we didn't know we needed to prepare for even, during the last number of evacuations are addressed and we do a better job going forward. The reviews will -- you know, maybe I'll just leave it at that and let the Member ask her other questions. I don't want to go on too much. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to know does the Premier believe that the government's own after-action reviews are well equipped to evaluate how well vulnerable populations and frontline organizations were supported during last year's evacuations, or would this be a task better suited to an independent inquiry?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I said, this is work we need to do. So they are -- I think they're well suited. I think they're designed to get that information. The reviews are going to include feedback from NGOs, the NGOs that were participating in the evacuation that were assisting the vulnerable populations. So we need to know the issues that they ran into, and we need to figure out how the government can better assist them going forward. One of the biggest issues that I saw during the evacuations was communicating and planning. Often people didn't have a plan. There wasn't a plan in place for a lot of these things. So getting the information, finding out exactly what happened, and putting measures in to ensure that we don't make the same mistakes again is essential, and that is the purpose of these reviews. And so, yes, I believe these reviews will get that and will help us address that in the future. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this is my final follow-up. What has this government done to ensure the timely reimbursement of nonprofit organizations who took on considerable expenses during the 2023 evacuations providing evacuation flights and ongoing supports to vulnerable populations given those agencies' already stretched budgets and resources?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I want to encourage everyone, including NGOs, to look to their insurance first. That's often faster than the government than many of these expenses are often eligible. But, you know, I come from Hay River. I've been dealing with constituents who have been working through this system for a number of years now. It is not fast. Everyone would like it to be faster. We're working through that. We're trying to get policies in place that will ensure that it is faster. So we are working on it, Mr. Speaker. I can assure you of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Premier. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.