Thank you, Member from Great Slave. ITI.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first I want to start off by saying let's make a splash has to be one of my favorite sentences so far this year in this House. So thank you to the Member for reading her Youth Parliamentarian Member's statement.

So currently in the City of Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, the ITI is working collaboratively with ECE on the Robertson Drive Dock. The project is currently in the design and planning phase, and the design and planning phase will take place in 2024 with the construction expecting to commence in the summer of 2025. The total budget for this project is $3 million. And any future harbour development will be pursued in close collaboration, of course, with Yellowknives Dene First Nation along with the City of Yellowknife being involved in community engagement as well.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, as our waterways are federally regulated, there's also the Department of Fisheries and Oceans small craft harbours unit, who I know is doing their own feasibility study regarding potential development of a small craft harbour dock as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. Recognizing, of course, that our water levels are quite low this year, hoping, crossing all fingers and appendages that it goes back up, can the Minister speak to any desire that her department has to work with the City of Yellowknife and YKDFN to increase further recreational opportunities along the shores of our beautiful lake? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the question. We definitely see the importance of having places for Northerners to go and recreate and the direct linkages of that to mental health and being out on the land.

Yellowknife has access to Fred Henne Park. That is maintained by ITI. There's also a host of parks and wayside parks, campgrounds, along the Ingraham Trail that all Northerners also have access to. I think it's important that, you know, ITI -- or to state -- sorry, that ITI provides funding programs for the City of Yellowknife to expand its current visitor services that are described in the MOU that the City of Yellowknife currently holds with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation through their joint economic development strategy. And ITI also has a host of funding mechanisms where, because a lot of our waterfront properties are either privately owned or are in withdrawal, what we do is we fund different business ventures to hopefully encourage some spinoffs for residents to be able to do business on the water, do business along the shores. And I look forward to supporting more opportunities like that for Northerners. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. However, you know, some of the places that she spoke of, while are a favorite of many Yellowknifers - Fred Henne, Ingraham Trail - we have many residents in Great Slave who do not have access to vehicles, who do not have access to, you know, possibly getting out to those locales on a tiny budget that they might have. So can the Minister speak -- or commit to speak to the City of Yellowknife to look at properties that they might hold and some developments that might be possible in the future for entrepreneurs working in conjunction collaboratively or stronger together, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, I'm always game to work with any partners. ITI currently also supports the city's tourism strategy, the Yellowknife visitors centre, and the Yellowknife Wayfinding signage, for existing recreational opportunities. I think this is also a great time to let people know about the City of Yellowknife's new buses. And also the City of Yellowknife has an access for all program. So if somebody can't afford -- is a low income family, can't afford buses, there is an access for all pass that gives people access to buses and also facilities in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

I'm good. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier about the CYC program. This question is for the Minister of ECE or Health and Social Services.

Mr. Speaker, I have constituents who are being told their children no longer have access to counsellors in the schools. The departments have said that reductions will be replaced by prevention and early intervention. It's difficult for me to see how this will occur without counsellors present. So can the Ministers help me correct the dots. What does this mean? What does it mean to prevent an -- prevention and early intervention mean without counsellors in the schools? Thank you

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. I am going to take a guess, and I'm going to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my answers on this one might be a little bit long, but I'm going to try and keep them short.

So there was a review done, and it was found that not all schools have the same amount of access. Because it was really hard to fill these positions across the territory. It was also found that some community schools were looking for something different than a clinician, a clinically trained master's degree counsellor. Some communities wanted to have Indigenous counsellors in their school. So a program was devised that allowed people to have a lot more autonomy in their classrooms and in their schools for the mental health needs that were required for students in that community and in that school system.

So what does it mean to have prevention? It means that we need to look at ways to reach more students than just the ones who are able to get in front of a clinician or with a counsellor, that our schools have a lot of mental health needs. Right now, there's a tremendous amount of depression and anxiety, and how can we go upstream and as a school body address the needs of our students more globally. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that answer. So it sounds like there was some problems specifically in some communities. But did these specific problems really necessitate a wholesale dismantling of a program that in many schools was working? I'm hearing from constituents that they're disappointed their children no longer have access to counsellors. So did we really need to dismantle the whole program or just solve one problem?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think with this case here, it's important to let the Member know, and let all parents know, that students still have access to clinicians in schools. In addition, I've had multiple conversations about this with my colleague from Health and Social Services. If a student needs to access a counsellor in their school and doesn't have the ability to travel to primary care to access a counsellor, that they can actually speak to the school. The student can even do that to maintain privacy. And the counsellor can come into the school. It's not a matter of the student having to always leave the school.

In addition to that, if the school education body or the school itself wants to use their 55 percent of the funding in order to hire an additional clinical counsellor, they're able to use that funding to do that. They just need to make sure that they're also going upstream and providing those preventative care support services so that more students have access to mental health. Because I think it's about changing the stigma. It is about having very open conversations and everybody learning what it means to take care of ourselves as a whole human. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that answer. That is encouraging and, in fact, more encouraging than what I've heard when I originally e-mailed the departments.

So I still have a constituent who has concerns about continuity of care. Their child appears to be losing access to a counsellor. How are the departments coordinating to ensure this continuity of care? It sounds like there may be counsellors in the schools. So how are the departments coordinating this and ensuring that they're engaging with parents who are concerned about this, their children losing access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate this question because I think it's important for everybody to hear. If something goes to an MLA and comes to me and then from me, it goes to a deputy minister and down the chain and then makes its way to the school board and then to the school, I really encourage people to start by having these conversations with the school about what their child needs. If they're not getting a response from the school, all of our schools have education bodies with elected officials that are there to serve our residents as well. If an education body is not doing its job, I encourage people to come to me and let's see what we can do together. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary.

Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for Minister of ECE. We have a number of seniors who take advantage of the seniors' heating fuel program. Although they are grateful for the assistance from the department, it is brought to my attention that they are paying three times the amount that is allocated to them over their fixed income just to make it through the month.

Will the Minister and her department look at recalculating the subsidy program so that it meets the needs of our seniors across the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the seniors' home heating subsidy is not intended to cover a hundred percent of someone's home heating costs. The goal of the program is to cover up to 80 percent of someone's home heating costs. That being said, if there are seniors that are spending 75 percent of their fixed income on home heating fuel, I would question if they're on the right program. In addition to the seniors' home heating subsidy, there's also income assistance. If people aren't on both at the same time, so I question if somebody should be in a different program and would encourage them to reach out to their client navigator. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the high cost of living and the ever-increasing cost of heating fuel, will the Minister and her department look at increasing the amount of fuel that is allocated to the seniors of the Northwest Territories, especially in the colder months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's been routine reviews of this program over the years, and it's one that the department keeps a close eye on knowing how important it is to seniors across the territory. In addition, in the last two years there have been one time top-ups acknowledging the additional cost of fuel across the territory and how that has an impact to seniors. And so ECE's been able to -- by kind of taking dollars from other programs, put them into this program to be able to serve seniors as best as possible. That being said, Mr. Speaker, I will also continue to work to attempt to secure more permanent funds for the program, and the House has my commitment on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that commitment.

Can the Minister look at reviewing the policies and procedures related to the program in question and involve the recipients of this program to meet their needs and not that of the government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, this program was reviewed last year. It's one that the department continues to closely monitor. Because our goal is to ensure that seniors' home heating fuel is covered to, like I said, 80 percent. And so it's one that we keep a close eye on because we know that the cost of fuel fluctuates, and so we will continue to do that because we know it's an important program for seniors across the territory. Thank you.