This is page numbers of the Hansard for the 20th Assembly, 1st 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

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Julian Morse

Julian Morse Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Not at this time.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I want to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to start by asking -- I mean, a big priority of this unit is to implement the NWT -- or the GNWT's homelessness strategy, A Way Home. Can the Minister explain how much money out of this budget is specifically allocated to implementing the homelessness strategy? Are we to assume that the $1.4 million under strategic approach to homelessness is the implementation of that strategy, or is there more nuance to what is being spent on implementing the strategy? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the total is beyond that. We've had a number of initiatives so far in this fiscal year that we have expended money on, the on-the-land camp, and we are -- or have -- receiving federal funds for transitional housing. For a bit of a breakdown, I can pass it maybe to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Jay MacDonald

Jay MacDonald Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What the Member will note in the main estimates, we'll have $3,686,000 related to the homelessness strategy as well as the federal funding from public safety Canada in association with the NWT wraparound services or integrated service delivery. That's another $824,000. So broadly speaking, both of those funds will be used largely in support of advancing integrated service delivery as a service model in government, and we're using homelessness issues as the focal point for integrated service delivery. So there's some overlap in those funds that are being directed towards that purpose. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So thank you for clarifying that. Is there anywhere that there's a report currently available or being produced that looks at the action items in the homelessness strategy and goes through and says which have been achieved or underway or, you know, what is the update on progress on each of the items? Is that available online somewhere or publicly? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. So we are working on a tracker that we can share with committee. It's not, you know, available right now, but, yes, that work is underway. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the (audio).

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister give us an estimate of when we might expect to see that tracker? Thank you, Mr. Chair

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Next month. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North

Okay, thank you for that. That will be helpful. I do look forward to going through that closely. I wanted to ask for more details on the NWT wraparound services. I understand that the GNWT portion is just a small portion of the program because we're getting a lot of federal funds to complement that. Can you explain better what specific programs the NWT wraparound services supports? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Jay MacDonald

Jay MacDonald Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So largely the work of -- or the funding associated with the wraparound services is being used to advance a model of integrated service delivery for the GNWT. So as mentioned in a previous response to the Member, the -- we're using homelessness, the needs around transitional housing, as a focal point for testing and proving our model of integrated service delivery. So some examples of uses for that funding are, you know, helping us with governance structure, internal governance structure reform recommendations, training for staff, internal communications to shift culture, evaluation work around, like, logic model planning of program structure, among other things. So it's really about helping us to make sure that as we're prepared to roll out regional locations where we're implementing integrated service delivery that we're prepared to do so in an effective manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am hopeful that we can discuss this in more detail in committee to get sort of more of a breakdown on what exactly is being done, but perhaps next month when the tracker's available, that will also help us look through it in more detail. I also just wanted to note -- and I mentioned this last night with the housing Minister that we generally are still seeing that non-profits, including those helping to address homelessness, are getting the same amounts of funding year after year without accounting for inflation, and I understand that there are intentions to try to look at that and figure out how we can, like, support NGOs to give them a realistic amount of money. Can the Premier -- or the Minister give us an update on be that initiative is at and when we can expect to see non-profits start to get some increases to their funding in line with inflation and forced growth. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Jay MacDonald

Jay MacDonald Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And the NGO support position that was referenced earlier has already begun having some of those conversations with NGOs to talk about some of those funding challenges and to hear from them. We do recognize that there has been a funding gap and that NGOs have been left behind and that in some respects that has led to certain NGOs vacating critical space and providing critical services to vulnerable people in the territory. So we're, of course, looking at for the upcoming fiscal year -- you know, across government looking for opportunities to increase funding where possible within existing budgets, but, really, more importantly, with the upcoming next year fiscal cycle look at as part of our work plan introducing more regularly scheduled forced growth cycles for NGOs as well as departments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Richard Edjericon

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Shauna Morgan

Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do think that is very important to -- you know, by next budget season, to have a very intentional system that we can show in the budget that we are planning for forced growth and inflation in the grants and contributions that we give to those non-profits providing those essential services. So I'm glad to hear that that is a goal, and I do really urge the department to prioritize this to make sure that by next year budget cycle we have that in place. Thank you, Mr. Chair.