Debates of Oct. 25th, 2018

This is page numbers 4435 - 4472 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 services .

Topics

Oral Questions

Members Present

Prayer

Government of the Northwest Territories 2018 Employee Campaign for United Way NWT

Government of the Northwest Territories Disability Action Plan 2018-2019 to 2021-2022

Minister Absent from the House

Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Northwest Territories Carbon Pricing

Systemic Racism in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Ranney Hill Trail

Public Housing Utility Rates

Expanding Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities

Eunice Nasogaluak - Active Elder Award Recipient

Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Passing of Rita Betsidea

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Child and Family Services

Child and Family Services

Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Child and Family Services

Northwest Territories Carbon Pricing

Power Rates for Public Housing Tenants

Rights-Based Cabins

Tabled Document 266-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Disability Action Plan 2018/19-2021/22 Tabled Document 267-18(3): Northern Public Affairs, Volume 6, Special Issue #1 2018: The Pan-Territorial On-the-Land Summit Tabled Document 268-18(3): Northwest Territories Oral Health Action Plan 2018/19-2020/21

Bill 29:

An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Bill 24:

An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act

Bill 27: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019

Bill 28: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019

Bill 27: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019

Bill 28: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Report Of Committee Of The Whole

Bill 27: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019

Recorded Vote

Bill 28: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2018 2019

Recorded Vote

Orders Of The Day

Members Present

Hon. Glen Abernethy , Mr. Beaulieu , Mr. Blake , Hon. Caroline Cochrane , Ms. Green , Hon. Jackson Lafferty , Hon. Bob McLeod , Hon. Robert McLeod , Mr. McNeely , Hon. Alfred Moses , Mr. Nakimayak , Mr. O'Reilly , Hon. Louis Sebert , Mr. Simpson , Mr. Testart , Mr. Thompson , Mr. Vanthuyne

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

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---Prayer

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Prayer

Prayer

Page 4435

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Honourable Premier .

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Minister's Statement 113-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories 2018 Employee Campaign for United Way NWT

Ministers' Statements

Page 4435

Bob McLeod

Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, the employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories are dedicated to the work that they do and are committed to the success of their communities. Hundreds of employees spend countless hours giving back to their communities through volunteer work during their personal time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this moment to recognize all of the employees who volunteer in their communities. How we take care of one another is what shapes the character of our communities and what makes the North unique and special.

In addition to their volunteer time, every year, employees have the option to have donations for United Way NWT automatically deducted from their paycheques. Last year, employees contributed $150,000 to the United Way NWT through this campaign, which I am honoured to co-chair with the Union of Northern Workers president, Mr. Todd Parsons.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks the start of the 2018 United Way NWT Employee Giving Campaign. The United Way NWT is a not-for-profit organization committed to building strong and healthy northern communities. Its role is to match community resources through these payroll contributions and to help get those funds to our territory's areas of greatest need.

In many ways, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the United Way NWT share the same goals: we want to improve the lives of our people, build stronger communities, and create positive social change for the residents of our territory. The United Way NWT ensures that employee contributions stay in the territory and contribute directly to our residents and communities.

Every day, employees work to build a better territory. They show this commitment in their work, but also in their generosity through our workplace campaign. Through the employee payroll plan, employees, including myself and many of the people in this room, are doing their part to create caring communities by contributing to the United Way NWT and to the organizations that they support.

Some of the organizations who have benefitted from contributions from employees include the Inuvik Youth Centre, Dene Nahjo, the Hay River Soup Kitchen, the Rainbow Coalition, NWT Breast Health, Children's First Society, and the list goes on.

Mr. Speaker, to put the power of this collective effort into context, one employee's payroll contributions of 50 cents per workday was able to feed over 50 people at the Hay River Soup Kitchen in one month. A $2 per workday contribution of another employee allowed Yellowknife Cares to create weekend meal kits for 30 children in need.

Investing in the health and well-being of our people and communities and building prosperity in the Northwest Territories are priorities of the United Way NWT and the mandate of this government. These goals are shared by many non-governmental organizations in our territory and by our employees. United Way NWT is working to achieve these goals through investment in three areas of focus, which are:

From poverty to possibility;

Healthy people, strong communities; and

All that kids can be.

Next year, the United Way NWT is investing $170,000 to support non-profits in our territory to improve lives and build community in these three areas.

Mr. Speaker, I comment the efforts of United Way NWT and their board and volunteers for all their hard work as they continue to make a positive impact on the lives of many of our residents in need. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Government of the Northwest Territories employees for their continued generosity which is making it possible for the United Way NWT and our communities to achieve great success. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Minister's Statement 113-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories 2018 Employee Campaign for United Way NWT

Ministers' Statements

Page 4436

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Health and Social Services .

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Minister's Statement 114-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Disability Action Plan 2018-2019 to 2021-2022

Ministers' Statements

Page 4436

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories made a commitment in its mandate to ensure the effective supports and programs were available for persons with disabilities. Our government believes that every person living with a disability has the full right to citizenship and opportunity which is why we have been working with our partners and stakeholders to advance plans that will effectively guide our efforts to support this goal.

In March 2016, our government initiated the Disability Program Review and Renewal Project to look at the status of current services and identify gaps and opportunities for improvements through the development of a new strategic framework, programs, and services inventory and action plan.

The action plan represents a shared vision and partnership between the Departments of Health and Social Services; Education, Culture and Employment; Justice; Finance; Municipal and Community Affairs; Infrastructure; and the NWT Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, this work was guided by the results of extensive engagement with our non-government organization partners in the disability sector. Our partners provided valuable input as to what is needed to support persons with disabilities and their families. We will continue to engage with them to ensure that our actions are meeting their intended outcomes for persons with disabilities.

We know that there is a growing demand on disability services, driven by an increased incidence of physical and cognitive disabilities, a growing seniors' population, increased rates of disability associated with aging, and the need for caregiver supports.

We want to improve the lives of NWT residents with disabilities by focusing on five objectives: increasing income security and reducing poverty, building awareness and knowledge through education and training, improving transition planning and options, encouraging universal design and living options, and improving access and quality of caregiver supports.

We will be accountable to persons with disabilities and all residents on the progress on this action plan. Each department will report on the status of their action items, and the Department of Health and Social Services will coordinate and monitor the reporting of the individual actions within it.

I want to thank all of my colleagues and their department staff for supporting our government-wide approach to improving services and programs for persons with disabilities. I also want to thank our disability NGO partners, including the NWT Disabilities Council, Yellowknife Association for Community Living, the NWT Seniors' Society, Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities, and the NWT Foster Family Coalition for their input and their support. It will require that we all continue to work together in order to deliver on action items.

We are looking forward to implementing the GNWT Disability Action Plan, which will guide the work required to advance our vision to make the NWT an inclusive and accessible territory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Minister's Statement 114-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Disability Action Plan 2018-2019 to 2021-2022

Ministers' Statements

Page 4437

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. The Honourable Premier .

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Minister's Statement 115-18(3): Minister Absent from the House

Ministers' Statements

Page 4437

Robert C. McLeod

Inuvik Twin Lakes

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the honourable Wally Schumann will be absent from the House for the remainder of this week to attend both the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers of internal trade and the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers of innovation and economic meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Minister's Statement 115-18(3): Minister Absent from the House

Ministers' Statements

Page 4437

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre .

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Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Members' Statements

Page 4437

Julie Green

Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wept when the Office of the Auditor General reviewed its latest findings of the Child and Family Services audit. They concluded for the second time in four years that Child and Family Services is failing children in care; not just failing them, but sometimes putting them at risk of even greater harm than the circumstances that brought them into care in the first place. A child has been assaulted. Another was missing from a treatment program.

For example, health authorities must investigate a report of a child in a potentially unsafe situation within 30 days. The auditor found that a quarter of these investigations weren't completed on time. In a third of investigations, the required interview with parents, the child, and others with information didn't happen. In three-quarters of cases, long-term risks weren't assessed. All of these indicators have increased since the last audit four years ago.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that everyone involved in the lives of children in care wants them to be safe. The problem isn't intention; it's resources. The auditor found that the authorities are overburdened with changes that were not well resourced and which helped produce worse results. It is clear that the focus needs to be on the children themselves rather than on the systems that manage their circumstances.

A key recommendation in this audit is that the Department of Health and Social Services and the health authorities must perform a detailed assessment of the financial and human resources to deliver child and family services. The same recommendation was made four years ago and by Cindy Blackstock in her review of child and family services in 2009, and by the Child Welfare League of Canada 18 years ago. Until this work is done, we won't know why Yellowknife has twice as many child-protection workers as the Tlicho Community Services Agency when the size of their caseload is similar.

The department's response to most of the recent recommendations focuses on things like team design and streamlining business processes. My fear is that children will again be pushed further to the margins while the department prioritizes its systems and ensures its liability is covered.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services was a member of the standing committee that hired Ms. Blackstock, and he has been the Health Minister for seven years.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

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Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Members' Statements

Page 4437

Julie Green

Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, that means the Minister has heard this call to identify the resources needed to provide these services at least three times, and the problems not only persist, they are getting worse. The children who needed his help nine years ago are now adults or well on their way. It's worth remembering that these children, all children, have but one childhood. Our priority must be to help children not only survive it, but to thrive in safe and supportive environments. Mahsi.

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Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Members' Statements

Page 4437

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre .

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Northwest Territories Carbon Pricing

Members' Statements

Page 4437

Kevin O'Reilly

Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we are already seeing the consequences of a 1-degree Celsius increase in global warming. There is more extreme weather and diminishing Arctic sea ice among other changes. Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius would require "rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society." Ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries prepared the report with more than 6,000 scientific references cited.

The good news is that some of the kinds of actions that we would need to take to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius are already underway around the world, but they need to accelerate. On May 24th, I urged the federal government to reject Cabinet's Climate Change Plan. This was based on the unrealistic 44 percent greenhouse gas reductions from the expansion of Taltson Hydro, the back-end loading of emission reductions, misdirection of efforts on electricity production, rather than motivating large, industrial emitters, and a failure to address the leadership deficiencies noted in the Auditor General's report on NWT climate change.

The Cabinet response to the committee review of this audit tabled earlier this sitting fails again to adopt any changes in accountability or authority to ensure that there's adequate climate change leadership. Cabinet's approach on climate change falls far short of how we need to respond to the IPCC imperative of far-reaching and unprecedented changes.

The Minister of Finance finally announced Cabinet's approach to carbon pricing in July. While individuals and families will get some of the carbon tax back through the adjustments to the cost of living allowance and child benefit, industry, the largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, can actually get all of the carbon tax back that they pay. It will be individuals, families, and small businesses that will subsidize the GNWT initiatives under the energy strategy, not the largest emitters which include the diamond mines. This hardly seems fair or balanced.

The Minister of Finance has been silent on the issue of how the carbon tax will be managed and accounted for. It's not clear whether the reporting will try to link carbon tax funds collected with investments into renewables and any reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consented to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

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Northwest Territories Carbon Pricing

Members' Statements

Page 4438

Kevin O'Reilly

Frame Lake

A real carbon pricing system for the NWT can help us in fighting the climate change emergency that faces us.

We must pursue legislative and policy changes to ensure climate change leadership and an energy strategy built on renewables that doesn't masquerade as an infrastructure funding demand. As other regular Members have indicated, I cannot support Cabinet's Carbon Tax and Climate Change Plan. The federal government's back-stop approach on carbon pricing is starting to look a lot better. Masi, Mr. Speaker.

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Northwest Territories Carbon Pricing

Members' Statements

Page 4438

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake .

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Systemic Racism in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Members' Statements

Page 4438

Kieron Testart

Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, a young Indigenous woman went into Stanton Territorial Hospital complaining of extreme pain. The pain was so bad that, in the emergency room, she doubled over in agony and was curled up in the fetal position crying. It was then a nurse told this young woman that she was being dramatic before calling a security guard over to force the woman to stand up.

Medical records reveal staff indicated her unnecessarily hyperventilating and dramatically yelling. Only after this humiliation was the young woman diagnosed with 8.3-millimeter kidney stones, as well as strep throat.

Mr. Speaker, this experience was shared with me by one of my constituents, but, sadly, she's not alone in her encounters with cultural bias in the NWT health care system. Indigenous residents from across the NWT have raised similar concerns and shared similar horror stories. Only this morning, I heard tell of a common treatment prescribed to Indigenous patients complaining of illness in the smallest of our communities, "Take an aspirin, and the problem will go away," leading some to call it the magic pill, used as a catch-all for any medical issue raised in the community.

We, as a government, have an obligation to ensure the health care system and all government services are free from prejudice, racism, or bias. It's disheartening to hear about the instances of misdiagnosis and neglect. All too often, Indigenous peoples are labelled as intoxicated, which is, yes, symptomatic of alcohol consumption; however, the symptom is shared with the following medical conditions: diabetes, hypoglycemia, epilepsy, brain injury, Alzheimer's, Wilson's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, hypothermia, and hypoxia, just to name a few, Mr. Speaker.

Misdiagnosing these patients due to their cultural background is an example of what researchers call implicit or unconscious racism, rather than intentional racism. We must avoid the factors that ensure these problems continue from generation to generation.

Breaking the cycle of racial and cultural bias is the best path forward, and we can do it together. We must ensure that frontline government workers have appropriate training, not triage nor to diagnose, but to be aware of the complexity of symptoms and the full range of possible causes, as opposed to jumping on our own deeply held preconception and bias.

In June of this year, the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Services agreed with these concerns and promised changes are coming to the public health care system in the NWT, including cultural training for healthcare workers that was slated to begin this fall.

Mr. Speaker, I want to believe this government is taking the actions to fix this problem, and I will be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services to help me believe. Thank you.

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Systemic Racism in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Members' Statements

Page 4439

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North .

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Ranney Hill Trail

Members' Statements

Page 4439

Cory Vanthuyne

Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share a good news success story. It's a story of collaboration between government, the private sector, and non-profit groups. It benefits many sectors: tourism, education, recreation, mining, and culture, and, notably, it didn't need structure, process, or even regulation.

Mr. Speaker, in the 1930s, prospectors came north seeking gold. One of them was Winslow Ranney. In his search, he opened what became known as the Ranney Hill Trail just a little bit north of here. Years later, as gold mines closed and Yellowknife became a government town, exploration trails were adapted for recreation. The Ranney Hill Trail became known for its excellent examples of geology that built Yellowknife.

In 2013, TerraX Minerals acquired the area as part of its ongoing Yellowknife city goal project. Later, TerraX partnered with ITI, the NWT Geological Survey and Mine Society, to offer a prospecting course in the Ranney Hill Geological Interpretive Trail. The course offers people from around the territory their prospecting licence, and it sells out every year.

In 2017, a working group was established to consider ways different groups could use the trail. It was led by NWT Parks and Recreation Association and included ITI's tourism and minerals directorate, TerraX, and the NWT Geological Survey. They funded independent consultations and studies for the multiple uses of the trail.

This past summer, the Mine Training Society led the implementation plan, and new partners joined the team. Fifty directional sign posts were installed, disorienting flagging was removed, parking at the trail head was expanded, and the trail surface was maintained. Most of the work was done by volunteers from recreational groups.

Next year's plan includes boardwalks to protect wet areas, benches, and interpretive signage, and an interpretive phone app will be launched.

Mr. Speaker, now this trail is easily accessible to families, students, and tourists. It's becoming increasingly popular with youth groups and tour operators.

Mr. Speaker, the evolution of this trail facility is a great example of what can be achieved through collaboration. Many different community groups now have a facility that serves their specific needs, all without complex administration or bureaucracy.

I'd like to express my appreciation to all the groups, organizations, and individuals who contributed their time and energy to this valuable community project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Ranney Hill Trail

Members' Statements

Page 4439

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta .

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Public Housing Utility Rates

Members' Statements

Page 4439

Frederick Blake Jr.

Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, public housing tenants in my riding are troubled by changes in their power bills. For a little bit of background, the NWT Housing Corporation is in the third phase of its mandate commitment to development options to rationalize public housing utility pricing structures to promote self-reliance. Over the past three years, the Housing Corporation has been slowly reducing its subsidy of power rates for public housing tenants. The government's goal is to increase energy conservation and tenants' self-reliance, and to conserve corporation funds, all through bringing tenants' power rates in line with power rates of other residents.

Mr. Speaker, these are good goals. Still, I'm troubled by the way this has all rolled out. Change is never easy, and, when change means higher power bills for low-income tenants, many of whom are already on income support, there's going to be confusion, worry, and distress. Some of my constituents haven't been sure how much their power bills will go up or how it might affect their ability to pay other things they need, like food, clothing, gas, and other items, for themselves and their families.

There's another inkle, tenants using income support programs are wondering how income assistance will adapt to these new costs. I know that this is something that the Housing Corporation has been working on for a while now, but to bring this initiative to the finish line.

Mr. Speaker, there are questions that still need to be answered and clear and open communication with affected tenants will be critical. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have questions later today.

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Public Housing Utility Rates

Members' Statements

Page 4440

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh .

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Expanding Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities

Members' Statements

Page 4440

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on two ideas I have for post-secondary students in the NWT. On February 7 and again on May 31, 2018 a Member states turning the idea of the old Stanton Territorial Hospital into a nursing school as it transitions into a long-term care facility for seniors. Mr. Speaker, this idea is still relevant today and remains to be an idea which contains a lot of potential for the NWT. This is also an idea where I get more and more positive feedback as I talk about it. Therefore, Mr.

Speaker, today I would like to reiterate some previous comments I made on this topic as well as some new ideas I'd like to share on expanding post-secondary education in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, creating a nursing school at NWT has all the ingredients needed to foster employment across our territory. This would happen because we would create a facility which houses long-term care patients and will in effect serve as a school for students in and outside of Yellowknife. That would make it possible for seniors in all 33 communities to remain in their own homes. This would make it possible thanks to the newly trained nurses and homecare workers that would return to their communities to work in the field.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, looking forward into the future, I think the Department of Education, Culture and Employment should consider expanding the scope of the current science curriculum being delivered in Aurora College in Fort Smith. My vision for what the main changes might look like includes an implementation of a fully-fledged school for conservation and environmental studies. Mr.

Speaker, such an investment in education would long serve the people of the NWT on a number of fronts: firstly, northern students who study this topic would acquire the option of remaining in the North during the entirety of their studies; secondly, the NWT would become better positioned to employ new students right out of post-secondary into a field of environment and conservation. Currently, Mr. Speaker, the federal government is investing in conservation across Canada. They put $1.3 billion in over the next five years as it has become the most significant investment in nature conservation in Canadian history.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

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Expanding Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities

Members' Statements

Page 4440

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Now we have an opportunity to engage the federal government and other non-governmental organizations to make a school such as this a reality. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Expanding Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities

Members' Statements

Page 4440

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput .

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Eunice Nasogaluak - Active Elder Award Recipient

Members' Statements

Page 4440

Herbert Nakimayak

Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the NWT Recreation and Parks Association's Active Elder Award was recognized to one of my constituents, Ms. Eunice Nasogaluak from Tuktoyaktuk, which recognizes an elder who is physically active. Mr. Speaker, Eunice has lived in Tuktoyaktuk for the past 52 years and enjoys being a part of the community. She gives back in so many ways, through music, teaching, sharing her language, and volunteering at community events. Mr. Speaker, Eunice has been part of the Walk to Tuk challenge for the past few years, keeping active and encouraging others to do the same.

She is also an active singer, dancer, and drummer, and is always ready to share her skills with the youth. Mr. Speaker, she has raised money, written proposals, and organized trips for the dance group to Nome and Barrow, Alaska; Edmonton; Haines Junction; Whitehorse.

Mr. Speaker, Eunice enjoys playing the bass guitar for old-time dances and community gatherings, and volunteering with the End of the Road Music Festival in Tuktoyaktuk. She's also an excellent seamstress, who always joins in for local sewing projects. Eunice takes advantage of every opportunity to share her language and culture with young people in the community. She brings traditional foods such as geese and caribou to the school so students from junior kindergarten to grade 9 can learn how to process meats.

She shows the students how to clean, cut, and prepare their foods, while also teaching them the different parts of Inuvialuktun. Mr. Speaker, Eunice has taught Inuvialuktun for many years in the community. She encourages graduates to continue their Inuvialuktun language. She's also a strong proponent of education supporting youth and young people to go on to college or university, as they are the community's future leaders. At every event or opportunity, she's there to cheer on and encourage the youth.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like you to join me in commending Eunice Nasogaluak, who's an inspiration to many elders, youth, and youth in her community in the territory and around the country. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.

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Eunice Nasogaluak - Active Elder Award Recipient

Members' Statements

Page 4441

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member's statements. Member for Hay River North .

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Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Members' Statements

Page 4441

R.J. Simpson

Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I always advocate for my constituents, and, when a constituent brings an issue to me, I always give them the benefit of the doubt, knowing that there are at least two sides to a story. I'll admit, when I've heard issues regarding my constituent's dealings with Child and Family Services, I used to think that perhaps the emotional aspect of the situation made the interaction seem worse than it was. Well, Mr. Speaker, I apologize for that. I've been set straight by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, which just released its audit of the Child and Family Services.

It's a follow-up audit to the one performed in 2014, which exposed such poor performance that it demanded to be revisited.

The Office of the Auditor General has concluded, Mr. Speaker, that things have actually gotten worse since 2014 and that it's "deeply concerned" by its findings. I tried to craft a statement with a level of outrage that this situation warrants, but I couldn't. There's no way to adequately express the anger that everyone should be feeling right now. We should all be ashamed, Mr. Speaker, for being part of a system that treats our most vulnerable in this way. If we can't put in the effort to get this right, then what? How bad is it, Mr. Speaker? Here are some of the findings.

One-fifth of the time that someone contacted a regional health authority with concerns about the safety of a child, there was no response. Nine out of 10 times, the minimal level of contact with a parent and a child subject to a plan of care was not maintained. There were no systemic background checks on potential guardians. The list goes on and on and on.

After the last audit, the department's response was to introduce complex administrative changes into an already over-burdened and over-bureaucratic system instead of actually assessing whether or not it has the resources to do its job. Spoiler alert, Mr. Speaker, it doesn't. I also have to add, Mr. Speaker, that 95 percent of the children engaged in the system are Aboriginal. Is this what reconciliation looks like to this government, Mr. Speaker?

I don't think that the Minister is insensitive to this issue or the departmental staff doesn't care about the children, but, after seeing what happened since 2014, I'm terrified about what the future holds. This is an unacceptable situation, and the Minister and all of us in this House need to act or move aside for those who will. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - 2018: Independent Auditor's Report - Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities

Members' Statements

Page 4441

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh .

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Passing of Rita Betsidea

Members' Statements

Page 4441

Shane Thompson

Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on October 3, 2018, Rita Betsedea passed away. She was born on September 16, 1962 at old Fort Wrigley, to Baptiste and Alice Betsedea. She was one of 12 children. Growing up, she was daddy's favourite girl. Her favourite times were when her dad came home from trapping with beaver meat full of fat. Family always remembered her little chin just dripping with fat. Her nickname was "Little Doll." She brought a lot of joy to the home. She loved the outdoors and being with her family. At nighttime, she asked her Abba to sit outside.

When she was asked why, she would always reply, "I want to look at the stars." As a child, Rita attended residential school at Lapointe Hall in Fort Simpson. She didn't talk much about it. Throughout it all, Rita held her own language and traditional lifestyle.

Her son Keith remembers all the hunting trips Rita came on. He recalls their time on the river as some of the happiest times in their life, with lots of good food, stories, and laughter. Jonathan remembers one particular trip to Willow River, when his Uncle Tony wanted to go for a skidoo ride. Harley, the youngest daughter, begged her mom to let her go out, and off she went. Once they were past the falls, they stopped for a rest. Harley quietly told Jonathan, "Look, there are two moose crossing the river." Tony shot one, and Jonathan got the other.

When they got back home, Harley ran into the house and yelled, "They got two moose!" Jonathan said his mom came out and said she was very proud of them and couldn't stop smiling.

Harley remembered her mom as always being "the fun mom." She would play games and play jokes on them. One time, when she was playing tag with the kids, they were all running around and laughing until Rita stepped on a rake just the right way. Next thing, she was screaming, "I raked myself! I raked myself!"

Miranda said her mom was always there for her. No matter what she asked, her mom made it happen. She had a big heart and was always helping people.

She loved her grandchildren with all her heart. She spoiled them all with her love and attention, but would protect them as fiercely a mama bear.

Rita was known and loved far and wide by many. She will be missed deeply by all of her family and friends. Her quick wit and infectious laugh will sadly be missed. She was famous for saying, "Let's dance," and that is how people have chosen to her remember her on this day.

Mr. Speaker, I have been asked to wear this lapel by the family in recognition of her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

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Passing of Rita Betsidea

Members' Statements

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Our condolences to the family members, as well as the community. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

Bob McLeod

Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to recognize representatives of United Way NWT that are here in the gallery. In attendance today, the chair of the United Way NWT, Tracy St. Denis; United Way NWT board member, Matt Spence; also Gayla Thunstrom, the first vice president of the Union of Northern Workers; Frank Walsh; and Jennifer Wright with the Union of Northern Workers, who are partners in United Way NWT.

Also, I would like to recognize three Pages from Yellowknife South who have been here for the four weeks of this session, Ayush Bhanot, Nigel Curtis, Tyson Clarke, and also recognize all of the Pages for all of the good work that they have done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Great Slave .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today, I will be tabling the GNWT Disability Action Plan, so I am very pleased to have the following people joining us today from the NWT Disabilities Council: Terry Hawkins, the chair; Cornelius Van Dyke, the vice chair; Kim Tregidgo, the board member from Hay River; Christopher Aitkens, board member from Hay River; Denise McKee, executive director, and thank you all for being here and being so supportive of the work that we are doing to support persons with disabilities. Thank you.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

R.J. Simpson

Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to recognize a couple of board members of the NWT Disabilities Council from Hay River, Mr. Christopher Aitkens and Ms. Kim Tregidgo. Mr. Aitkens is also the president of the Hay River Soup Kitchen that the Premier mentioned earlier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

Herbert Nakimayak

Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier on in my Member's statement, I mentioned Ms. Eunice Nasogaluak, who is an elder from Tuktoyaktuk. Mr. Speaker, Eunice is married to my relative, the late William Nasogaluak, and seeing her presentation yesterday was actually very uplifting. I just want to thank Eunice for all the hard work that she does within the community and around the region with her culture and traditional knowledge. Keep up the good work, Eunice. Thank you. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

Cory Vanthuyne

Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize Matt Spence, Tracy St. Denis, Frank Walsh, and Susan Fitzky as constituents from Yellowknife North. Welcome, and thank you for being here.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

Daniel McNeely

Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to recognize Matthew Spence and Tracy St. Denis on their contributions to the North, in their private life, and their career, as well. Mahsi.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh .

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a Page from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, April Sangris-Hardisty Beaulieu, and, also, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize our interpreters that are from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, Maro Sundberg and Tommy Unka. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4442

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh .

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

Shane Thompson

Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the past few sittings, I have had the opportunity to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services a number of questions about having the residents of Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte access to medical services via medical travel to Fort Nelson, BC. Can the Minister advise this House if the department has been able to make some movement on this issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services .

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely. Staff from the Department of Health and Social Services did visit the community of Fort Liard, as well as Fort Nelson, to meet with residents of Fort Liard, but also staff of the health system in Fort Nelson, to discuss, first off, what services are actually provided in Nelson.

I think there has been some confusion over the years about what capacity Nelson has. They certainly aren't providing all of the services that are offered here in the Northwest Territories, the services that are required by residents of the Northwest Territories, but they certainly offer more than is being provided in Fort Liard. We did reach out to them. We had some discussions about some things that we might be able to do for our residents in Fort Liard, things like mammograms and other diagnostic tests that Fort Nelson may be able to provide for us.

We did meet with the MLA. Myself and staff from the department met with the MLA in September. We agreed to go to Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte to talk to the residents about what we have learned to help us formulate our next steps. We are hoping that we can put in some Memorandums of Agreement on some of those diagnostic tests, but also figure out how we might be able to provide some additional services or, rather, have our residents receive services from Fort Nelson in a way that still fits within the NWT Health and Social Services system.

We have made progress. We are not all the way there, but we are on the right path. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

Shane Thompson

Nahendeh

The Minister has kind of answered a lot of my questions that I had here today, but that is great to hear. I am very happy to see that. That is a positive step, and I have to applaud the department and his staff for reaching out to Fort Nelson. We look forward to it.

The Minister talked about a couple of those -- mammograms and, I forget the other one, lab work, but also, with pregnancy, can the Minister explain or provide information if this opportunity is available as well?

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

There are services that aren't provided in Fort Nelson right now. I am actually not 100 percent sure about pregnancy, but my suggestion would be that having individuals come to the boarding home here in Yellowknife or to services here in Yellowknife or Hay River might be more appropriate. If there were any complications, we can deal with them within this existing system.

If somebody is receiving services in Nelson and there is a complication, they could end up going into the BC system where we wouldn't necessarily have access to health records or history of the individual, which could provide some additional complications. Given that we do bring people in quite a bit early, I am sure we can find ways to support those residents to come to northern locations where appropriate.

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

Shane Thompson

Nahendeh

I thank the Minister for explaining and clarifying that because it is very important for residents to understand that not all services are going to be available, but some are, like he said, mammograms and lab services.

Can the Minister advise us when they could see potential opportunities for this service to be implemented, going to Fort Nelson?

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Right now, residents from Liard and Nahanni can go to Fort Nelson, if that is where they choose to receive services. We do have reciprocal billing agreements with all provinces and territories in this country.

Our challenge, and I think the Member understands this, is that, when somebody uses their facilities without a referral in, they aren't necessarily covered for things like medical travel. There is also no ability to seamlessly share information where appropriate. What we are looking to do is actually fix that problem and find a way to refer people into Nelson so that they can take advantage of things like medical travel and so that our doctors in the North can work seamlessly with those doctors in Fort Nelson to make sure that our residents receive seamless care.

That work is underway right now. We are going to Liard and Nahanni in November. From there, we will figure out what our next steps are after we talk to the community about where we are and what we've learned, and then we will be engaging with Fort Nelson again.

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4443

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh .

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4444

Shane Thompson

Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister making the commitment to come in, in November, and he's worked with his staff. Can the Minister please advise this House, when he goes into the community, what's going to happen? What is the department going to present, and who is going to be coming in with him?

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4444

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

It is the Member's meeting. I am going with the Member. I anticipate he will be helping set up those meetings. We are bringing the staff who have been working and negotiating with Nelson so that they can explain our findings, help the communities, both of them, understand what services Nelson provides and what services Nelson does not provide. Once again, I think there is some belief that Nelson can do everything, and they are limited. There are certainly services they don't provide there.

Then, talk about next steps, how we can work together with the community to make sure that those services that can be provided in Nelson are properly set up so that our residents can have more timely access to services.

By way of example, we know that they are providing mammogram services in the community. It's a much shorter drive for residents to drive there, to Nelson, for services as opposed to getting on a plane, flying to Simpson, getting on another plane, flying to Yellowknife, spending a couple of days in Yellowknife, and then flying back. These individuals can get down there and back same day, if not, one night, as opposed to many. There's lots of opportunity here, and this is a good-news story. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 444-18(3): Accessing Medical Services in Fort Nelson, BC

Oral Questions

Page 4444

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre .

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

Oral Questions

Page 4444

Julie Green

Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services . When he was a member of the Social Programs Standing Committee, he and his colleagues made 70 recommendations on the Child and Family Services Act. The committee report says: "We also recognize that some of our most important recommendations will require investment. The committee believes very strongly that the future of the NWT children and families warrants this investment." That was nine years ago. What happened to those recommendations? Mahsi.

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

Oral Questions

Page 4444

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services .

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

Oral Questions

Page 4444

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm actually quite proud of the work that we did on the 16 th Assembly on that report. Tom Beaulieu , the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh was the chair of that committee.

When I became the Minister of Health and Social Services five years ago, not seven as the Member has indicated, one of the first questions I asked is: where are we in implementing the recommendations from the standing committee? I was deeply saddened to realize that no progress had been made on any of the recommendations.

At that time, I made it a priority for the department to begin moving on those recommendations, moving forward on all those recommendations, which is where we came up with Building Stronger Families, which in retrospect is consistent with all the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation respecting children in care. It is a prevention-based system as opposed to an apprehension-based system.

Over the last number of years, the last three-and-a-half, four years, we have made significant changes to legislation as per the recommendations in both the Auditor General's report, as well as the report from standing committee. We have set up changes on the information systems that we heard clearly from our staff that our CFI system was garbage and was not functional and not useful. We have brought in the Matrix system. We made significant legislative changes to include the ability for youth beyond the age of 18 to receive services. We have resources. We have put money into the systems that we've put in place.

I anticipate the Member's question is going to the fact that we haven't increased our staffing complement, and the Member is 100 percent right. The audit was clear. In my opinion, we have done the right things with respect to the system we put in place, but we have failed to adequately resource. There's no question. To that end, I will be proposing an increase in positions in the next business-planning cycle to address the most underserved areas. The Member has identified some of them in her statement.

In addition, we are going to do more analysis on whether or not we have the right types of positions in there for a longer term ask, which will be necessary in order to meet the needs of children and families in the Northwest Territories.

The findings of the audit were incredibly disappointing and of significant concern to me and to others. We are committed to making the improvement, utilizing Building Stronger Families, working with our staff, and properly resourcing these services.

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4445

Julie Green

Yellowknife Centre

The Minister can't have it both ways. He can't say that he's doing everything possible to help Child and Family Services, and then at the same time acknowledge that the Auditor General has again come up with another 11 recommendations that address children in jeopardy. These are not lightweight issues. They are the most, as my colleague from Hay River North said, "the most vulnerable people in our society." Many of these recommendations have been repeated. Why are we waiting another four years for the Minister to do what he already said he would do, to the Auditor General, in 2014?

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4445

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

I'm not arguing with the Member. I've acknowledged that we need to do better. We need to do more. I do encourage the Member to read the Auditor General's previous report. It was a far broader audit and actually included significant recommendations to actually improve accountability and to improve the system. They didn't audit those portions of the system this time, and I can say that we have done those foundational pieces. That's where a lot of our attention was put. We did those while at the same time expecting our employees at the front line to evolve but also continue to providing services. Clearly, we spread them too thin. There's no question.

Nowhere have I said we're planning to make these changes in four years. That's the Member's statement. We're planning in the next two years to bring about profound changes in the delivery of Building Stronger Families that will meet the needs of our residents. There will always be risk. Our job is to mitigate and reduce risk as much as possible, and we are committed to doing that, and we have already started. Our internal audit has shown many of the same things as the Auditor General's report. We've been working on making these improvements over the last number of months.

We can actually show some of those improvements now, and there will be things rolling out in the next couple of months, as well over the next two years, to bring about those changes that the Member and all Members and residents of the Northwest Territories want. We're committed to getting it right.

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4445

Julie Green

Yellowknife Centre

I think there's a misunderstanding here. The Minister knew about these problems in 2009. He knew about them in 2014. He's been reminded about them this week. My question is: when is the Minister going to show leadership on this issue? It is he who fights for the budget and argues over the spending priorities. Why, over all these years, has he been unable to make the business case to adequately finance Child and Family Services?

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4445

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

The system that existed before was purely an apprehension-based system that did not actually focus on building families or supporting the residents of the Northwest Territories. If a child was at risk, they were taken. That is not what the residents of the Northwest Territories told us they wanted. They wanted a system that supported families and help build families. That's what we put in place.

Again, we acknowledge that we did not necessarily get it right as far as roll-out. We spread our staff too thin. We have invested millions of dollars in this change initiative to bring in the tools that our employees told us they must and need to have in order to do the work of Child and Family Services, which includes bringing in the system. The Member's assertion that nothing was invested in here is completely unfounded. Where we did not nail it, where we did not get it right, was providing our staff with the available resources. We are struggling in two ways.

We have massive turnover, which is incredibly frustrating. This is a very high-burnout profession, and our employees are feeling the pressure of being spread too thin. We are working with them to address that.

I've already indicated we are intending to increase the number of positions through the next budget cycle. We have put in a proposal to do that, which is going to come to this House for all Members to see. They can see the actions in front of them. They know what's coming, and we are prepared to invest more. We are prepared to get it right.

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4445

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Member for Yellowknife Centre .

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4445

Julie Green

Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have a firm grip on the timeline in which these changes are going to take place. What we've heard, in 2014 we heard it, in 2009 we heard it, in the year 2000, from the Child Welfare League is that these changes need to be made urgently. Children's lives are impacted by the decisions that are being made by the Minister and his officials. Given the urgency that is repeated yet again, how is the Minister going to ensure that, this time, the needs of children are going to be met? Mahsi.

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Page 4445

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

The Member is going to have an opportunity, as will all Members, to sit down with the department staff and go through the action plan that we are proposing.

Many of the actions have already begun. When I saw the results of our own internal audit, one of my directions to the department was to begin anticipatory hiring and put in a more aggressive recruitment campaign to get out and get as many people into the pipe as possible, start getting these people in and trained up, so that they can provide these services, to the point where we are prepared to double-fill some positions until such a time as new positions can be established. We know there is going to be turnover. We want to mitigate the harm caused by the revolving door of professionals.

Having said that, these professionals are amazing. They are doing important work. They are doing it in a very difficult time of change. I have talked to many of the social workers, and I haven't felt opposition to Building Stronger Families, but I have felt frustration and lack of resources.

I agree with the Member. We are doing it. We are taking action. On December 12 th , when the committee meets with the deputy, as well as the auditors, they are going to see the plan. I am looking for their input as well, Mr. Speaker. This is a territorial issue. This is an Assembly issue. We are going to get it right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 445-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

I would like to remind Members that we have only gone through two Members, and it has been 15 minutes. I would like to remind Members to keep their

preamble short and, also, answers from the executive as short as possible. We still have nine Members to go through, so just a caution.

Oral questions. Member for Nunakput .

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

Herbert Nakimayak

Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try to keep most of this short. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services on children in care. Mr. Speaker, children who are in temporary and permanent care are extremely vulnerable in every aspect of their health and well-being, where the development is extremely dependent on the adults who control them and their environment.

The Auditor General report has found that children were not consistently monitored and/or interviewed. Mr. Speaker, what can the Minister do for these children, if they are not being regularly contacted by Health and Social Services, and to ensure that the views of children in this system are known? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services .

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we did work very closely with the Auditor General during this report, and in a number of situations, they did identify files and individuals where they thought there was some immediate risk. We dealt with those immediately. We reached out with our staff to engage with those people that were in immediate risk.

In addition to that, we have also conducted some of our own audits. We have seen those things. We have been reaching out to residents across the Northwest Territories to make sure that we are actually meeting those standards now. In many cases, we are. We are still struggling in some jurisdictions where we have low staff numbers, which is one of the reasons that we are working hard to fill some of these positions, recognizing that we also hope to increase the number of positions through the next budgeting cycle, should that pass in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

Herbert Nakimayak

Nunakput

I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this Assembly, I mentioned that Health is such a massive department; I think we need to look at something just for children and for elders, for that matter, so that issues like this don't reoccur.

Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about the extreme dependency children have on the adults that they are surrounded with, and it is an injustice when children don't know their own rights. Mr. Speaker, what can Health and Social Services do to ensure children and guardians are well aware of child rights so that they are protected in mind, body, and spirit?

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Unfortunately, this is one of the areas where the auditor said that we aren't doing as good as we need to do, and we aren't having as much follow-up with our residents. That includes both the families as well as the children as we need to. We are stepping that up. We are making sure, moving forward, that there is regular contact. Part of our requirement is to help people understand their rights under the legislation, but also the services that are available to them.

We are trying to move away from the apprehension system more to a prevention system, so we are also working with families on a voluntary basis. We have had a significant increase in the number of voluntary files; we have seen a decrease in a number of permanent apprehensions.

In some areas, we are moving in the right direction, but when it comes to the individual contact with those kids, we need to do better.

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4446

Herbert Nakimayak

Nunakput

I believe it is an important aspect of everything. Sometimes we work around the system, but the system needs to focus more on human beings.

Mr. Speaker, I know a woman in my riding who had to give up her child in order to help her escape the mother's impoverished circumstances. In foster care, foster parents are given a rate in order to meet the child's basic needs. Mr. Speaker, when guardianship is transferred to a relative, why aren't the relatives given the same foster rate to meet the child's basic needs?

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4447

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

This is one of the issues that came up in the review of Child and Family Services that the Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh and I participated in. We have made some changes within the system so that, if a family member wants to foster the child and become their caregiver, we can actually facilitate that and help them and provide them with a foster fee. If they were to adopt the child, that would become a familiar relationship, and it wouldn't necessarily get some coverage.

Once again, the system we are putting in place is about building stronger families and supporting families through these periods. Even if they were to take a child on and adopt them and then start experiencing some difficulties, they could still come to us on a voluntary basis and look for the supports they need on a short-term basis to help them get back to where they are, which is providing the care they need to for their adopted children.

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Question 446-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4447

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh .

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

Oral Questions

Page 4447

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I talked about a couple of possibilities that I have been thinking about for post-secondary education in the NWT. I recognize that one of the ideas that I have around turning the Stanton Hospital into a school has a lot of logistics to it, and it would take a full department or several departments to work on it, but I would like to ask the Minister of Education questions on what is possible in Fort Smith.

In the foundational review, it was contemplated to move a lot of the programs out of Fort Smith. I would like to ask the Minister if she could start to look at the possibility of changing some of the programs from what currently exists to programs for the students who will be studying environment and conservation programs, I suppose. Thank you.

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

Oral Questions

Page 4447

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment .

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Page 4447

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I would like to clarify that at no time was it my intention to move programs out of Fort Smith. My vision is to actually expand and strengthen programs in all campuses. It is not about one community or another.

I do want to also talk about the idea of ENR and what the Member had talked about. Yes, that is part of our visioning exercise that we need to do, is going throughout the territory and looking at the strengths that we have to offer and getting that from all of the communities, all of the people, so that when people identify one of the strengths, ENR, I see, is one of our strengths. Then, from that, we work on the visioning exercise for the college to be able to actualize the territorial vision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

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Page 4447

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

I mentioned the investment that the federal government will be making in conservation, and I agree with the Minister that ENRTP program is a good program and produces lots of good officers that are valuable to the communities.

We also have other areas of land that need protection, with some of the work that we are doing in this House about improving some legislation for protected areas. I would like to ask the Minister if the Minister could start working with Indigenous governments to maybe look at the Indigenous guardianship programs, the Canadian Rangers, or even park officers, for that matter, where Fort Smith sits at the edge of probably the biggest national park in the country, and there are a lot of park officers there that could maybe get educated in Fort Smith.

I would like to ask the Minister if she could look at the people involved in all of those areas, work with the people involved in all of those areas.

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Page 4447

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

Yes, it is definitely important. This is a territory-wide issue. Our future for post-secondary is bigger than the people in this House, so it is important that we work with all levels of government, our municipal governments and our Aboriginal governments, for two reasons: to find out how we can best support the students; and the second one is to look at our vision and look at the strengths and identify areas that we can grow on. So, yes, I am seeing that part of the vision exercise is that we would be consulting with Indigenous governments to see what their vision is, as well.

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

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Page 4447

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Mr. Speaker, staying in the area of education, but not something that I mentioned in my Member's statement, is the research centre in Inuvik that's also part of Aurora College. I'd like to ask the Minister if she would look at what is possible for research. It appears as though Inuvik is blessed with probably the best fibre links, the best Internet connections in the world, and there's a research centre there. I'd like to ask the Minister if her department could work with the research centre to see how they could expand that to increase the studies and make Inuvik Aurora College into a world-class research institution.

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Page 4448

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

I do have to say I really appreciate the questions today because the MLA has actually pointed out a lot of the vision things, a lot of our strengths, a lot of the areas that we need to work with. The reason that I'm really promoting to move into a polytechnic university is because that research money is leaving the Northwest Territories. We have hundreds of universities coming across the world up to Inuvik to study our issues, and we're not tapping into that money because we're still a college.

So moving into a polytechnic university will allow us to not only access that money, but it keeps the knowledge in the Northwest Territories. It has a lot of potential, and I am certainly going to expand on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

Oral Questions

Page 4448

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh .

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

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Page 4448

Tom Beaulieu

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Lastly, I guess, is the more difficult of all of the tasks that I think we should be working on in post-secondary education, and that is the nursing school in Yellowknife, here, for the old Stanton. I realize that the Department of Health has other uses for that, but I still feel that there's room for that place to become a good nursing school for homecare, that has so much potential for our communities and our elders. It is also a great way to keep the elders in their home as long as possible and save a lot of money in the system by not having them go into long-term care.

So I'd like to ask the Minister if she would continue to work with the Department of Health and Social Services to see what's possible there.

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

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Page 4448

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

Currently, our nursing students do actually utilize the Stanton Hospital for their practicums. That is very important. Hands-on learning is critical within any university, certificate, diploma, or degree programming, so we will continue to work with Health and Social Services on utilizing that. I do note I hear the Member who is saying: can we make the school there? That, I cannot promise. What I can say is that the campus in Yellowknife has outgrown its current headquarters, and that has to be looked at.

At this point, I can't say whether it would be part of the old Stanton Hospital or if it would be a new building, but what I can promise is that we will continue to work with Health and Social Services to make sure that we have the best practicum opportunities possible for our students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 447-18(3): Training and Research Opportunities for Aurora College

Oral Questions

Page 4448

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Sahtu .

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4448

Daniel McNeely

Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, my questions are directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment . Mr. Speaker, the current Norman Wells daycare center is fully furnished, and the power remains hooked up. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the Minister for the previous letters of support submitted to the new daycare society. I'm very encouraged by this new society of young parents, long-term residents, and their new energy to get this centre up and running. My first question is: the society has submitted to the department an application for start-up funds. When can they receive a reply to that application? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4448

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment .

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4448

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really want to start with saying that I'm really excited about Norman Wells' daycare. One of our mandates is to get daycares in every community, as many as possible. There is lots of research. I could go on and on about the amount of research that says early intervention is the best intervention for children to ensure that they are successful in life. So Norman Wells is one that we've been watching closely. We're working closely with that community. I know that they have submitted their application. There are a little bit of processes: they need to get a fire and a health inspection.

We are willing to work with them, and then, once those inspections are done, we're hoping that they'll be able to start to provide services to children.

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4448

Daniel McNeely

Sahtu

I'll ask the question again: when can they receive a reply to the submitted application from the society?

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4448

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

As a commitment, I know that there are processes, but, if it makes the MLA feel better, then I can commit to, by the end of this week, we will phone Norman Wells' daycare society and actually help them to give them an answer and tell them what they need to go through. It is a process. They need to apply for the health and safety, they need to apply to the fire marshal to get those inspections. It's not as easy as just one department taking this over, but we are willing to work with them as much as possible to make this a reality.

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

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Page 4448

Daniel McNeely

Sahtu

Now we have a deadline for a yes or a no. My next questions is: because the society has limitations, will the Minister's regional office assist the society in working with the Department of Infrastructure to certify the building, as the Minister mentioned earlier, for the assistance

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4448

Caroline Cochrane

Range Lake

I've said it, and I'll say it again, that we are committed to making this a reality. We will do whatever we can to support the daycare. I'm not even sure what they're called, but the daycare center in Norman Wells. So, if that means working with Infrastructure, if that means helping them to fill out the applications, if that means walking into offices, we will do what we need to do to make this a reality.

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4449

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Sahtu .

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

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Page 4449

Daniel McNeely

Sahtu

I'm very encouraged by the energy of the Minister's statement to assist the society. You can imagine, the society, I know the individuals, they're young parents. They don't know the difference between a two-by-four and a building code, so I'm encouraged by the Minister's statement to help the young parents. Mahsi.

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Question 448-18(3): Norman Wells Day Care Centre Funding Application

Oral Questions

Page 4449

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. I'll take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake .

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4449

Kieron Testart

Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my Member's statement, there was a prominent case of cultural bias in the Northwest Territories, in the death of Hugh Papik, an elder in Aklavik. A subsequent report made 16 recommendations to improve services delivery. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services give an update to this House on the progress the department has made in implementing those recommendations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4449

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services .

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4449

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's completely inappropriate for any Member in this House to be talking about an individual.

I can say that there was a review done of a situation a number of years ago that resulted in some suggestions and recommendations on how to move forward to address systemic racism that exists here, in the Northwest Territories. The Member should be aware because I am pretty sure he was in the House when we tabled, in November 2016, Building a Culturally Respectful Health and Social Services System, which is our commitment to building a Health and Social Services system that is culturally safe and respectful of all patients and clients across the Northwest Territories.

A key component of that document was the requirement for an action plan, which we intend to release this fall, with a number of recommendations and programs to move forward with training our staff here, in the Northwest Territories. We have cultural safety programs and training that have basically been developed. We're looking at piloting here before the end of the calendar year. We'll make revisions based on what we hear, and we will roll out on a territorial level for all Health and Social Services staff starting in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. We have made significant progress in this area.

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

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Page 4449

Kieron Testart

Kam Lake

That case and other cases are well-canvassed in the media, including the case of my constituent that I mentioned earlier. I think they are subject to discussion in this House. The cultural safety and training piece is probably the largest part of these recommendations. Can the Minister speak to some of the details of the cultural training program that is being developed by the department?

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4449

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

I appreciate the Member's comment, but, because other people breach those confidentiality and talk about things, it doesn't mean we in this Assembly should. I appreciate that the Member is ultimately talking about cultural safety, and I appreciate that conversation, but it's inappropriate to use people's names in this House.

We have done a significant amount of work to develop cultural safety training here, in the Department of Health and Social Services. We have an Indigenous Health and Community Wellness division who have actually worked with different Indigenous governments and individuals across the Northwest Territories to develop this meaningful training. We are about to pilot that. We are intending to pilot it between now and the end of the calendar year.

From there, we anticipate that we will have to make some tweaks here and there, based on what we hear from the staff who are going through it. Our intention is to finalize this fiscal year and begin rolling out for all staff over the next couple of years. It will be training that's available for new staff as they come in, as part of their orientation. Refreshers will be available, as well. It is probably going to take us a bit of time to ensure that all Health and Social Services staff have the training because we also have to keep providing services while we're getting this training done.

This is well on its way. The action plan will be out in the next couple of weeks. Training is happening, and we are moving forward.

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

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Page 4449

Kieron Testart

Kam Lake

Thank you to the Minister. I would like to know: what is the total budget allocation to this training? Do we have those details yet for the pilot program?

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4450

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

In 2017-2018, the department allocated about $970,000 which came from the federal government under the Health Services Integration Fund. This included about $476,000 in carry-over funding from the previous year to help us actually develop these programs, test these programs, reach out to other people throughout the Northwest Territories to make sure we are getting a proper cultural component, to make sure that it's relevant to the people in the Northwest Territories, recognizing that it may be slightly different in Fort Smith than it might be in Paulatuk.

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4450

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake .

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4450

Kieron Testart

Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, finally, one of the issues is ensuring there's a process to respond to patient and family concerns related to issues that they hear from front-line medical services is a process to register those complaints and deal with them. Has that been established in the health authority?

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4450

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Yes, we have put in some quality assurance mechanisms within the territorial authority, Hay River as well as Tlicho. Where individuals have concern with the care they are provided or anything, any of their engagement with the authority, they should reach out to our quality-assurance staff. They will be best to investigate the situation, find out what happened, and, where appropriate, make recommendations so that we can fix those challenges in future so future people don't experience them, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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Question 449-18(3): Addressing Cultural Bias in the Northwest Territories Health Care System

Oral Questions

Page 4450

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Hay River North .

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Question 450-18(3): Child and Family Services

Oral Questions

Page 4450

R.J. Simpson

Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my earlier statement about the recent Auditor General report on Child and Family Services, I have some questions for the Minister of Health . The report notes that, over the last 10 years, there have been about 1,000 children a year engaged in the system. We know there are not 10,000 children in the last 10 years who have been engaged. Does the Minister know how many individual children in the last 10 years have been engaged in the system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Question 450-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4450

The Speaker

Jackson Lafferty

Minister of Health and Social Services .

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Question 450-18(3): Child and Family Services

Oral Questions

Page 4450

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on page 13 of the directors' report that I tabled late last week, there is a chart that shows a number of individuals who are receiving services in any given year. For instance, in the 2017-2018 year, there are 815 unique individuals who are receiving support. If you look at that chart, it will also show that there are multiple years. Many of those kids are in the system for many years. It is not like you are in one year and you are out the next. It is sometimes the case but not always. I do not have the total number of kids that received services over the 10 years.

I'm not sure that it breaks down to that detail, but I will check to see if it is available.

I will note that we have seen a decline in the number of kids in permanent care, also contained in the report. In 2008 and 2009, there are 244 kids in permanent care in the Northwest Territories. In 2017 and 2018, we are down to 152 children in permanent care.

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Question 450-18(3): Child and Family Services

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Page 4450

R.J. Simpson

Hay River North

The reason I ask that is because we know there are not 10,000 children. Are there maybe two- or three-thousand children that have been in this system that has been failing them for that long? When you look at it that way, you realize, this is a major impact on these people's lives.

The OAG staff was quoted in a recent

article saying, "Despite multiple commitments to do so, the department has still not assessed whether the financial and human resource levels it allocates to authorities are enough to deliver the required services for children and families." Earlier, in response to the Member for Yellowknife Centre's questions, the Minister once again made a commitment to do just that.

How do we know that he's going to do that? How can he assure us that he is finally going to do what the department has said they were going to do for years?

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Question 450-18(3): Child and Family Services

Oral Questions

Page 4450

Glen Abernethy

Great Slave

I appreciate that Members think that nothing has happened, but a significant amount has happened. In fact, we did contract with the Child Welfare League of Canada to help us do the exact work that the Member is asking us to do again. At that time, we were optimistic that they were going to provide us with a formula that would actually allow us to adequately resource the system because, clearly, we feel that it is not.

We did not get a report from the Child Welfare League of Canada that said, "This is how many positions you need." What we got was, "Here are some things you need to consider when you are actually doing the evaluation to determine how many positions y