Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier, I am happy to accept an invitation from a community to come in and participate in a town hall harding drugs or crime or any other concerns that the community may have that relates to my portfolio. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Range Lake.
You're fine, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, maybe I am asking it wrong. I am asking -- I am proposing an invitation to the Minister of Justice. Would he accept the offer by MLA Testart and I that if we organize a town hall meeting, would he attend? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated I am happy to attend a community meeting if I am invited to discuss the issues of my portfolio. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member for the Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister recently provided an update on the model of care in small community health centres, highlighting the improving care in small communities. Has the department examined whether an after hours home care support model should be added as a new policy direction to strengthen safety for elders in communities with limited emergency options? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as that -- the model of care is the health centre model; however, the home care program is currently an ongoing program that is in the small communities. It's in all of our communities. Within that program, the -- any community member can, you know, self referral or to have an assessment done for home care and home support services. As those home care and home services needs are, then the health authority then reviews the staffing that is needed for those areas. And so when it comes to after hours, if there's a -- you know, if there's a great need to be able to add extra staffing and evening and weekend hours, those assessments are currently done. Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has noted the need to balance the right mix of healthcare professionals in health centres and health cabins. Has the department assessed whether expanding the role of home care workers to include limited after hours support would help achieve this balance provided mix -- provider mix in small communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just, the program itself right now -- and I believe within the -- especially within the small communities, you know, we get federal funding, we use some internal funding, and that funding is done through intake through home support assess -- or home care assessments. The needs of the clients are assessed by the nurse, then those -- the hours are given to the home support workers as the needs, and not always can every small community has extended hours. At this time, the -- you know, within the -- within their job descriptions and within their work hours, some of our communities do have expanded hours and, you know, we continue to do assessments in all communities to see the need if there is a need for expanded hours. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Given that ongoing access to health care that is safe, reliable, and equitable is a top priority for the Minister for this government for the Northwest Territories health and social services system, will the Minister commit to engaging directly with community governments, Indigenous leadership, and local home care teams, to determine whether an after hours home support model aligns with community needs, cultural expectations, and existing capacities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to say my department is already doing that. Within the Department of Health and Social Services, we do have the northern wellness agreement, and we do have the First Nation and Inuit home and community care that we do provide services for our residents. Within the northern wellness agreement, the department works directly with every single community leadership, Indigenous, because that money flows to the Indigenous governments, and the Indigenous governments are the ones that come up with their community plans. So they could use that funding for health and health promotion in any way that they see fit and within that -- then they make the agreement, and then the funding flows directly to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I want to ask the Minister how many NWT residents are currently waiting for an MRI scan and what is the average wait time from referral to imaging. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have that level of detail at my desk. Thank you.
At a later time, I would like to get that information.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide the total annual cost to GNWT of sending residents to Alberta for MRI scans, including both medical travel expenses and payments to Alberta health facilities for the use of their diagnostic equipment. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I can do is I will bring that back to the department. I know that we are doing a feasibility study right now currently for MRI for Yellowknife, so I am sure we have some of that data. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister doing to ensure that essential diagnostic imaging is more accessible to residents of the Northwest Territories, and will the Minister commit to developing a plan to establish MRI services at Stanton Territorial Hospital. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, I have directed my department to do the feasibility study. That's the first part so that we -- you know, where we know what it's going to cost, what it's going to take. And they're currently in that process right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of health. Can the Minister explain how much child and family services works with the RCMP and the Department of Justice when homes with children is under investigation for criminal activity, such as drugs offences, to ensure that children are safely out of that home well before the police begin making arrests. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure of the actual protocol that they use, but I am aware that in communities where they are -- you know, where there is concerns, RCMP, if there is a need to go into the house, they -- and they know that there's children, they will contact child and family services. The other way around, if child and family services get a complaint and needs to go in to a family's home and they suspect that there could be, you know, drugs and crime going on, that they will contact RCMP as well to escort them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is the Minister ensuring that CFS staff can carry out welfare checks when concerns are raised about drugs and crime presence when staff may feel unsafe entering those homes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that child and family services does collaborate with the RCMP, and in the smaller communities, you know, I recently was in the Deh Cho and had the opportunity to talk with some of the concerns that the social workers had when going into small communities. And so with the communities that have no social worker or no RCMP that they are to, you know -- they're to travel together but if it's high risk, then they will contact RCMP. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have families affected by crime who are stuck in the small overcrowded homes after evictions. Can the Minister explain how she ensures that her department has plans to help these families access stable housing after an eviction beyond a simple moving them into with their closest relatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when there is a -- you know, a situation arise in a small community or in a family or if people are living in a home that now they can't occupy or they have to leave in order to keep the kids, the goal of child and family services is to try to keep the family together and try to get them to a safe place as soon as possible, and they usually work within the family first. And so if they identify an area where there is a family that they can go and stay, then they will make arrangements and support them to try and get there. That work doesn't stop there. It continues on, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my statement today, given that the City of Yellowknife has stated that it has little residential land for sale and the city therefore relies on the GNWT for land transfers before new development can proceed, what immediate measures can the department implement, the Department of ECC to be specific, to accelerate the release of priority parcels within the municipal boundary of Yellowknife? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 2025, the Department of Environment and Climate Change signed a memorandum of collaboration with the City of Yellowknife and part of this document established a framework for information exchange, for coordination, problem solving, and planning between the department and the city to help support timely and effective decisions on land. So we continue to work closely with the city in that direction. Currently there are eight applications that are in -- nine applications that are in process. Two of those are with land titles department right now, one is waiting on a survey, and six are in the consultation process. So we continue to work closely with the city to follow that process and ensure that we are processing those applications as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly appreciate the Minister's responsiveness to the pressure in this House about this issue. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister feel that there are specific components of the department's review and approval processes that could be streamlined or conducted in parallel to reduce processing timelines for municipal level housing and development applications? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, maybe I will just go back a little bit to the process after devolution.
So during devolution, the delegation of administration and control of lands was delegated from the federal government to the Government of the Northwest Territories. So as part of that, we are an arm of the Crown and so part of that responsibility in the transfer of lands requires us that we must honour the rights of Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations therefore that requires the extensive consultation process that we do not really put a timeframe on. The other component here that I think that is really relevant is that we don't have the ability to further delegate that authority down to another party. So this process and how we work collaboratively with the city, ensuring that we're moving this as quickly as -- ensuring that our internal processes are efficient, that we're reviewing applications quickly, noting any gaps or missing information, quickly responding to the city or the applicant to get that information and move that application forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister getting into more specifics on this issue and would just note as we were talking about in Committee of the Whole the other night, Mr. Speaker, the land and water board process is well celebrated in the Northwest Territories for Indigenous participation and land claim implementation, and that process has timelines associated with it, Mr. Speaker. So I think that it would be possible to put timelines around the process and still engage in that collaborative way that the Minister is speaking to. So would the Minister look into establishing timelines for that part of the process? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, happy to take that away and go back, have a conversation with my department to see which of the steps that we have control over that we're able to implement some better time guidance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So further to my Member's statement for today, I wanted to ask questions of the Minister of energy, strategic infrastructure, and supply chains, in no particular order.
First, does the Minister see benefit in establishing a more centralized team of support staff within infrastructure to provide more coordinated, targeted support across government operations when it comes to biomass systems and the local operators and maintainers that are trying to keep them working? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a fairly long list of folks that are being named, and this is likely one where there's strategic energy initiatives that reside with me and yet management of our facilities with, of course, Minister for Infrastructure and may well involve some work from MACA with respect to what's happening at a community level. So I'd certainly like to say that if it's a question of simply coordinating or ensuring that the right people are talking to each other that that's probably pretty easy to do. So let me take that back, Mr. Speaker, if there's something simple that needs to get done, that the right people know where to find the right people. I am confident that we can do that without having to bring about a lot more resources to these departments. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am happy to have a huddle with the Minister or speak about that in more detail later, but. What support is available from infrastructure to help communities do feasibility analysis if they want to establish local wood harvesting and chipping operations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
