Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in British Columbia, there's an agreement with the provincial government to establish a First Nations health authority. At the same time, some First Nations operates their own private health centres there as well. Can the Minister indicate if any -- sorry, indicate if health and social services were to consider the creation of First Nation health authorities here in the NWT while allowing community-based initiatives to be jump started to fill in the gap in the meantime? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The little bits and pieces, what I do know of the First Nations BC health authority are from my old practices with NIHB. And I know from the -- within BC, all of the Indigenous groups have gotten together, the reserves got together, and so they do run clinics on their reserves. They draw down those funds. And I know that we've had these conversations that they're getting larger amounts of money per capita because they've drawn down some of these services on their reserves. And they also encompass administering NIHB in their province solely.
But within the Northwest Territories, because we have so many different Indigenous groups, like we have the First Nations, but then we have self-governing nations, then we have Inuit, then we have Metis, it gets very complex in the Northwest Territories and I'm not saying it can't be done. Maybe in the -- you know, in those conversations, and those are the conversations that would be something that I would, you know, suggest that, you know, we could continue to have those conversations with Indigenous governments and Indigenous leaders throughout the Northwest Territories. But how we get there, you know, that would take a lot of work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was passed by the last Assembly two years ago. Can the Minister provide any progress on the part of health and social services to uphold the rights outlined in UNDRIP which the GNWT must start implementing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the legislation was passed. I was part of that amazing work that was done. And, you know, and I think that work that continues to happen, I don't have the specifics on that, but what I do know is that within our department, we do continue to work with the Indigenous advisory body and with the culture safety and anti-racism unit to ensure that when we get those federal dollars, they're well -- like, each community has wellness funds that we give to each community based on their wellness plans, and those things are driven from their own communities to provide some services and programs in their community. But I can -- again, I will share that information with the Member of what's going on and in Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 2023 evacuation, Avens was forced -- not of their own volition, but they were forced by the government to evacuate 57 vulnerable residents with little to no assistance. Mr. Speaker, they were even in carriage of people from Hay River and Fort Smith who needed that specialized care, and they were all too happy to do so, to support them. Avens was forced to cover a cost of $1.3 million that they had to take a mortgage out.
Now, after some long discussion, the government agreed to carry -- sorry, cover $900,000. They left 30 percent shortfall. That's $400,000. Will the Minister direct her department to work through this process and pay Avens the outstanding debt they have -- they are owed by this government?
Could the Member tell me who the question is going to, please.
Well, Minister of health. Thank you. She can start.
Okay. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I do know about the -- what happened within that situation, there has been discussions that's gone back and forth. It came back between the disaster funding that it wasn't eligible or applicable, and these were things that didn't meet for reimbursement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, let's start with not typical. Massive fire evacuation. Not typical? Find a way to remove everyone on your own. And furthermore and lastly, Mr. Speaker, the direction of oh, sorry, the plane you've arranged on your own without a plan, without support from us, we're commandeering it. You're right, none of it was typical. And in some ways, Mr. Speaker, not fault, but we have to figure out these things.
So, Mr. Speaker, knowing the situation, would the Minister go back and review the situation to see if they can assess on why this outstanding amount is still there and, furthermore, close that gap because Avens should not be subsidizing the GNWT. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have gone back. I know the Minister of MACA has gone back. My department went back and had further discussions, and the decision that was -- that there were benefits that were given to employees over and above that was what is -- and so that's why they didn't qualify under any of their collective agreement or under the disaster mitigation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, that's -- over and above is all fair and game when someone says this is what you're supposed to do and this is how you're supposed to do it. That wasn't the situation. They were left on their own, told to solve this problem, and they did in the best goodwill that they could. They took Yellowknife residents, Hay River residents, and Fort Smith residents.
Mr. Speaker, to the point of the question is Avens was faced with a Judgment of Solomon. Do they take some, which some, or do they take them all? They took them all. So back to this. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister saying some seniors mattered more than others during this evacuation, because Avens had no other option, or is she willing to find a way to support Avens through this terrible financial crisis? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the relationship between the NTHSSA and Avens is between the NTHSSA and Avens, and they were supported. This -- as we've been talking about in this House today, that was something that nobody else has experienced. And I understand where the Member is coming from but, like I said, we looked at all of the, and we worked with the Minister of MACA, and the decision still stands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister's going to -- or the Minister for Education, Culture and Employment is actively going to be working on this immigration file when she goes to Ottawa. So there's another issue that's come up that hasn't been raised on the floor of the House to my knowledge, and that's from workers who are now expecting children, if they wait for the NTNP to reopen next year, some of them will go on maternity leave which may make them ineligible to apply, forcing them to wait another year to -- for access.
What is the Minister doing to ensure that expecting parents aren't excluded from this program, or is the message that women must delay pregnancy in order to qualify?
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the Member. Currently, within the policy, there is a leave provision in there and that is something that I am currently exploring with the department given the existing parameters of the program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know if I can tell the people experiencing this issue that an exploration is going on and that will be sufficient. So what does exploring mean in real terms to people with real lives who are experiencing this situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do want to fix this issue. I do think that it is an equity issue. And I don't have an answer for the Member right now other than the fact that I am live to this issue. Currently, the program says that people must be employed at the time that they apply, and so I have committed on the floor of this House that I'm currently reviewing that and seeing what parameters we can push this to within the program. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister develop some sort of exemption or exclusionary measure in this program for this very small class of people who are experiencing this issue. We want to keep people in the North, we want to keep people working, and we certainly want to keep people who have already contributed to the community in those jobs doing that work. So will she commit to an exemption to support expectant mothers who are in this program who are currently being shut out of that opportunity? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm absolutely agreeing with the Member that this was an equity issue, that we want to keep people in the North, and that we want to ensure that people can also add to their families and not be concerned about their applications. This is one of those frustrating parts of administering a program on behalf of another level of government, and so I need to see what my parameters are within our ability here in the territory to make adjustments to this extended lever part of the policy. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the other day I was talking about baby Alma, and my question is to the Minister of Justice.
I had a -- I was at a funeral yesterday in Dettah, and some of the elders had been talking to me and they were asking for an update on what's going on. So my question to the Minister is the baby -- baby Alma has been waiting years to bring her home, and the only way to do this is to investigate her cause of death is through the Coroner's Act. My question to the Minister is will the Minister of Justice initiate a proper investigation and bring her home through the Coroner's Act and if the Minister could update the House on where things are at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. We all know that this is a tragic situation and a very challenging one at the same time. I'm certainly committed, as I stated on Friday, to working with the coroner's office and with, you know, the Department of Justice to ensure that we do everything we can to find a path to get Alma home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you go through this process, will the Minister will look at also the cost under the Coroner's Act to bring baby Alma home? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not familiar specifically with the Coroner's Act but happy to investigate what the possibilities may be there in that regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Final supplementary.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to working closely with myself and the Indigenous governments to develop new legislation to ensure that Indigenous communities dealing with this residential school graves never have to go through the experience like I did in my riding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is a huge question, and I am certainly committed to working with the Member, with the Indigenous government and governments across the Northwest Territories. I've spoken with the Member. I've had the opportunity to have a conversation with the chief in Fort Resolution, and I am planning to attend the community next week for a face-to-face meeting. So certainly, I think, this is the beginning steps to our collaborative approach to how we all engage together to find a mutual and respectful solution to this at the end of the day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe my questions are for the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, although he has recently passed the responsibility for homelessness on to the Minister of housing, so I'll leave it up to them as to who responds exactly.
But on May 6th, recently the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs convened a meeting of the Yellowknife community partnership committee to discuss challenges associated with homelessness and integrated service delivery, and there were about 40 participants there from -- everywhere from local Indigenous governments and NGOs, GNWT departments, the city of Yellowknife, the RCMP, and lots of representatives from the business community. I noticed that some of the key takeaways included the need to compile realtime individual level data for understanding trends like shelter use and rough sleeping and the need for respectful and meaningful engagement with people who have lived experience with homelessness.
So my first question is given these key learnings and takeaways from the meeting, will this impact or change the approach that's taken by the GNWT this year to encampments that are already starting to appear within our city? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for raising this. We are working -- and trying to work more closely with the NGOs in Yellowknife who are providing critical services. As we move towards integrating more services across government, NGOs are very valuable partners, invaluable partners even. We want to ensure that they are properly supported, that we are hearing from them, that we're working together, and that we're sharing information. And so what we are planning to do is ensure that we have enough shelter space, first of all. We want to ensure that there is enough space for everyone who needs a place to stay, they will have a place to stay. That being said, not everyone wants to stay in a shelter and so we want to ensure that while people have the ability to do what they need to do to get by, that we are not allowing other parts of -- that we're mitigating the negative impacts of encampments. And there could be impacts with, you know, businesses, with -- you know, even with non-profits who need to work, and there might be an encampment nearby and that's causing them issues. So we want to ensure that we mitigate those efforts, but we want to ensure that we're also working with the vulnerable population who's living in these encampments. We want to ensure they're in a place that is safe, that is not disrupting other, you know, nearby neighbours. We all have to get along, and we want to ensure that we're working to minimize any type of conflict that might occur. That being said, we want to -- we don't want to normalize encampments. We can't just have encampments popping up anywhere in the city year after year. And so while this is not new to Yellowknife anymore, we've experienced this before, we are still determining how we're going to get where we need to go so that everyone is satisfied with the outcome. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that answer. I noticed that there is -- there was a goal that came out of this meeting around the need to compile individual name by name data around those who may be sleeping rough or staying in shelters. I wonder if -- are the challenges around that task due mainly to barriers around coordination and technical and computer systems, or are there significant barriers related to Privacy Act legislation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, all of those things. So, you know, the population of individuals who are unhoused, you know, they come and go. They don't have fixed addresses obviously, and so just knowing where people are at any given time can be difficult. And so that's, you know, the most fundamental issue that we have. There is things like the Health Information Act which is one of our two pieces of privacy legislation here in the territory, and that puts a lot of boundaries around who information can be shared with, who can hold on to that information, and that can make it difficult when we are working with -- you know, working in the government system, you know, working with individuals who might be on the streets. And so that legislation is up for review, and I've had discussions with the Minister of health about that and the need to ensure that our own legislation doesn't get in our way. So that review will take place later this year.
There's also the issue of having computer systems and databases that can talk to each other. And so we have offered NGOs certain software that we're using so that we can all speak in the same language essentially and all share information to better support vulnerable population. However, I understand that the federal government provides, you know, some funds to NGOs as well, and they require them to use a particular software that's different than our software. So, you know, that's an issue that we're going to have to figure out how to overcome as well. So a lot of challenges, but I think that we're actually in a pretty good place here. In my time as an MLA, I've never seen this type of focus on supporting the NGOs sector or homelessness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also noted the extraordinary involvement of the Yellowknife business community in these meetings, and I've certainly spoken with many business owners myself who are highly motivated to contribute to solutions, including equipping staff to better assist or deal with those experiencing homelessness. So can the Minister explain are there initiatives underway where the GNWT's assisting business owners to take tangible action in the short-term? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we certainly engaged with the business community. For that level of detail, I'm going to have to get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll follow up with the Premier with a similar line of questioning. He brought it up. So knowing that there's an encampment downtown, I brought it to the attention of several Ministers, not directly to the Premier, but I have no doubt he is well aware of it. You know, and I'm concerned that if the government starts providing food, water, toilet, security, etcetera, it becomes entrenched.
So, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know what the Premier is doing or instructing through his government through various departments about removing the current encampment that's downtown to a more appropriate place. Thank you.
