Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, small business owners in Range Lake are being hit hard by tariffs. I'm hearing some unfair costs as high as $80,000 that they didn't have to pay before. Some are even leaving their goods in the US to avoid tariffs, hoping for a break if there's yet another arbitrary change of what's going on. So Range Lake businesses need financial support to offset the tariffs. Will the Minister commit funds -- Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment commit funds to support northern owned and operated businesses as they navigate these changing trade relationships? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at Industry, Tourism and Investment, we certainly believe in supporting northern business, and we are very transparent about who we support in the territory. We have multiple different programs across the department, and we publish the contributions to business through our contributions agreements very, very transparently, and certainly happy to look for any form or mechanism that we continue to support business in a greater way in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you. I think the issue is not that we don't support businesses; I know we support businesses. But this is a very specific prop moment challenge. They're meeting -- the Yukon government has set aside $2 million for this. Will the Minister bring forward an appropriation specifically to cushion northern businesses who are paying additional costs due to tariffs? We've seen other jurisdictions do this; it's time we did it as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point we're certainly working with the business community mostly through our chambers to decipher any increases in costs that we're seeing to northern businesses. We did recently see implications to our diamond industry for multiple reasons, one of which was tariffs. And certainly, Mr. Speaker, always happy to have the conversation, but I could never agree to that on the floor of the House because we have processes where I would need to, of course, have the support of all Cabinet. It's not a one-person decision. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Member from Range Lake.
Okay, thank you. So what can the Minister do if the Minister can't commit to -- because money's what's needed here. That's the support that's being asked for. That's the thing that's hurting bottom line that's going to lead to job losses, businesses closing, all of that. So what can the Minister do to cushion the impact of tariffs? If it's not money -- or how can we get to the point where we spend money -- I'm trying to get to the point we need to help these businesses. That's an extraordinary amount of money, and I'm not hearing any solutions being offered today. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly, the GNWT has responded in the area that we have seen direct tariff impacts to business which was to our diamond industry and from there, Mr. Speaker, certainly we'll continue to work with our chambers to find out what data they have in order to show what the impact is to business. Because I need the data to be able to decipher what our response, if it all needs to be from the GNWT, and certainly when we're in Ottawa next week I'll also be sitting with Ministers responsible for internal trade, and we'll be able to have conversations in relation to tariffs and national responses as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member's statement, we're running out of time so I'm going to try to squeeze a couple extra questions in here through this process.
Mr. Speaker, I was just simply gobsmacked when I heard that NGOs and community groups have to now get a health permit to have a barbecue. And, Mr. Speaker, could the Minister maybe enlighten how this process came along and what are we fixing? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the only -- within the legislation, but don't quote me because I don't have it in front of me, so I won't go into details. I know that there's traditional feasts that are exempted through this, otherwise I would have to get back to the Member. There isn't apparently any changes that it is -- or it hasn't been enforced previously. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, when I was speaking to this generous gift to the community, the purveyor of it, that is, Mr. Speaker, they told me that they were cornered at the Yellowknife trade show the week before when they were giving out popcorn to people in the community and they -- the health inspector cited where's your hand wash station, you know, and they went on this long list. Mr. Speaker, simply put, would the Minister find a better way to -- for us to work through these community generous gifts without turning them into permitting exercises. And by the way, the permit's free, which it's just an administrative loop and process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for bringing this to my attention today as I am currently dealing with the traditional feast one, so I will add that to the list that I will follow up and bring, and if there's more that you want to discuss this, I'll be willing to have this conversation further, if there's other things that we need to look into under this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister willing to work on this. I would ask in the context of urgency and zeal, because I mean, it's burger season, you know. So I don't want anyone in trouble. That's why I would ask the Minister to find a way to pull it back as reasonably as possible and would she be willing to make sure that this is done sooner than later because we don't want generous gifts to the community penalized by kind people helping others. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will be having this conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker, Indigenous women across the North are looking for meaningful action. The Calls for Justice from MMIWG are not optional; they are obligations. Our women deserve real change, not just words. My questions are for the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs relating to the implementation of the calls that specifically address safety, health, and rights of Indigenous women and girls.
Can the Minister state how many of the Calls for Justice relating specifically to Indigenous women and girls have been implemented by this government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very important question but very technical. I don't have that level of detail, but this is one where I'm more than happy to provide a written response back to this House and to the Member because I want to make sure that that information is getting out there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yeah, that's what I was going to ask next. Can the Minister explain how the department is actioning these calls. Well that, and then will the Minister commit to tabling an update in this House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm more than happy to table an update in this House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Okay, and he didn't answer the second question. Can the Minister explain how the department is actioning these calls? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in other jurisdictions in Canada, the Calls for Justice are to highlight a segment of the population that is ignored often and underserved. Here in the Northwest Territories, we're an Indigenous territory, and the policies that we put in place when it comes to health and social services, to justice, they better be focused on addressing those Calls for Justice. That's always at the forefront of our mind. When we -- you know, we're amending pieces of legislation right now to help address some of those issues. So everything we do, we keep that at the forefront of our mind. And if we're -- if departments aren't, then we as Ministers are doing what we can to ensure that they do. And if we're not doing it, the MLAs need to ensure that they're holding us to task on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, we've talked a lot about health care in this Assembly in the past sitting. Can the Minister talk to us about healthcare staff recruitment and retention, what is her department been doing and achieving with relation to bringing healthcare staff into the territory? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we in the last government set up what's called the health recruitment unit. This is an entity that works in concert with a team lead from the health authority. So we have a human resource specialist and an authority specialist working together specifically focused particularly nurse recruitment. Mr. Speaker, they are seeing some significant outcomes and benefits. For example, we are now consolidating competitions, which means it's a much more efficient process. Rather than hiring individually, we can actually bring nurses into a competition for any and all available positions, much more efficient this way and more targeted. But, really, the big thing, Mr. Speaker, compared to last March to this March, we already are projecting to have boosted indeterminate staffing by 13.6 percent, so a significant number, and dropping the number of days it takes to turn around from the time of application to the time of making an offer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, along a similar thread, I'm curious to hear from the Minister about our summer student hiring. What are our hiring numbers like? Is there anything that she has to deliver related to this and how it might relate to health care as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
New topic, Member from Frame Lake. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. I know the Indigenous Procurement Policy is in in the consultation stage. I know they've been in Inuvik. I talked to some business owners up there who have reached out to me with some questions around how that's going. I wonder can the Minister of Finance give an update on how those -- how the consultation process has been going and where they are in the procurement policy? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Member's quite correct, this -- the Indigenous Procurement Policy is meant to be really the culmination and completion of a procurement review effort that began in the last government with a number of updates, a number of consolidations of our purposes and principles, modernizing and bringing all these things into a place that are more effective, having dashboard, and having an Indigenous Procurement Policy, recognizing this a jurisdiction with 50 percent Indigenous population and a great many Indigenous businesses that we want to see flourish. So it's really looking at the public side of what we do and whether we can do better to reflect those businesses that we have. So that consultation process is happening right now. It began last month. It's going into this month. It will wrap up over the next month. I'll also be making some outreaches directly to Indigenous governments myself in addition to the opportunities that they've had -- they or their officials may have had. Still open, I believe, on the portal for feedback from folks and would certainly like to hear. There's a number of different ways this could go. We need to find a way to define an Indigenous business and then find whether or not there are opportunities to better support them in the procurement processes so that we are really maximizing the dollars of the government for the people and residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister. And certainly I support this important work. I live in a riding with two Indigenous governments, well established, both with well-established development corporations. So my next question is there going to be -- is there any consideration -- I had originally had thought to potentially, for example, Mr. Speaker, if there was $2 million worth of government contracting work to be done in my region, is there any appetite to, say, carve out 10, 20, 30, 50, whatever the percentage would be, of that work and then have that work then with qualified businesses within the Indigenous development corporations versus direct businesses. Is that any -- been given any consideration? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a second component of what's happening right now in this space, and that is led, really, by staff at Executive and Indigenous affairs is to have discussions with modern treaty holders, specifically to determine whether or not there are opportunities to create MOU arrangements so that there can be more formalized agreements as to how procurement might happen on the land -- on the lands for modern treaty holders. That may well end up in something of the way that the Member is describing. Obviously, it's premature for me to conclude what that would look like without knowing how those discussions go.
On terms of public procurement, Mr. Speaker, there's a number of options we put forward, and one of them is to do work packages. So not necessarily region by region but by project by project that you can ensure that's particularly on a large projects that there could be set aside amounts that we say, look, this is intended to be for a specific group or particular type of business to ensure that we are, again, maximizing local capacity. And, again, I encourage people to give us feedback if they think that would be helpful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. I know there are -- I mean, the whole purpose of this is to increase capacity in Indigenous employment in the regions, you know, give opportunities for Indigenous businesses to grow. I'm wondering -- and it's a question I've been asked -- there's also some non-Indigenous ran businesses that employ many Indigenous employees in the region as well. They've asked is there going to be any kind of a -- is there going to be any opportunity in the new policy to account for that as well, account for that to have -- if you, you know, and again, it's all about the teeth, right, Mr. Speaker. You got to be able to enforce it just like we do with the Business Incentive Policy. But is there any opportunity in the discussions on the new policy around that hiring of Indigenous people?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A couple things. Firstly, is that, again, our existing procurement policies do, to the extent that we look at BIP and use BIP as a key tool, we are now enforcing through vendor performance management the opportunity to ensure that when someone says they're hiring northerners, and ultimately Indigenous Northerners, that we'll be monitoring that so that they do the things they say they're going to do. But secondarily, Mr. Speaker, I'd suggest folks take a look at the proposed definition around Indigenous business that we've put forward. It's really a question of saying, you know, what -- whether or not it's majority ownership, whether it's majority benefit in terms of economic benefit. Is it majority control by Indigenous people, and should it be exclusively Indigenous people who are recognized Members of northern Indigenous nations, should it be Indigenous peoples of Canada? Those are exactly the questions we're out to look at right now. The North is a place of -- you know, again, we have a lot of different cultures and different regions, and we're trying to do our best to see that we reflect that in this future definition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions are for the Minister of Finance. On May 7th of this year, the NWT health authority announced a new air ambulance contract with Access Air Ambulance, so that's a joint venture between Advanced Medical Solutions, Air Tindi, Aklak Air, Det’on Cho, and Tlicho Investment Corporation, but a few -- oh, it was also mentioned in the press release that through the contract Access Air Ambulance committed to achieve substantial levels of NWT content as per the Business Incentive Policy. And a few days later, we saw in the news that Advanced Medical Solutions was actually taken over by a non-northern based company.
Can the Minister explain, in a situation like this, where a 10-year contract has just been awarded based on certain understood levels of northern content, can a contract like this be reviewed if circumstances like this change around northern content or ownership? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not in a position to speak to a specific procurement event here on the floor of the House. Certainly would be happy to find the details. We do, if there's a procurement event, obviously we are monitoring now to make sure that contracts are complied with and that commitments are applied with, whether it's to northern hiring, northern spends. That is part of vendor performance management now, and so certainly happy to make the commitment that we will do that. If there's fundamentals that have changed in a contract and they're not being met, again, that too can be something that may be dealt with. But probably wouldn't be dealt with here on the floor of the House. So, again, you know, really, making those assurances, again, that we want to hold people to the commitments that they make and told them particularly to the commitments that they make under BIP. Without knowing in front of me whether or not -- what commitments were made and whether or not they've been complied with, that's all I can say is to ensure that we will make the effort to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand we can't speak to details of any particular contract on the floor. But just in general in terms of the process or how it works, can the Minister explain whether the department would be proactively checking and enforcing, you know, northern content and ownership or whether it would be sort of reviewed on a complaints’ basis only. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
