Thank you. What I've directed the NTHSSA to do is to do the mapping, and I think currently right now, that's what they're doing, is looking at what they're going to be monitoring and bringing all of the concerns and the complaints that have come through my offices, BFs, the things that have come through the Office of Client Experience, and then working within the staff to try and navigate. This is the same thing as they did with the Deh Cho journey. They heard from the residents. They heard from the staff. And then they -- part of that was following through different areas with the patient through the mapping -- I meant through accessing the primary care clinics. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am sure committee will look forward to that scoping and work together with the Minister. Mr. Speaker, will the proposed medical travel case management initiative with the three proposed positions focus solely -- their work solely on identifying cost savings, or will these positions also be looking for trends in patient experience and suggest improvements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the case management pilot that is proposed is -- what the goals of this would be to real time case management to ensure medical travel is necessary and that virtual options are considered, redirecting patients to in territory service when it's clinically appropriate, developing best practice at reduced travel costs, and help patients navigate the system, improving patient experience by reducing unnecessary travel, and when travel is needed it would also ensure appointments are scheduled in a way that supports patient and avoids preventable delays. 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 speaking to my friends and contemporaries at city hall, they are telling me about the challenges. They still don't have any land, and there seems to be a land grid lock. And they often ask me, is there a policy with ECC to not transfer land, and I'd like to get that clarified, because the city wants to maximize its tax base with opportunities.
So, Mr. Speaker, with the Minister of ECC, I'd like to clarify, is there any type of policy that obstructs transfer of land that has been identified for their needs? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, there is not.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when an application comes in, it should have sort of a -- we'll call it a target time. In other words, this application must be fulfilled within 90 days. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Minister agreed to that earlier in this Assembly. Mr. Speaker, is that policy being implemented that upon an application received in good order, it will be processed within 90 days? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process through which a land application goes, once it becomes into the system, it has multiple steps. Not all of the steps are within the control of the department. So there's consultation that's involved. There's documentation, the moving into the legal realm. There's reviews by counsel on both sides, either for the department or for the purchaser of the land. So many of these components do not have specific timelines associated with them however we do make every effort to move the land applications through as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, if I was in the city administration, I go to the cupboard and I open it up, the cupboard of land is bare, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, if they ask for too much, they say, oh, well you don't need that land, so no, we deny it. So, Mr. Speaker, what is the department of ECC planning to transfer this spring to the City of Yellowknife to ensure that they can keep the opportunities of maximized tax base and a growing economy here in Yellowknife?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently, the department signed a memorandum of collaboration to work with the City of Yellowknife, and we have been working together on many files to transfer land within the city. Currently, there are eight files in process, two of -- six of which are currently in consultation and two of which have moved to the next level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement around the shortfall between the NIHB program and what GNWT's paying, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Could she provide the latest cost -- what it's cost our government to cover the shortfall from NIHB. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the shortfall for 2023-2024 was $7 million, and the shortfall for 2024-2025 was $13 million. However, I'd just like to add that these two years, we were provided the first time ever a supplementary additional payment on top of what they normally give us, which was a total of $25 million for each year. And previous years before this, as long as we've been administering NIHB, they've never been -- they've never given us that money. So the years before, we could probably calculate $20 million, $25 million on average, that we've been overspending. And with the cost of inflation, it's only going up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for that. And obviously the concerns I brought up in my statement were certainly verified by the cost it's costing us.
To better alleviate some of the time zone challenges and certainly better communicate with departments and residents, has there been any consultation with NIHB regarding moving the NIHB office to Yellowknife where it should be to be in our time zone and for it to be able to have advocacy here as we know we are a contractor, not advocates, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that within Indigenous governments and the GNWT over the years, you know, we work closely with the northern region district. However, the NIHB, like, program is housed for not just with us, with Nunavut as well, in Ottawa. And due to the fact that our two territories administer the program, they provide the Indigenous governments with navigators, like so there's NIHB navigator, I think at least within Inuvialuit, and then there's an NIHB navigator with Dene Nation. And that's what they've committed to be supporting residents in the Northwest Territories. However, there hasn't been any question of having an office here because GNWT administers the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate that. I just think how good it will be to have that office right next to the medical travel office here in Yellowknife, would make way more sense. Having said that, I know the Minister has been working with ISC, working on a new agreement. Can the Minister please provide when she would anticipate that the new agreement will be finalized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's ongoing conversations between my department and Indigenous Service Canada. You know, we need to have an agreement before March 31st as our agreement did expire last March 31st. So that's the work that we're working on right now. And the important piece to understand is that when the new government was -- when they prorogued and then the new government was elected, they didn't resume conversations on a lot of this until after the budget. So we've been in mad meetings with ISC trying to make sure that this agreement is what we need for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions are for the Minister of Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains, or if I have that wrong it's something along those lines.
In my Member's statement, I referenced a backgrounder that's available online produced by NTPC. It's not dated. But it's a list of ideas and possible strategies to respond to energy challenges; in that case, specifically around low water levels. And so one of those ideas -- my question for the Minister is, first, has NTPC pursued the idea of installing a 10-megawatt battery at Jackfish that could store up to 15 minutes of reserve energy and thereby eliminate most of our power outages in the North Slave grid. 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, if we're all talking about the same backgrounder, and it would appear from the list read that we are, this backgrounder dates back to 2015, which would be the last time that we were in a low water cycle as we were a couple of years ago when Yellowknife ended up on diesel here in 2023-2024 roughly. So back in 2015, this backgrounder was developed. I can certainly speak to the extent that I am able, that there was some consideration back then given to it. I obviously wasn't here at Cabinet, and the board has certainly changed over somewhat significantly, particularly in the last few months on that. So at this point, Mr. Speaker, it makes it a bit difficult to say whether or not -- or to speak for what decisions might have been made by the Cabinet at the time or by the Assembly at the time. I certainly can say, Mr. Speaker, that looking at battery storage does continue to be something that NTPC and strategic infrastructure are doing with respect to both the integrated systems planning work that's underway for the whole of the territory as well as for the North Slave resiliency study that we are expecting out this spring. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I can appreciate that some of these ideas may have come a while ago but still may be relevant, and so I am wondering if the Minister has any information about whether the idea is being pursued of installing modular units at Jackfish plant. At the time it was referenced that they could be up to 5.75 total megawatts, and the idea was to increase capacity and improve efficiency and reliability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I can confirm that NTPC did install modular units at Jackfish to increase the capacity. There were installations completed back in 2018 and 2019, and there's also a new 4.4 -- I don't know the capacity of those two, but there is a 4.4-megawatt generator also at Jackfish plant. It does remain, Mr. Speaker, that the system is still reliant on these -- on this single generation facility and so, again, that doesn't necessarily answer all of the challenges we have within the lack of a wider grid or redundancy in the grid but that element was taken care of. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So that's good news. And so finally, I mean, ideas are raised from time to time, especially with our lowest water years, which we didn't necessarily have last year, but of the need to increase energy generation capacity -- yeah, so has the Minister -- or is the Minister aware of whether NTPC has actually been pursuing ideas to increase energy generation capacity within the Snare system such as increasing the capacity of the Bluefish reservoir and wind and solar potential? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, indeed, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, there's a number of efforts underway, not only -- not only within the Snare but across the Northwest Territories in terms of micro hydro capacity in some smaller communities that would be unlikely to ever find themselves on our existing hydro grids, as well as with the Tlicho government and opportunities within the Tlicho region near Whati. So that is a project that's also being looked at, as well as to increase the transition -- or transmission capacity to some of the communities who would be on the grid. So in order to also, again, just to be able to provide some more communities with power. But so yes, the short answer is yes. There's also efforts being undertaken, I understand, to examine wind capacity here closer to Yellowknife, solar capacity. And with that, Mr. Speaker, we do have the experience of battery systems in both Colville Lake and in Inuvik, which would be then necessary to support a smoothing out of the intermittent power that would be generated by those systems. There is not one solution here, Mr. Speaker, and I am happy to receive further questions on it, but we will continue to look for whatever opportunities there are. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of health -- responsible for Health and Social Services. Can the Minister explain what steps the department is taking to expand on-the-land programming and ensure that these opportunities are available consistently throughout the year. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department administers two funds designed to support the delivery of community-based mental wellness and addiction recovery program, and the suicide prevention program. So these funds are application-based for Indigenous governments, Indigenous communities, NGOs, to apply to provide programming. And through the program that they provide, this is part of the work that was done with the Council of Leaders that the -- we don't -- they decide how they spend those monies within their community and on the land or however they choose to provide those programs in their community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know that elders play a critical role in guiding people through healing, cultural learning, and reconnection. Can the Minister outline how the department is supporting elders' participation in on-the-land programs, including proper compensation, coordination, and recognition of their knowledge. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations determine their own priorities and programming. They engage with elders and other community knowledge holders as they see fit, and the fund allows for communities to compensate elders for their service. We, you know -- we've heard from Indigenous leaders that they want to be doing these types of programs themselves in the communities and that, you know -- so we're just providing the funding to them to allow them to do this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, communities often tell us that short-term or uncertain funding makes it difficult to design consistent impactful on-the-land programs. Will the Minister commit to establishing longer term predictable funding arrangements so that communities can plan, deliver, and sustain on-the-land healing programs for individuals at risk of substance use? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the mental wellness and recovery fund, we have many groups. I believe the Deh Cho also are in a multi-year funding Access This funding and have a multi-year agreement. Many of our Indigenous groups do have multi-year agreements as that fund is eligible for multi-year agreements. The suicide prevention fund, however, is a smaller amount, and so, you know, communities, based on their need, they may come forward if they've had different scenarios. So that one is an annual application. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister agree that establishing a Tlicho administrative region would improve transparency by allowing GNWT to track and report housing, health, and education investments, specifically for Tlicho communities, rather than only at the territorial level? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. I believe it's gone to Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, not necessarily. The challenge that we have, some years ago, before I was in government, there were more regions -- or sorry, more specific services offered specific to the Tlicho region with some reporting, but it wasn't necessarily capturing services that would be, for example, funding that gets issued to district education authorities or funding for services that cover multiple communities or services across highway regions for instance. So it -- it's going to be very difficult to fully capture everything that is happening within a particular region.
Now, that said, Mr. Speaker, there is a working group that was established after bilateral meetings with the Tlicho government to try to figure out a better way to provide that kind of information, to identify where there are gaps. And I understand that the attempt to get that back underway has already begun. Thank you.
Yeah, I was looking for a different answer; I was hoping that she would say yes. But does the Minister recognize that a dedicated administrative region could enhance efficiency by reducing duplication in service delivery and ensuring resources are better in line with the unique needs of Tlicho communities? Thank you.
