Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
I want to ask the Minister what specific public awareness initiatives are currently being delivered to help Northerners understand the risks, symptoms, and prevention strategies related to diabetes? Thank you.
Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, throughout the Northwest Territories, the health authorities lead this work. The department works with them and, you know, if there's funding that they can access through federal funding, that they obtain through that. However, the authorities have their health promotion arm where that is where community health representatives, public health, all of those different areas, primary care providers, so your first response to -- or your first access to care would be through your primary care provider. In the small communities, it would be your health centre nurse that would be able to diagnose chronic diseases. And in the Northwest Territories, you know, we have diabetes, we have heart disease, we have cancer, we have chronic airway disease, and there's many different areas that we're trying to focus on in providing the information to be able to provide the health promotion to the communities. Thank you.
Okay, Mr. Speaker, thank you. So if that is the case, then why diabetes and other chronic disease are on the rise if they are working, doing something about it though, in small communities. So I want to ask the Minister how much funding is being allocated directly to diabetes-specific awareness and prevention efforts, and how does the department determine the level of investment needed given that approximately 20 percent of NWT residents are affected? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a chronic disease framework that was completed. And to implement that, the department is currently -- in the proposed budget, there's some staffing resources in there to implement that budget. However, to get to more specifics, and because I knew that the question was coming, I broke it down for the Member for TCSA. So within each authority in each region, they all work with the communities to see what their priorities are. And within the TCSA, diabetes has been highlighted. And so to better -- TCSA is working collaboratively with the Tlicho government to increase diabetes awareness. So they are trying to address these gaps. And there has been some funding that has gone directly to support a diabetes land-based program for $150,000. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was speaking for the whole of the Northwest Territories. There's 9,400 people that are affected. I wasn't speaking specifically for Tlicho region, but thank you for the information.
So what new or upcoming policy measures, partnerships, or community-driven programs is the department pursuing to reduce diabetes rates and improve long-term outcomes for the approximately 9,400 residents, as I currently said, currently living with diabetes or pre-diabetes? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the whole of the territory, this is where primary care reform is the leading area of this. It's access to care. I've said it on the floor of this House many times, you know, we have the challenges over the years of access to care. And so people need to know how to access care and where is the appropriate -- and that's what implementing this framework is going to do for chronic disease management. It's going to give everyone a roadmap as to how to access the certain different areas in their region to be able to deal with these things. However, by accessing your primary care -- so if you're in a small community, if you're in -- you access your -- you know, go through your team, go through your nurse, they can make referrals to the dietician. There are community wellness programs that happen. They do prenatal programs for women that are pregnant in the communities. Public health goes out and does different education. There are programs within the school for kids. So there's multiple different arms of trying to improve living healthier lifestyles in the Northwest Territories, and that's through the health promotion arm of the -- or through the department and the authorities. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to ask questions about the rental office and the Residential Tenancies Act. There's been no shortage of criticism here, including from the other side of the House very publicly. So I'd like to ask the Minister of Justice, is the Minister able to issue policy guidance to the rental officer in the same manner as to the public utilities board or other independent bodies that are still empowered by territorial statute? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the rental office is a statutory office and is beyond my ability to provide direction to that office. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that's the case. If the decisions of the rental officer are contravening the Residential Tenancies Act, what remedies are available to applicants outside of appealing it at the Supreme Court? Which is costly, takes the court's time. The rental officer is not abiding by the Act. What is the Minister -- how does the Minister propose to solve that problem? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am unable to speak on the floor about items that are directly in front of the rental officer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
He could have also said that's hypothetical so I can't answer it. But the point is there's significant concerns coming here. So when is this Minister going to update and modernize the RTA so it's very clear -- it takes a side essentially. Because right now it's up to total interpretation of the rental officer. We're giving far too much latitude. And the decisions that are being made are not helping communities, and that's what we're here to do. So when will the Minister actually take action, stop talking about it, and fix this problem with the RTA?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Residential Tenancies Act is currently under review and recommendations will come forward which we will review and look to implement in the not-too-distant future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Premier.
Mr. Speaker, I said in my Member's statement talking about putting capacity where it's needed most with the amount of infrastructure being brought forward with Inuvik being one of the operational hubs selected. Can the Premier, you know, speak to what, if any, their staffing plan they put together to ensure that we do have certainly boots on the ground there for this important infrastructure? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The investments that the Government of Canada has announced towards our national security in the Northwest Territories are significant, and we recognize that they present a significant opportunity for the people of the territory. We want to ensure that we capture any opportunities that come with these investments, whether that's construction or ongoing O and M contracts that we might be able to get, and we need to ensure that we're all working together and we're all coordinated. And to date, I personally have actually found it difficult to get coordinated because so much has happened in such a short amount of time, and there are relationships with the Department of National Defence that they have with the Town of Inuvik, with the City of Yellowknife, with other entities, and so what we're doing is looking at how we can organize ourselves internally so that there is a single point of contact that will understand and be aware of everything that's happening in the territory and then be able to ensure that what we need to do on our end to ensure we're maximizing benefits actually happens. So we're at the early days of putting something together to figure that structure out. But in the meantime there are meetings with the GNWT. The deputy minister just met with the Town of Inuvik, the City of Yellowknife, DND. So there are things happening, but we want to ensure there's more structure around it because it is such a large investment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. And it is early days, and I certainly appreciate that, and I know that the Premier has been engaged with what's happening around the DND investment. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, was the Premier aware that DND were doing a town hall in Inuvik on April 17th? And if so, do we have someone lined up to ensure that we are at that event as well? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I became personally aware today when the Member told me, but I was not previously aware of that. That being said, I am not sure if there is someone lined up to attend that, but we certainly have staff in Inuvik and we can line someone up to ensure they attend that. Thank you.
Final Supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it's on the town's Facebook website too now so it is a public meeting.
One last question. Given the structure the Premier talked about, what they're looking at -- I get that. They're looking at how -- the one point of contact. Can the Premier commit that if this one point of contact is going to be in Yellowknife that we have a senior position as well attached to that in Inuvik, whether that's an ADM or some senior position, to ensure that decisions being made in that region are being looked at by someone in the region itself? Mr. Speaker, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member raising this early on in the process so that as we look to design some sort of a structure, we have that type of input. I agree that Yellowknife is a long way from the Beaufort Delta. We need to ensure we know what's going on on the ground there. But that being said, I don't want to commit to something here on the floor of the House without some careful examination and some further discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions will focus to the Minister of housing, responsible for homelessness. Mr. Speaker, in short, citizens are not feeling safe in the community, and they're very frustrated. They have to worry about damaged property, things being stolen, and certainly their personal safety when they walk by or near these types of encampments.
Mr. Speaker, the question really boils down to is with room at the shelters that provide services and support to these types of people in these challenges, what supports is the NWT Housing Corporation providing directly to these encampments? And if the Minister would help illuminate this House with the specifics of the types of supports they're directly supplying the encampments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Member for the question. In terms of supports for the encampments, Housing NWT does not provide any material supports at this time. We do provide counselling advice, supports, and also discussions with the encampment folks, offering them to move over to the shelters, working with our shelter operators. So there's ongoing discussions but in terms of supports, Housing NWT does not provide those supports at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that there is room at the shelters -- okay, that's important -- and there's a real public concern around this particular issue, why is the government not working to clean up these shelters -- or sorry, these encampments and move folks to the shelters given that we have a vacancy at -- safe space at the shelters? And the point, ultimately, is people are concerned about the spaces when the government is demonstrating inaction. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is not -- is providing action, not not demonstrating action. I find that statement not true. And I just want to be clear that Housing NWT is leading with homelessness, the homelessness file, the encampments. And it's a very difficult file, Mr. Speaker, and we can't force people to move into shelters. They're welcome to encamp or camp on Commissioner's land, and we provide that support and advice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government could do something with respect to the encampments and, again, given that there's space at the shelters.
Mr. Speaker, the long one sentence is the government needs to stop straddling the fence on this particular issue; therefore, would the government help take back the streets by exercising actual action in cleaning up these encampment spaces, which there are a multitude, and would the government finally make a decision to get behind this initiative? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Housing NWT is a social agency so we provide social supports, especially to those that are living in encampments or living in shelters. This issue is more of an enforcement issue so I suggest the question go to the City of Yellowknife, the RCMP, or any other criminal agency. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have further questions for the Minister of Education.
The Minister has put a lot of emphasis on the inclusive schooling review which is to be released soon, and inclusive schooling has tended to focus on providing accommodations to students who are struggling. One key recommendation in the Ontario Human Rights Commission's Right to Read report was that accommodations should not be used as a substitute for teaching kids to read.
So my first question to the Minister, is there anything in the current inclusive schooling directive or handbook that specifies that accommodations such as assistive technologies, like computers, are not to be used as a substitute for teaching kids to read? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in short, yes, accommodations help students access learning but do not replace teaching children to read. So teachers can, for example, pair accommodations with classroom instruction and then, where needed, target more intensive interventions. These assistive technologies, Mr. Speaker, are meant to complement teaching and intervention, but are not a standalone solution. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I am glad to hear that, although I haven't seen that statement specifically in the inclusive schooling directive. I am wondering if the Minister can tell us if there's anything in the inclusive schooling directive or handbook that provides guidance, then, on what proven methods teachers should be using to teach children to read who may have dyslexia or other learning disabilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, inclusive schooling in the Northwest Territories uses a tiered responsive model, which means it starts with good teaching for everyone, and then from there you add in small group help when needed, provide extra one-on-one supports to students who need it more, so getting a tiered approach that allows teachers to kind of narrow in to smaller groups as students need it but starting with the larger cohort to begin with. The new adapted curriculum, Mr. Speaker, itself incorporates foundational early learning components that align with evidence-based approaches that are identified as well in the Right to Read report that the Member referenced in her Member statements and previous questions as well. And it's important to note, Mr. Speaker, that the inclusive schooling review and the department's response will help shape clearer territorial direction on early literacy instruction and intervention to ensure that we're consistently applying things across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does ECE provide any guidance to schools on when to seek a costly psychoeducational assessment by a professional when a student is struggling versus when to first try science-based instructional methods that have been proven to result in breakthroughs for specific reading challenges? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, while there are assessments that take a deeper look at how a student learns, there are lots of instances where an assessment of this nature isn't necessarily needed. Schools are really encouraged to act early and not wait, and teachers are encouraged to provide additional classroom and small group support as soon as a concern emerges with a student. And students don't need a diagnosis in order for teachers to make that available to students in their schools or in their classrooms, and a formal diagnosis is not required for accommodations or intervention for a student. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
