Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the public administrator has been working hard with the CEO and the NTHSSA executive to bring forward, over the last couple of years, a lot of the areas they were targeting in forced growth and enhancements that they previously have done. So if people don't -- like, most people don't understand that the authority was continuing to just put in areas where there was high pressure, high needs, and that's what was driving up the deficit; however, within this government we, you know, as Cabinet and as myself as Minister, once we got the public administrator in, that piece was directed on ensuring that any forced growth submissions and all those things were targeting areas that were drivers of the deficit. So this past year, the budget that was -- was less than the previous year, and so I think before the end of this government, this is where we are expecting -- and, you know, throughout the situation, we didn't want it to impact patients' care. And so by just cutting the budget was not effective. It was working within, finding from within, tightening up areas where, you know, spending might -- you know, where we could -- if it didn't impact patient care. And so those things have been completed over the years, and I am looking -- you know, I -- you know, within the next little while, we'll be getting the NTHSSA's budget for the 2026-2027 year, and I am pretty sure that, you know, and from the information that I've been getting on quarterly updates, that we will have a more -- closer to the budget yearend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So one of the things that was supposed to help balance the budget was work to streamline and reduce duplication between the governance and administration of the HSS and the health authorities. So when will we see changes or at least recommendations to that effect? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my deputy minister and the public administrator are working on this, you know, and I believe that they will be coming forward to me with this information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So can the Minister explain the reason for the delay in the release of the people strategy, especially because it was touted to be absolutely key in health care workforce stabilization and it was initially supposed to be released last June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the previous health recruitment strategy and the bridging strategy was all within the -- you know, what the NTHSSA could control. And so year after year, staff were frustrated and frustrated and frustrated because many of the issues that they were bringing forward were not in the recruitment strategy. So there are -- the things that we left -- there are still the things that are good that are going to remain in the strategy, but the scope of the people strategy expanded to an all-of-government initiative creating additional coordination. And so there is, like I mentioned, like, housing and different areas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of ECE. Right now, the way I see it is that the GNWT education, health and -- sorry, education and health policies are overriding our treaty rights.
My question is, in May 2025 the ECE Minister announced DEA to use their surplus dollars for JP cutbacks. My question is what happens -- sorry, my question is what happens when DEA does not have surplus dollars, what will her department do to fill in the gap and shortfalls going forward with all DEAs in Northwest Territories and to uphold and honour the treaty rights on education though? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, when I met with all of the chairs of the district education councils across the Northwest Territories, I endeavoured to pass along to them that if there were emergencies that came up, because often this is what school boards end up using their surplus dollars for, that we would stay in close contact together in order to explore what it was that they endeavoured to need the funding for. Surpluses are borne out of carryovers from unused funds that are distributed to education bodies through the school funding formula. And so what we want, ultimately, is not for those dollars to be sitting in a surplus but to be used for education across the territory and that if there are unforeseen circumstances that arise that we work together in order to sort those out and figure out how we can either fund them or wait for follow-up years but certainly always sticking together and working together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question: Can the Minister explain how she will work with the health Minister to do proper education assessment for students who needs the help? And how will the Minister pay to implement the assessment without taking the money out of the DEA budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, yesterday in questions that I received from the Member for Yellowknife North, we explored the question around early assessments for students, especially in the early years, to ensure that we're establishing baselines and making sure that we are discovering any concerns or challenges that might arise as early as possible. And so that is something that we are looking into within education, culture and employment. And I continue to work quite closely with the Minister of Health and Social Services.
And in addition to that, the Member's second question around funding, this relates directly to work being done within the inclusive schooling policy, Mr. Speaker, and so this is work that is currently underway within the department. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister as well. Whenever she gets a chance to go to Ottawa to work with -- and including her colleagues, the Minister of health, maybe when you guys go down there I am hoping that you continue to emphasize the importance of treaty rights on education and health and that we need additional funding. I just want to make sure that we are covered off in that area. So that's my question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, when we travel, whether it's individually or all together as a group or with Council of Leaders, we are certainly making sure that we are explaining the realities of life in the Northwest Territories, the treaties that we honour here in the Northwest Territories, the work that we do together, and the needs of residents of this territory as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to continue on the thread earlier regarding post-secondary. I know the Minister -- one of the tasks is getting the post-secondary funding formula in place. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister share an update with us on the dates and process involved in that and when we can expect to see it. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the post-secondary institution funding formula, specifically for Aurora College, is something that would flow from the legislation. The legislation itself would have information about what is expected of the institution and funding that would potentially come from that. And so that is work that would follow the legislation that needs to be developed first. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I was looking for was perhaps an update on how that work is going, where we're at with it, and when we expect it to come to the floor. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the legislation itself needs to follow the CAQC process. So the CAQC process is currently underway between Aurora College and the CAQC. Once we receive a recommendation either way from the CAQC, we would be able to proceed from there, and that will help form the detail that would be found in the legislation. The legislation then needs to be tabled in this House and go through the process that is laid out by this House. And once that is passed, it would come after that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And if the Minister could comment a bit on how that funding formula might be used to enhance accountability with the college and align funding with the results that we're looking for, speaking to what I was speaking to earlier today. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we have developed a framework within education, culture and employment that holds post-secondary institutions accountable. It uses metrics. We've just started that in the life of this Assembly. That's information that would continue to flow, and certainly metrics like that, success metrics, would be used in research that would be used to develop a school funding formula as well down the road. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Premier about the healthcare system sustainability unit. The unit is diligently working away at inventorying medical costs to the healthcare system. We're now hearing a lot of the decisions that we're asking about on the floor as it relates to the healthcare system are dependent on data or reports that are going to be produced by this unit. So is the unit on track to meet its reporting timelines of a preliminary sustainability report by mid-year this fiscal? Thank you. Or, sorry, calender year. Thank you.
Thank you, Range Lake. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the healthcare system sustainability unit is looking at different areas in the healthcare system and doing an analysis. It's going to provide that analysis to Cabinet to help us make determinations about future budgeting and future structure of the healthcare system.
The work is ongoing. It is a little behind schedule, but we're going to have hopefully all of the information we need and if not, we'll have the vast majority of the information we need prior to the upcoming budget cycle, so that for next year's main estimates we'll be able to factor in that analysis. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that's disappointing but -- because it is important work. But my concern about it is if it's just for Cabinet and we don't get to see it or the public gets to see it, we're letting the unit decide what is core. Right? They're defining non-core or discretionary medical services. We're letting this unit decide what Northerners need and what Northerners don't, and that could have big impacts because the most expensive services are definitely in small communities. So will the Minister commit to transparency around this process so we can make sure we all have an understanding of what core services are and what non-core services are? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so just to correct the record, I know that we don't do a lot of correcting of misinformation in this House, but the unit is not going to make a determination about what core services are. So the way that government works is that public servants will provide advice to decision-makers, the Ministers, and then those Ministers will make decisions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of course Ministers are the final word. That's how governments work. I think everyone understands that. Mr. Speaker, the unit has spent two years inventorying problems that frontline staff have been complaining about for a decade. So why are we spending $2 million a year of federal money on an administrative process to build more plans, to build more studies, when we could be putting it into frontline services like an MRI machine or even security in the waiting room, in the emergency room, Mr. Speaker? That's what's important to Northerners, and until we actually see what this plan is it's all talk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I was in Cabinet four years prior to becoming Premier, and during that time I had a lot of questions about the expenditures in the healthcare system, and despite repeated requests for information I had trouble receiving it. And, Mr. Speaker, you were there. You probably shared some of those same frustrations. And so when we started this government, I said we need to get a handle on where our money is going, what we're spending it on and put some structure around that. Because for many years, the health authority had a deficit budget, they were allowed to spend money, create programs, hire people without oversight of Cabinet. And despite all the calls we get for, you know, a new arms-length body here or there, it's clear that people want the elected officials to maintain some control and responsibility for these systems. And so this unit was put together so we could get an understanding of what's going on in the healthcare system and where the money is going. The people in the system are busy doing other things. They're busy keeping that system running. And so we needed a way to get that information, and so that's why this unit was created. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member from the Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to raise a serious topic here just to ensure that everyone's aware. Just after lunch I was sent a letter from a parent from one of the schools in -- I guess it is public now. It's -- but one of the schools of Yellowknife. And I guess there is now a story up. It's with respect to a hold and secure situation. And I was trying to exercise caution before I brought this up now that it's a public story, Mr. Speaker. So my questions will be focused to, obviously, the education Minister, noting it's a school.
Mr. Speaker, in essence, the question is really about how do we address these through protocols? Does the department of ECE consider some type of serious incident review after these types of serious incidents happen, and how does it communicate any type of review if it does do these reviews? Thank you.
Thank you, Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all 49 schools in the Northwest Territories are required to have and maintain safe school and emergency response plans. These plans are reviewed every three years. In between that time, Mr. Speaker, as we know the world quickly changes and so schools themselves can update their plans at any time, can lean on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to ensure that they've got the support that they need for any updates within that timeframe. But every three years, on a cycle, those plans are also audited on a regular basis. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate finding out what the schools do, but I am more concerned about what ECE does when students bring guns to school, which I am thankful this isn't an incident that we talk about very often. So, Mr. Speaker, specific to the overall issue, is there a protocol to review these types of incidents? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all of the superintendents, as you can imagine, are in close contact with their principals of schools that would be in question during these incidents, and we have direct linkages between our senior management at ECE and our superintendents.
I just spoke with the superintendent of this incident earlier today, and so I am also in regular contact with our education leaders in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The parent that sent this to me is concerned about the trauma and support for the students, including the staff, by all means. And, lastly, Mr. Speaker, protocol review would identify systemic failures, prevention of data analysis, resource allocation, and certainly back to the mental health issue, Mr. Speaker. That's the type of issue. Could the Minister look at a protocol review on what happened at this particular incident? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during incidents like this, it is incredibly important that everyone involved understand exactly what their role is and follow that process. I can report here that everybody followed protocol to a tee following this incident, and in dealing with this incident. That includes contact with the RCMP, that includes making sure that teachers responded how they needed to, that students responded how they needed to. And in this, there is regular contact between the department and the education bodies to ensure that if there is support that is required that they have access to that support, and we continue to maintain contact with our education bodies throughout incidents but also throughout the year as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table some documents today. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table the following document: The Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 25-20(1), Report on the Review of Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Tabling of documents. Member from the Sahtu.
