Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the ongoing concerns raised by families, will the Minister commit to advancing the development of a dedicated special needs facility in Behchoko and/or other Tlicho communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am more than committed to, you know, having these discussions with the Member and with the Tlicho on being able to better analyze the data that's for the residents in the Tlicho and what the need is and, you know, to have a discussion on what the -- where and what can happen with the residents of the people in the Tlicho and work with their government. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral Questions. Member from Dehcho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ITI.
Can the Minister explain what steps the department is taking to improve access to ITI programs and services for Fort Providence residents given that the nearest regional support is currently located outside the community? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Dehcho. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So some of these things would be, for example, predictable office days. So thank you to the Member for raising that in her statement. Also doing things like hosting mentorship and training opportunities directly within the community. And then continuing to support local business, because we know that when one business receives support and talks about it to their neighbours that that drives momentum and also drives buzz about starting business and kind of creating that snowball effect of driving new opportunities within the region. Thank you.
Thank you, and thank you to the Minister for that. What plans does the department have to better support small and emerging businesses in Fort Providence so that local entrepreneurs are not required to travel long distance to receive guidance or program assistance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It can be something as simple as making sure that clear and transparent program availability and kind of the flow chart of what that progression of different types of supports at different stages of operating a business looks like from the Government of the Northwest Territories right up to work that's being done right now with reviews of both the SEED program, the community transfer initiatives program, and the community futures program. So those reviews are currently underway.
Within the Fort Providence region, over the last couple of years there's been over $250,000 of grants that small businesses have received in the region. That's everything from SEED, arts and crafts production, tourism businesses, community garden, and some of those highlights have been, for example, the Mackenzie Cabin tourism business and also a service truck for a local mechanic business. And so there are some good examples of some really big success stories in the region. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from the Dehcho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. Will the Minister commit to staffing a position permanently or at the very least implementing scheduled monthly visits by ITI staff to Fort Providence to ensure residents have consistent and reliable access to business development programs and services? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can give the Member a yes right off the hop on that one with a specific schedule so that there are predictable visits in Fort Providence every single month. So the last visit was February 11th. The next one will be March 11th, then April 15th, May 13th, and then June 17th. And there is a schedule for the whole rest of the year so that community members will know exactly what days the office will be staffed. And this poster is also posted both at the office and at the cafe as well, and I am happy to ensure it gets posted in any other area that the Member recommends. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, ITI. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to follow up with more questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
So we've heard from the Minister that paramedics have a unique scope of practice. Can the Minister explain what is the rationale for contracting private paramedics to fill shifts in the Stanton emergency department? Is it because of their unique skill set or an inability to fill shifts with emergency department nurses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, their role is limited to providing care within that area and are only used in situations where nursing staffing levels are critically low. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if the department or the authority is finding that staffing levels are chronically low, why wouldn't the department or the authority plan to hire paramedics on staff rather than contracting them on a shift-by-shift basis? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned that -- you know, within the emergency department when they've tried in areas of time where they're critically low, that means that they haven't been able to confirm casuals, people are on vacation, there's no -- last case, you know, resort would be agency, and sometimes when we do have paramedics that -- you know, that was when they would bring them in to just assist with this area. However, this is not a model that's been in our system before, so we don't have an overarching model of paramedics in our system. And so where we're starting is that we're looking, and that's the work with -- you know, with the proposed position that's going to -- that's in the budget, upcoming budget, that that work will happen to be able to analyze and do that work to see how and when and what policies and how they'll work within our system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if a patient has a complaint against a health care provider, they can go to the Office of Client Experience, but how would an NWT patient go about filing a complaint if there was a complaint against a paramedic operating within our system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the NTHSSA does contract them, they do revert to an employer. So their employer, you can complain to their employer. You can bring that forward to the NTHSSA. As well as the appropriate jurisdiction where their license is active, you can reach out directly to that jurisdiction where the individual can -- you know, they can take a look and investigate that concern. 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 1977 -- imagine that, way back -- the Berger Inquiry, the Commission investigated the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, and one of its recommendations at the end was to pause 10 years on the construction to give land claims a chance to settle. Mr. Speaker, it seemed to be he was the only one with the forethought to come up with a closure date on those particular initiatives and if you don't put a closure date, people will use the time and keep going. My question specifically for the Premier would be this, Mr. Speaker: Now that we're knocking on the door of the 50-year anniversary of that vision saying we'll close these things off maybe in 10 years, what incentives or carrot sticks are being offered to help stop these open negotiations and bring them to a conclusion? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I think the question is what sort of carrots are we offering Indigenous governments to conclude their land claim negotiations? I would say that we are having -- we are working towards finding common ground that may not have been common in the past. When there was two parties or, well, three parties negotiating in this case, and we want to make some changes going forward, we want to see progress going forward, we need to look at what has been worked on for the past 20 or 30 years. And actually as the Member was asking, I was just going over some of the tables and looking at some of those ways to move things forward. So, Mr. Speaker, there is a negotiation framework. There's a mandate in a number of tables. Things are moving forward under that mandate. And there's areas perhaps where we need to re-look at those mandates, and that's what I am doing right now. And I recently had meetings with the Dehcho grand chief and their negotiating team. I am meeting with the -- you know, their other representatives from the Dehcho tomorrow. We have regular meetings with the NWT Metis Nation. So there's lots going on to try and advance these. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The public often sees these without deadlines more akin to career files or economic development. I guess that brings us to the point which is what can the government do? They could offer -- they could incentivize it with money. They could offer better deals. What can the Premier do within his purview to close these open-ended negotiations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So there are two other parties involved in all of these negotiations. There's the Indigenous government, who we are negotiating with, and there's the Government of Canada. So we're doing our part to ensure that we have mandates that are modern, that reflect the challenges of today, the aspirations of the Indigenous peoples who we're negotiating with, and we're going to continue to refine those and move forward as we can.
I will give one example of a date, and I know that the Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations has put a date of June of this year for advancement of the Dehcho final agreement to get to the AIP. I think -- I am not sure if we're going to hit a full AIP by that point, but there's an example where there is a date and we want to do what we can to meet that date and then quickly advance things after that. And what I've seen in these negotiations, when there is a -- when negotiators at the table do have the opportunity to give a little on certain things, perhaps because we've changed the mandate at the Cabinet table, then that spurs progress at that table. And so by giving a little, we can get a little and move forward that way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the interim or what more feels like the permanent land withdrawal because of this process, is frustrating to Northerners. Mr. Speaker, what's stopping this government under the powers and authority under the Premier to make a financial agreement carrot to work towards closing this? Because it is slowing the North's progress down. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So there's a lot to land claim negotiations, self-government negotiations. As I said, there's three parties, and so there are things to consider when making offers. Previously, Canada and the GNWT would make joint offers where land and money were combined. Canada has changed their approach, and so we're actually waiting for some clarification from Canada on how that's going to work going forward, as well as some other areas where there's been policy changes over the past number of years where there's a lack of clarity. So there's a number of different issues here, and we are doing what we can within our authority, myself as Premier and our Cabinet, to advance these files as quickly as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Premier. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance.
The OCIO and the DIIMS team have a different perspective on electronic records management compared to the Archives, and I would hazard to guess that most government workers, at best, think of filing records as a hassle. Training on ORCS and ARCS, the organizational and administrative records classification, is available, but people don't tend to understand why classifying records is crucially important. So my question is, would the Minister be willing to investigate as to whether further training should be developed and implemented specifically on the important role all employees play into the lifecycle of government records management in conjunction with ECE? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely always happy to investigate opportunities for more training for our staff to make sure they're delivering the best services possible. I can say that there have been a number of new on-demand training modules that have been introduced. There's been an increase in terms of understanding disposition of records practices, which you certainly don't want to have anyone say that that's not important, Mr. Speaker. And specifically this was developed, in fact, with NWT Archives, so giving a bit of a shout-out to the folks there. And, Mr. Speaker, last note on this one, so perhaps the timing is good to look at what else needs to be offered, April, for the Enterprise Information Management team, will be recognizing Records and Information Management Month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that in Bear Facts.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain whether ongoing ever-increasing TSC chargebacks are at all related to the ongoing growth of electronic records in DIIMS that have no current way to be moved into an archival repository? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, no, this is not really the source of significant growth that we are seeing in TSC chargebacks. DIIMS doesn't actually generate TSC chargebacks. But there certainly has been some significant growth in this area. Really, some of the areas of growth include particularly the software licensing that have seen some very significant growth. So although the overall impact to the budget is only on the order of a few million and not tens of millions. Where we are seeing significant growth, however, is simply in terms of providing connections, internet connections, phone connections, to all of the staff across all of 33 communities and that -- those costs continue to grow. But I -- certainly, it's not -- it's not for this area, and this is one -- so putting that one to rest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I will push back because I think storage is not cheap, but anyway.
Can the Minister tell me if records management staff have identified the need that records management legislation is required while working on scoping with ECE on their archival legislative review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's a little early that the legislative review isn't complete so I am not in a position to say whether or not there would, in fact, be new legislation strictly required. But, Mr. Speaker, certainly these teams are working closely together. This is actually one of the areas for OCIO where we have rolled out our IT planning studies process. It's one of the first three out of the gate to ensure that the data archives connector project between the departments is one that will actually be planned out, hopefully very successfully, using this new process. So, again, early on the one but it's, again, hopefully a highlight from the OCIO offices on and out of the front. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've been speaking with business owners who use the Northwest Territories nominee program, and one of the issues that's been brought to my attention is they pay Northerners minimum wage but they pay nominees median wage based on their occupation, and usually -- and it's always higher than the minimum wage. Now, that is -- there's a good reason for that. But can the Minister explain clearly to the House, so there's no confusion, about why there's a discrepancy in compensation for Northerners versus nominees? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we set the minimum wage here in the Northwest Territories and we work to develop a formula, and we worked with employers and an entire committee to develop this formula that's based on the consumer price index. And it was determined when that formula was produced, and come up with with employers, that not having a predictable way of determining what minimum wage would be year over year created some challenges and some unexpectedness as far as running a business. So that's where that formula was born.
Now, the median wage that is used by the Northwest Territories nominee program is actually set by the Government of Canada. That is a requirement under this program, that we use a median wage. And the Member is right. That median wage follows different occupational codes, and the reason for that is that through the nominee program, through the temporary work program that the Government of Canada has for immigration purposes, these individuals need to make sure that they can cover their monthly expenses. Often they're not eligible for other support programs that provinces and territories have. Thank you.
Thank you. Yes, and that is important to get out there as well because it is frustrating, I think, for employers. But there's still that gap, and often they're in a position where they're paying more for the same work performed by a northerner to a nominee, and that's not what the intention of the program is for plugging labour shortages. So what can the Minister offer to these employers to make sure that everyone can be compensated the same way and there is no pay disparity between Northerners and between nominees? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, what I often hear from employers is that, well, first of all, the median wage, it's important for people to understand is higher than the minimum wage. Quite often in the NWT, many workers are not making minimum wage unless they're in, for example, a frontline service as in a grocery store, sometimes you'll find people there making minimum wage, or in other types of industries. But often what you'll find in the Northwest Territories is in order to be competitive with other employers, employers cannot pay minimum wage. And so where we have a minimum wage in the territory that accounts for people who might be working in a role that brings in tips or works with a lot of youth, for example, we have to follow the median wage set by the Government of the Northwest -- or sorry, the Government of Canada for the nominee pProgram and the temporary foreign worker program. Thank you.
Thank you,Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
