Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, and to be clear to the Minister, we're not talking -- we're talking about people who are paying the minimum wage for service jobs, and that's what we're talking about here. And this is a real situation. This is not a hypothetical. There are Northerners in those jobs, people who are born and raised here, who are making minimum wage versus nominee program workers who are making median wage. So how are we going to reconcile that so we make sure everyone is on a fair playing field? Because I don't think it's fair to those minimum wage workers, and certainly it's a burden on the employers. They can't pay more wage. So how are we going to help them? What kind of subsidies or programs can the Minister use to support businesses and support workers, especially young workers in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, if we want to make sure that we're filling our labour market needs across this territory, we need to make sure that we are paying people a wage that they can live off. And so if that means that employers, unfortunately, have to raise their minimum wage so that people can take on those jobs, that's where we're at. But we're not in a position to go against a median wage set by the Government of Canada that is a requirement. And if people are wanting to see parity between what foreign workers are making and what Northerners are making, then they're going to have to meet that median wage. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am continuing with the thread of questions from my Member's statement except this time for the finance Minister.
Mr. Speaker, do we have a set target of indeterminate staff we need to reach, and how close are we to meeting that target? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the target was to have an increase in indeterminate healthcare professionals of 5 percent annually. So it's not a set number target but as I said earlier, certainly happy to look if there's additional ways that we can continue to monitor the work that's happening with the HRU. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess I should have made my question more clear. Because I was aware of the 5 percent per year target; what I was talking about was an ultimate target.
I am going to move on to my next question, however. Nurses and allied professions were mentioned in the statement, but doctors were not. How is our progress looking on recruiting physicians? Do we have targets related to physician recruitment, and how close are we to meeting those and I mean ultimate targets, not percentage. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I -- this is where there is a split in responsibility between myself and the Minister of Health and Social Services. The mandate for health recruitment unit doesn't include physicians. That would be under the Office of Medical Affairs and Credentialing. But, Mr. -- and, again, Mr. Speaker, I expect at this point we may well have to go back and just make sure that we're questioning whether or not there's other forms of looking at the achievements that we're having. We brought in indeterminate staff -- or brought up indeterminate staff by 29 percent relative to the workforce in just March of 2024, so a little over two years ago. Those are big percentages. It doesn't include turnover. But, again, happy to see if there's increasingly additional ways that we can monitor the work that's happening in the space. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate those clarifications. It's a bit of a confusing space to understand with recruitment happening in various different areas.
Mr. Speaker, how does the recruitment unit relate to and coordinate with the health department on targets, needs, and desired outcomes? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those conversations are ongoing regularly. I know I have, on previous times when the HRU was earlier set up, a few years ago now, had the opportunity to engage with my department and with the Department of Health and Social Services to make sure that, in fact, there were those communications happening. There's regular updates that come from individual divisions and departments within health and social services and the authorities, comes in through assigned folks within health and -- or within the Department of Finance who are assigned to the HRU to specifically maintain those contact positions directly with management. So this is very much the kind of work that happens to maintain that continuity. That's the benefit of HRU in part, Mr. Speaker, is that it allows a singular place where there's an organized person, a mandated person, and they have contacts directly and so they're constantly getting updates as to the openings that need to be filled. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ECE.
The Minister from ECC confirmed that the GNWT income support assistance program is provided to all residents in the NWT. My question here is, but here in NWT we have 51 percent of residents, that all Indigenous Metis and Inuit combined. Mr. Speaker, on September 27th, 2023, the 19th Assembly passed Bill 85 legislation. My question is to the Minister of ECE. What has ECE done to date to modernize their policy to respect the 51 percent of the Indigenous, Metis, and Inuit human rights of Indigenous people? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, in the life of the last Assembly, there was an extensive review done of the entire income assistance program. That program included adjustments, for example, like adding another branch of the program, if you will, that is income assistance dedicated to elders, seniors, persons with disabilities. We also updated the amounts that people receive on a monthly basis and tied them more closely to the northern basket measure. In addition, there were changes made to the program that allowed for more earned income to be kept and also exempted other things from someone's unearned income, and some of those items I listed off in my previous responses to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question back to the Minister of ECE is when can her department give me -- or Minister give me an answer in regards to when they're going to modernize their policies in line to Bill 85, the legislation? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows, based on the responses from the Premier last week in regards to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Implementation Plan, we have a committee that is prioritizing what pieces of legislation they will be reviewing first, and that committee has the authority to determine what pieces of existing Government of the Northwest Territories legislation will be reviewed and in what order. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is that what is the timeline, and do you expect that work to be done in this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would have to defer that question to the Premier as that piece of legislation, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Implementation Act, falls under his authority. Thank you.
Thank you, Education, Culture and Employment. Colleagues, our time for oral questions is up. Oral questions. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Replies to the Commissioner's address. Petitions. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Reports of standing and special committees. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Motions. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, with the Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh in the chair.
I will now call the Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? I will go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 448-20(1), 2026-2027 Main Estimates, with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We'll take our 15-minute break.
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Okay, order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 448-20(1), 2026-2027 Main Estimates. We will now resume our consideration of the Department of Industry and Tourism and Investment. I want to go to the Minister of Industry and Tourism and Investment.
Yes, please, Mr. Chair. I would like to bring witnesses into the House.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the chamber.
Okay, would the Minister please introduce her witnesses?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on my left I have Pamela Strand, the deputy minister of industry, tourism and investment. And on my right, I have Nina Salvador who is the director of finance and corporate services for industry, tourism and investment.
Thank you. Committee, we will resume by beginning consideration of the tourism and parks key activity, beginning on page 244 with information items on page 246. Are there any questions?
I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, something that I've been hearing recently, and I know the Minister is aware because we've chatted about it, is that within the tourism envelope in the NWT, there is a desire from international tourists, specifically, for luxury experiences. There's a high demand for it but little market for it. Is this a conversation that the Minister is having with the hospitality industry? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
So, Mr. Chair, this is a conversation that is happening within the tourism sector, with Indigenous governments as well, with investors both nationally and internationally as well. This is a conversation that has come up on multiple occasions as well when we have had conversation with ambassadors who are looking for different partnerships and relationships that can be formed and tourism is a natural one in that. And so certainly these conversations are happening and there is a mass of people out there that are looking for unique experiences in the Northwest Territories and all budget ranges of those experiences. So, this is certainly an instance of if you build it, they will come. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go back to the Minister of Great Slave -- Member.
Thanks for the promotion, Mr. Chair.
I guess on top, to respond then back to the Minister's remarks, Mr. Chair, I suppose what supports and/or guidance is she giving to Indigenous governments that might be interested in this space? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
So, Mr. Chair, if we are making contacts with people who are looking for opportunities to invest, certainly making sure that we're sharing that information and making connections when I am having conversations with Indigenous governments or their development corporations. In addition to that, Mr. Chair, the NWT Tourism also has an Indigenous government caucus that they are forming and putting together programs for as well.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the Minister. That sounds intriguing. What are the terms of reference for this Indigenous caucus? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, for that level of detail, I'd like to pass to the deputy minister.
Okay, I will go to the deputy minister.
Yes, so this is all in regards to NWT Tourism that are our destination marketing organization. What we've seen is a trend across Canada with funding coming through Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, also called ITAC, to fund Indigenous tourism associations across the country. That is embedded in NWT Tourism's makeup with representatives from all regions and Indigenous groups. And so they're working at how they can bolster that to access other pots of money like ITACs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sorry for the delay.
I believe that's all I have for this item. Thank you.
