Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the fact that the Minister pointed out the application process. As well as that is, it's challenging to find the staff to meet that. So, Mr. Speaker, if staff are not available to meet that, how is the department going to work with the system to ensure that we have enough people to respond to this need so that Jordan's Principle money gets spent in the appropriate way and on the ground to support the kids, noting that we are struggling to staff these positions for this support? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the school boards have traditionally used their resources to apply for funding. They have also worked with families. They have also worked with healthcare providers in order to access this funding and to be able to complete the applications and submit them to the federal government. That money has then flowed traditionally straight from the federal government to the education body for the service that they are looking to provide. And should an education body not be successful going forward still within this school year for their Jordan's Principle application, their application that they have with education, culture and employment would still continue to stand. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I mentioned the Canadian Institute for Health Information reporting relationship with the emergency room data for the NWT Health and Social Services Authority and the fact that there is none. So my question for the health Minister is, the Yukon mandates emergency department reporting to CIHI and submits roughly 41,000 records a year. Can the Minister confirm that the NWT submits zero? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we mandate, the coding to CIHI is inpatient surgical and day procedures; however, we do have the data for the emergency room. It's, you know, that they've had to prioritize those mandated areas that they submit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On January 15th, the Minister wrote that NWT -- to my office that the NWT, quote, provides data to CIHI as part of their standardized national reporting programs. She did not disclose that all emergency department reporting is absent, and now we know that they have that information. Was she unaware of this at the time, or did she just choose not to disclose it? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wasn't aware. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Member from Range Lake.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. CIHI's expert panel recommends every jurisdiction mandate NACRS reporting. That's reporting to the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, the uninitiated. What is the Minister's plan and what is her timeline to catch up to this national standard? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I have mentioned many times in this House, we have the data. In order to prioritize this, you know, we would need extra staff to keep up to the amount of data that we have to manually track and submit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions aren't on curling today; my questions are for the Minister of Housing NWT.
Mr. Speaker, with the continued shortage of homes in Inuvik, with the long waitlist still at the LHO there, and with of course the funding that was approved last year in the budget, can the Minister update on any plans currently in place for Inuvik with our new builds up there? Thank you.
Thank you, Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for the question. It's important to update this House on the development of the $150 million allocation for the Northwest Territories. Housing NWT is advancing public housing development in Inuvik. Currently, this includes a 20-unit modular development on the Blueberry Patch site. These 20 units will be configured as five four-plexes for singles. A design-build contract has been awarded to ARCAN Construction with modular production by Metcan Building Solutions in Hay River. Site development activities will begin this summer, and site services, including the utilidor, will be coordinated with the Town of Inuvik and adjacent properties to ensure optimization. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. That is, indeed, excellent news. I am sure the residents will feel the same.
Beyond that project, which again is a significant project, does the Housing NWT have any additional future plans beyond that once that project is complete, and as the Minister says, on the Blueberry Patch? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're happy to report that housing has been in discussions with Canada, CMHC, on future opportunities for Inuvik, and we look forward to having an announcement shortly that will include more units for Inuvik and the Blueberry Patch. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Final supplementary.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, thank you for that great news. Certainly desperately needed.
My final question, Mr. Speaker, part of that funding as well was for M&I funding for repairs and maintenance, which, again, was desperately needed in our community as many others. Can the Minister update on how the M&I funding has been rolling out and how we're proceeding with our repairs and maintenance up there as well? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the $150 million contribution, $30 million of that fund went towards modernization and improvements and also deferred maintenance. And for Inuvik, what we've done to date is $728,000 in completed major repairs on seven housing units, $454,000 in completed deferred maintenance, $117,000 in minor repairs. These are repairs beyond what the LHO had in terms of a budget. And for this 2026-2027 budget, we have $454,000 in complete deferred maintenance and $955,000 in minor repairs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Mr. Speaker, in GNWT executive council policy 53.02, sustainable development, one of the stated principles is that natural resources should be managed so that opportunities for future resource uses are maximized and maintenance of ecosystems is ensured. My question is, is it the Minister's position that our existing transboundary agreements with neighboring upstream jurisdictions allow for the GNWT to effectively meet the intent of this principle should effluent wastewater be released in those upstream jurisdictions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister responsible for the sustainable development policy, I am fully committed and I fully stand behind and uphold the principles and the goals of this policy. And I think this is one of the key statements from the policy; it states that environmental conservation is essential to long-term economic prosperity. And, you know, as we look at that in the bigger picture, without development in the North, you know, that's one of the key tools that really contributes to our ability to meet those environmental goals and to achieve those conservation goals at the end of the day. The GNWT, and I, as Minister and the department, have stated in no uncertain terms that we are -- do not support the release of tailings -- treated tailings into the Athabasca River unless the information, data, and science demonstrates that it can be done without harming the ecological integrity of the NWT waters. And I just want to end by saying, you know, we work very closely with the Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations and our other partners in the North to ensure that we maintain that standard and we have a very strong message to all of the upstream jurisdictions in that regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is it the Minister's position that ECC is taking adequate precautions to prevent or reduce both water quality and quantity threats to our watershed, both within the territory and from upstream jurisdictions, or are more robust protections required? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can start off by saying I certainly share the concerns of the MLA and also the concerns of our Indigenous governments and our Indigenous organizations and the citizens of the territory when we talk about, you know, the potential impacts of the activity in the upstream jurisdictions. You know, this is why we've negotiated and implemented our transboundary waters agreements. I think they're the key tool that we currently work with Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon. We're currently negotiating an agreement with Saskatchewan and, you know, we have this shared commitment to maintain the aquatic ecosystem health and additional environmental monitoring that needs to occur. The transboundary water agreements are what guide that ability to develop those water -- ensure that our quality and quantity has the objectives that we can use to develop the future management actions for the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister has mentioned that in the life of this Assembly we should see targeted updates to the waters regulations that will assist with clarity for resource development.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister speak to when the Assembly, not this one, but future Assemblies may anticipate substantive amendments to the Waters Act? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I've spoken to this a few times in this House and, you know, currently we're working through the first phase of a phased approach to the Act and the regulations, and phase one being the update to the regulations, and we're -- you know, every day we're getting a little bit closer to being able to bring those final results forward. It's very difficult to speak to what the 21st Assembly may do but we are committed to that three-phased approach, and the second phase we'll be looking at the Act and that work will take place in the next Assembly. There is still work going on in that regard but not at the specific large level because we're really focused on phase one of that approach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask questions of the Minister of Health and Social Services following up on the statement and questions I was asking last week, I believe, about the work plan for the public administrator.
So the work plan states that the public administrator should be working with HSS and the NTHSSA to ensure effective implementation of primary care reform, starting in Yellowknife and reporting back on findings to inform work in other regions. And this work is marked as ongoing, and the deliverables are pretty vague.
So can the Minister explain what specific deliverables and timelines are expected from the public administrator around primary care reform in particular? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the final primary care framework has yet to be released. Deliverables will be dependent on this framework. In tandem with the primary care reform work, the PA worked on improving access to care closer to home in the Dehcho cabin community, so the team was busy in that area. And so we'll be looking to increase -- I believe the next phase is -- and as I mentioned, I believe they'll be starting the work in April on the patient journey in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister actually give us any more detail on what is this primary care framework that is being worked on? What is a framework; what's the purpose of it? What's going to come out of this framework? I know we throw around a lot of jargon often about strategies and frameworks and plans but in this context, what is a primary care framework? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as I think we released earlier -- oh, I can't remember -- the document that was released, this was the -- kind of the guide of how the framework was being designed. And so at this point, I would have to let the Member know that once the framework is completed and I am briefed, and then we go through the processes, I will be able to let the Member know more on what that framework is entitled. But from the comments that I've had, and, you know, and this House has brought up many times on team-based care and how people are being attached. There will be a document released shortly after that on how to attach the public to teams, and so there will be a guideline and that type of information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So what is the status of the promised public dashboard on the health authority website that was supposed to be charting progress on the work plan of the public administrator? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work plan that was -- so the dashboard here, I believe that they were -- the NTHSSA launched a new online indicator dashboard in December that allowed the public to access information, interest in several areas. There has been some computer stuff to try and get the dashboard of the PA. However, I will follow up with the PA when I meet with him this week. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from the Dehcho.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of NTPC outline the timeline and specific steps that they're taking to advance the restoration of phase 3 power in the hamlet of Enterprise, given its importance to the community recovery and long-term economic stability? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from the Dehcho. Minister responsible for NTPC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did have an opportunity to make some inquiries on this question. It's come up a few times with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. We don't own the line that runs from Hay River to Enterprise. That is owned and operated by Naka Power. It's my understanding that prior to the wildfires that there was what's called phase one power line running as far as Enterprise and that that is what Naka decided to rebuild. And at this point, I am not -- I have no ability to require or force them to do otherwise or to upgrade their power system.
Mr. Speaker, I certainly will maintain the commitment I made during COW which is that we'll work with the Member to connect her into Naka. I certainly do meet with them regularly in my role. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that.
What technical or infrastructure barriers, if any, is preventing phase 3 power to Enterprise, and what resources or support does the corporation need to move this forward without further delay? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, I can't say why Naka may have chosen to maintain a phase 1 system as opposed to a phase 3 upgrade. In general, Mr. Speaker, seeking to increase energy infrastructure does obviously come with costs, and increasing the power line capacity would have, I expect, been at a higher cost level, and under typical utility systems, the costs are then borne by the customers or ratepayers. So it may well have been a balance of what funds were available, other than by influencing or impacting increased costs to ratepayers. So without an industrial consumer ready and able to bear some of those costs, that would then land on residents who certainly in the wildfire aftermath would have -- may have been very ill-placed to take those costs on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
