Avens criticizes GNWT over $400K related to evacuation expenses

Seniors’ group Avens says the NWT government “could jeopardize the future of long-term care” in the territory if it keeps declining to cover $400,000 in costs related to Yellowknife’s wildfire evacuation.

The territory’s health minister says the bill presented by Avens did not qualify for federal disaster assistance and the GNWT’s decision not to cover those costs “still stands.”

Avens provides housing and care for NWT seniors from its Yellowknife base.

The group’s criticism of the GNWT came in a Tuesday news release in which it said a recent review of the 2023 wildfires and evacuations did not cover all of its concerns.

Avens described being “forced to evacuate 57 vulnerable residents with virtually no assistance” from the GNWT.

“With less than 25 percent of its staff available to assist with the evacuation and ongoing care provision in Edmonton, Avens was left to locate care sites and secure additional support so it could maintain full services for its residents during their four weeks in the Edmonton/Leduc area,” the group stated.

From January 2024: How Avens assessed the evacuation in its own report

“This was done with no government aid and resulted in Avens incurring over $1.3 million in new costs to transport, house and safely care for Avens residents. Of this amount, just over $900,000 was reimbursed to Avens under the Government of Canada’s Disaster Financial Assistance fund. The balance of $400,000 in essential staffing costs remains unpaid.”

Avens said the GNWT had “refused reimbursement of this staffing cost and Avens continues to carry this financial burden two years after the evacuation,” a sum that the group said could “jeopardize the future of long-term care in the NWT” if the territory does not act.

In the legislature on Tuesday, health minister Lesa Semmler said the issue had “gone back and forth” and the $400,000 was judged to involve costs that were not eligible for reimbursement.

Neither Avens nor Semmler set out the precise detail of the expenses being presented for reimbursement. Semmler, though, made reference to “benefits that were given to employees over and above … and so that’s why they didn’t qualify.”

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, presenting Avens’ case, said “over and above” would be a fair complaint about some expenses if Avens had been given a straightforward set of instructions, but the group had been “left on their own and told to solve this problem.”

“We looked at all of the information and we worked with minister of Maca and the decision still stands,” Semmler replied.

Later on Tuesday, an NWT health authority spokesperson – asked about the $400,000 – said Avens had been provided two reimbursement payments but “an incentive paid to employees to work their regular shifts during the evacuation” did not qualify for federal reimbursement.

“While incremental staffing costs such as overtime or hiring additional staff may qualify as disaster-related expenses, incentive payments are ineligible as a disaster-related expense,” the spokesperson stated.

Rebuild trust, MLA says

Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse raised residents’ concerns about government communication on Tuesday as he, too, explored elements of the recent after-action review of 2023’s fires.

“My constituents were clear that it is important to them that the government rebuild trust with residents,” Morse said.

“It’s crucial that residents feel confident to look to their government for guidance during times of crisis.

“My constituents expressed concern that, due to experiences of past evacuations, when there are future evacuation orders, residents may not take them seriously. That concern in particular is one I want us to pay close attention to, as its implications are very serious.”

Morse said “rebuilding trust” should be a pillar of the GNWT’s formal response to the after-action review, a response that Premier RJ Simpson says the territory is working to prepare.

Morse also alluded to building “stronger relationships and understanding” with NGOs and other levels of government.

“Obviously, we need to improve trust of government in emergency situations,” Simpson replied.

“When I drove out of Hay River, there was no one there to close the highway because people didn’t understand what their roles were. No fault of their own, but we weren’t organized enough as a government to ensure that people knew where to be, when to be there and what to do – and so as a result, we had vehicles driving out of the community into the middle of an active forest fire.

“We’ve seen the issues that happened and we are taking steps to correct them.”