Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it certainly is more complicated for a GNWT employee to do a transfer assignment into an organization like the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, because it is outside the collective agreement. It is outside the public service. If an individual within the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority was looking for a developmental opportunity, we could put him or her on a transfer assignment, which really would have no impact on the benefits. They would still be employees of the public service, and we could move them into a...

These items are in our mandate. These are issues that, as individual Ministers, we bring up at the appropriate time at the appropriate FTPs to make sure that the federal government is aware of our realities, but also the realities of Canadians from other jurisdictions. We do raise those issues on a regular basis, and we are going to continue to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have already talked a little bit about the comprehensive review of homecare services that are being planned for 2017-2018, and this is going to help us make informed decisions in the next round of business planning on how we're going to invest to support aging in place for seniors and persons with disabilities. However, Mr. Speaker, we do know that there are some pockets of documented unmet demands for homecare services in many communities through the Northwest Territories. Recognizing this, we truly appreciate the $2.5 million allocation that was issued...

As I have said several times in this House, we are currently doing a continuing care review and a review of homecare services that are planned throughout the Northwest Territories to support residents to age in place as much as possible. We have talked about different models that might be used, whether it is family support or community support. Once we are done that review and we have an actual plan in place, we will be in a better position to figure out what, if new partners are out there, that might be able to assist us in supporting seniors to integrate and be part of their community, as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Avens let us know on October 2016 that they were intending to suspend operations of the program. They also at that time expressed to us their intent to redesign the adult day program to better meet the needs of clients that it serves and to address any quality and safety concerns that were raised. A working group has been established with representatives from Avens, the department, the territorial authority, and they are conducting a review of the Avens day program, and they have been doing that since late January 2017.

The working group has completed the...

There are a number of different things that we're doing. We have the ASIST training as well. That is available to Education, Culture and Employment. I know Education, Culture and Employment takes this very seriously as well and is looking at providing different types of supports in their school system. We are currently working on a Youth Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, which we are hoping will help strengthen us and the services we provide in this area.

I will go back to Mental Health First Aid, Mr. Speaker. This is, as I have indicated, a Canadian program. In the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mental Health First Aid is one of the programs that we offer throughout the Northwest Territories. It is recognized internationally as one of the best practice models out there for tackling mental health issues, and we make it available to all residents across the Northwest Territories. In-house, we do have training for our staff about our particular programs and services they provide, but that is for staff that we have within the Health and Social Services system. As far as training we provide to other GNWT employees, I would have to check with the...

Yes, please share the e-mail with everybody you want to share. In fact, all the MLAs I would encourage to share the information. Mr. Speaker, this is a good news story and it shows us working together as an Assembly and that we recognize the need to invest in staff and home support positions to meet the needs of our residents across the Northwest Territories. Please share the information with everybody that the Member would like to.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the report that is being done by Avens now on this very exact topic is expected to be completed by Avens by mid-June 2017. At that point, they will have some ideas how they intend to move forward to support day programming. The continuing care review, the homecare review that we have been talking about, has already been intended to be available to Members of this House in time for business planning so that we can have an informed discussion, and allocated resources to meet the needs of residents across the Northwest Territories moving forward in subsequent...

Core funding is provided to Avens to provide the wide range of programs and services that they have. I had an opportunity to meet with the board and the acting executive director about a week and a half ago where we were talking about a future expansion on the site of 48 beds. This topic also came up at the time, and at that time, Avens indicated that they would like to work with the department on an operational review to look at how they're spending their money to make sure that they are getting the dollars that are being allocated, and they are using them to maximum effect. We haven't...