Glen Abernethy

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.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Moving Forward: NWT Health and Social Services System 2015-2016 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, members of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, Northern and Remote Health Network, are with us here today. The foundation was one of two organizations to be highlighted in the federal budget for enhanced funding from Health Canada. This network meets twice annually to share success and develop collaborative approaches to share challenges in delivering healthcare in remote regions like the Northwest Territories.

I would like to welcome the following network representatives: Gregory Cumming, Stephen Samis, Laura Wessman, Sonia Isaac-Mann, Helga...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-Up Letter for Oral Question 651-18(2): Arsenic Levels in Kam Lake." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There does seem to be some continued confusion and I’m happy to sit down with the Member to talk, but I’d like to clarify for the Member that the ultrasound machine at Fort Simpson is not the kind used by sonographers to perform diagnostic tests. Rather, the machine at Simpson, the portable ultrasound machine, is the kind that is used by doctors and nurse practitioners and midwives at the bedside to help them make immediate decisions about patient care; things such as checking someone in an accident has internal bleeding or to check to see if a baby is in breach. Establishing a full diagnostic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first off, I have to apologize. There was clearly some confusion and there have been some changes. The existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated, as the Member has identified, and is actually scheduled to be replaced with a new portable ultrasound machine this summer. We’re hoping that we’ll have one in place by the end of June 2017, barring any unforeseen challenges with purchase and delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Late in the life of the last government, it was decided to move the Hay River authority into the public service because there were unknown things at play. There was no finalized collective agreement with the UNW for GNWT employees. There was also no finalized collective agreement with the Hay River employees. It left a lot of questions up in the air as far as what exists in one body, what exists in the other, and how do we make those come across seamlessly so that we don’t adversely affect the employees. At that time, I accepted that logic because we didn’t know those things, but I also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know. I know that when we looked at bringing the health authority in during the last Assembly, the cost estimates were about $20 million. Things have changed since then. We have put in 12 new positions in Hay River. There have been some other changes. There has been staff turnover. The bottom line is: I can’t tell you what the number is today, but it is likely still around that number, maybe slightly higher. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.