Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad the honourable Member took cigarettes off the list. When it comes to things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, this is certainly something that I'm willing to look at and see how we might be able to roll those in to ensure that residents who don't have access to those materials or those products can gain access while they're in the treatment facilities. So I'll certainly commit to looking at that, Mr. Speaker, but once again, not cigarettes.

Residents of the Northwest Territories are Canadian citizens, so if they're travelling south to a treatment facility they are still able to get medical services in the jurisdiction of the province that they are receiving their services. We have reciprocal billing agreements with all the provinces and territories, so if our resident goes and receives health services there, we have a billing mechanism.

Not all residents of the Northwest Territories receive dental services from the Government of the Northwest Territories. We do have some extended health benefits for seniors and Metis that cover...

As I indicated, as we are moving forward and rolling out the single authority here in the Northwest Territories, we are trying to improve the protocols and standing orders that we have in all of our health centres. We also have a cancer strategy -- I think the Member is talking specifically about that -- that outlined some of the services that we provide, but also some of the standard testing that we do in cases where cancer may be suspected. I am happy to sit down with the Member and go through some of the protocols that we have so that he will understand what service are being offered both...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not 100 per cent sure that I understand the question. I am not sure what a premedical diagnosis would be. When it comes to residents of the Northwest Territories in the small communities attending a health centre, we have a number of standing orders that the nurses in the communities utilize when assessing an individual trying to determine what, if anything, is wrong with them. We also have a number of standing programs that are available in each of our health centre, Well Man, Well Woman, Well Baby, and there are some pretty defined guidelines and the...

The contracts that we have with the southern facilities basically cover treatment costs as well as we cover travel costs to get our residents to and from these facilities, and we also have per diem costs that cover things like the food they eat and provide with them a warm, safe place to sleep, but as far as incidentals, the ability or the cash to buy cigarettes or other things, we don't provide that support to residents who are travelling south. They would either have to have other means, family supports, or, if they are eligible for or are on income support, they have a mechanism to seek...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could get the Member some costs on the average cost for an individual who attends treatment. I don't have that information at my fingertips, but I can tell the Member that the cost that we pay to individual treatment facilities is different between the different facilities. We have contracted amounts. We pay a per-day rate that ranges anywhere from $160 per day to $450 a day, depending on the institution or the facility that an individual is attending. Those are contracted amounts based on the range and scope of programming that each of the facilities...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Caring for Our People: Strategic Plan for the NWT Health and Social Services System 2017 to 2020." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Denise Canuel, who is the director of policy with the Department of Health and Social Services. On my right, Mr. Druyan, who is the legislative counsel with the Department of Justice, who worked on this piece of legislation.

I am pleased to be here today to introduce Bill 13, Marriage Act.

This bill will replace the current Marriage Act. The current act predates the 1988 consolidation of Northwest Territories health statutes. Minor amendments have been made to the Marriage Act since then; however, none have kept pace with the Federal Government’s Civil Marriage Act and with other provincial and territorial marriage legislation.

It is important that we update the existing legislation now to ensure compliance with the federal Civil Marriage Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The bill reorganizes the...

At this time, we are not planning to do a pilot of a patient advocate in any communities throughout the Northwest Territories. I know the Member would be disappointed if I did not bring up the quality assurance professionals that we have in the system today. The quality assurance positions are also patient representatives, so they have a double role, Mr. Speaker.

Now, increasingly over the last number of months, it's becoming clear to me that having those two positions as a single position probably isn't the best way to do business here, in the Northwest Territories. Quality assurance tends to...