Glen Abernethy

As the Member for Yellowknife Centre has already pointed out, we do have a significantly large action plan with 70 items, and our staff have been quite busy. As a result, we have not done that additional research on a child advocate at this point. However, I would like to note that I was a member of the committee that did a review of the implementation of child and family services in the 16th Assembly, and, at that time, I and my colleagues had an opportunity to go and meet with child advocates from other jurisdictions and learn about the roles that they provide. A child advocate tends to be...

When we came forward with Building Stronger Families, we were hoping to change from an apprehension-based system to a prevention-based system. Building Stronger Families is still the right way to go, but what we realized and what we heard from the Auditor General is we did not have enough feet on the street to make this a reality, and we were overburdening a number of our people, and, as a result, they were not doing the record-keeping that was necessary to ensure that we were monitoring its success and/or failures. We have increased the number of positions in the last budget by 21.

As I said...

I don't know who the next Minister of Health and Social Services will be, but I do know the work we are doing to support Liard and Nahanni Butte is incredibly important work and is consistent with the mandate of the Department of Health and Social Services, which is to provide care as close to home as possible and to make sure our residents are receiving access to the best care possible. I believe our work with Fort Nelson is consistent with that. I am optimistic and hopeful that the next Minister will continue to see the value that this relationship will bring, and that he or she will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The territorial authority has been working with the healthcare services in Fort Nelson to develop an agreement on how people from Fort Liard, as well as Nahanni Butte, will receive services in Fort Nelson.

Unfortunately, the MOU hasn't been completed at this time, but we are working on it. The agreement will define the process for how NWT residents are referred to health services in Fort Nelson and how they can actually be referred back to the health and social services system here in the Northwest Territories.

Senior staff from the authority in the Deh Cho region will...

Mr. Speaker, seniors and elders hold a unique place throughout our territory. They are our mentors, they are caregivers, and the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that they provide is beneficial to all Northwest Territories' residents. Seniors and elders are also the fastest-growing population in the Northwest Territories, and there is a need to understand how our government programs and services are supporting them now, as well as into the future.

As outlined in the priorities of the 18th Legislative Assembly, our government committed to taking action so that seniors in the NWT can age in place...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Report on Senior's Access to Government of the Northwest Territories Programs and Services"; and "What We Heard Report - Continued Care Facilities Legislation for the Northwest Territories." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is kind of difficult to answer that question because we aren't actually sure what the federal government is going to do in this particular area. The question may, unfortunately, be a little premature, but what I can say is that we are watching this very closely. Regardless of which government makes up the federal government in the next term, I am hopeful and optimistic that they will continue to work on pharmacare, and we as a government should and must continue to make sure that our voice is heard during those discussions, but frankly I think it's a little early to speculate on what it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the national Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, we did have an opportunity to make presentation to the council, and we outlined the challenges of providing healthcare in the Northwest Territories. We outlined the different public benefit plans that we administer here in the Government of the Northwest Territories, our Extended Health Benefits. We talked about the trends over the last ten years so that they could see where some of the usage is or uptake in some of the prescription drugs that are being utilized here in the...

I have been following this file closely. As I indicated, this survey will be completed by the end of this month. I have asked the department to have a summary ready for me to look at. That will probably be in September, at which point we can provide direction on how to move forward. I hope to do that in the life of this Assembly, but at the end of the day, the rollout will be in the next Assembly. Hopefully, there will be a program that meets their needs, meets the needs of this Assembly, meets the needs of the residents, early, very early, in the life of the next government. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The intent of this motion is to clarify that a benefit agreement does not have to be a separate agreement. It is also intended to make clear that, as long as an agreement contains provisions providing benefits, it may meet the requirement under Bill 34. Thank you, Mr. Chair.