Glen Abernethy

I hate to inform the Member that I'm not new to this file, and I have been working on addressing poverty here in the Northwest Territories with partners from across the territory for a number of years. We did bring forward an NWT framework for addressing poverty in the Northwest Territories where there are multiple partners working to address these problems. The GNWT has also taken action, and I highlighted some of the things we're doing around food security here already.

On top of that, we also have the Anti-Poverty Fund, which is an application-based program. We have $1 million in that fund...

In the strategy, the federal government is encouraging provinces and territories to live up to the principles of their plan by doing different actions and activities in the Northwest Territories. These actually, I think, in many ways are similar to the territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan, as it summarizes existing programs and funding commitments across the government, as well as with our partners throughout the Northwest Territories.

Once again, I am not the right person to talk about the federal plan. I am looking forward to seeing the presentation and working with our partners from across...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a government we have committed to putting the principles of reconciliation in action and to transform the way that we deliver programs and services to be more culturally informed and respectful throughout our mandate. Today I would like to update colleagues and the public on efforts that we have been adopting within our Health and Social Services system to put these principles into action to better serve our residents.

Embedding the concept of cultural safety into our Health and Social Services system has been one of our main areas of focus. Cultural...

Following the incident in Nahanni Butte, the community counselling team based in Fort Liard were in regular and constant contact with the community of Nahanni Butte. They were also in contact with the affected staff and available for questions and support as needed. The territorial mental health and addictions program had an additional counsellor in Fort Simpson from August 18th to 21st. They provided on-call support as needed to the region in person, as well as via telephone and telehealth. That was in the region.

The community counsel team also travelled to Nahanni Butte the week of August...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, med response was activated at 1:20 and the plane landed at 5:57 p.m. I don't actually remember the time where the plane actually crashed, but there was time on the ground before med response was actually engaged. I think that might have been an hour or two, which would take it to the seven hours. As far as the amount of time it took the plane to get in once engaged, it was four for a half hours. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Once again, the med response clinical lead and the emergency physician were in contact with the patients and knew the status of the patients and were working with the patients to ensure that they were safe. As a note, and to be clear, med response was activated at 1:20 p.m. to determine the safest way to get the patients out of Nahanni Butte to appropriate medical care. At approximately 3:30 p.m., the med response provided an update regarding the ETA and flight plans. Four medics were dispatched using two different planes; one to Fort Liard with helicopter assistance over to Nahanni Butte, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the incident in Nahanni Butte, the med response clinical lead and emergency physician performed secondary assessments and spoke with all of the patients over the phone and was able to get a sense of their injuries, their mobility, the details of the crash, as well as their medical histories. Med response was aware that there were pilots and other aircraft on the ground in Nahanni Butte, and that they were ready and willing to fly patients to Fort Simpson, but advised against the load-and-go scenario, if you wish, suggesting that a medevac...

The Government of the Northwest Territories is taking a whole-of-government approach when it comes to addressing poverty. Housing is doing an important thing. Income support is doing important things, as the Member highlighted within her Member's statement. ITI is doing important things. ENR. The government is working to create and support community gardens in every community in the Northwest Territories. The anti-poverty fund has also put money into different food programs throughout the Northwest Territories.

The federal government, obviously, has a role to play. We're hoping to see some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is a federal government strategy, so I can't say exactly how many people the federal government strategy might move out of poverty, but I can talk a little bit about the work that we are doing with the federal government.

As the Member has already indicated, the federal government's poverty reduction strategy sets out an official measure of poverty for Canada using the market basket measure. They are actually going to change it and call it "Canada's official poverty line." The market basket measure is a measure, as the Member, I'm certain, is aware...

On August 22nd, a counsellor with the GNWT Family Assistance Program, the FAP, travelled to the community of Fort Simpson and provided additional counselling services to the region. She was available to meet with staff through the region, including Nahanni Butte via phone, via telehealth, and in person for those individuals who were in the community as needed. If community members still required counselling supports, they were encouraged to reach out to the Fort Liard counselling team as well.

The GNWT staff are also eligible for the Employee Family Assistance Program services for additional...