Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, there are significant wait lists for audiology. We have actually done a number of things to try to reduce that wait list, and the Member has actually identified already that we have put in a third position in audiology. National levels are five audiologists per 100,000 people. We previously had two-and-a-half. Now, we have three, so we are slightly over that. Having said that, we still have significant wait lists.

I have asked the department to begin a review with the NWT Health and Social Services Authority, focusing on wait time and waiting list...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "2017-2018 Annual Report of the Director of Child and Family Services." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Unfortunately, I don't know where we are in the financial situation with respect to that program. I believe that program is being run by an NGO, and it has been a very valuable program. We did have an opportunity to meet with some of the Member's constituents early on, and they talked about how much cleaner the area out in front of Northern Heights had been over the last year that this program was under way.

I will certainly look at it, Mr. Speaker. I think the program has value. I don't want to, obviously, step on another funder's toes, but if there is an opportunity to work together, I would...

I'm not prepared to discuss an individual's plan of care in the House of this Assembly. I don't think it is the appropriate place. The Member and I, as well as other Members who have been providing consent by the family, have had some discussions. I am certainly happy to sit down with any of the Members who have received consent from the family, and I am happy to meet with the family again to discuss where we are. We have had a discussion with the family previously, but I am definitely not about to start talking about an individual's plan of care in the House before this Assembly.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for her statement. I think the opening of the sobering centre and day shelter was an important day in Yellowknife North, an important day for the downtown core. I thank her and all the residents of Yellowknife for their support on this. I know there are some challenges, and we are certainly focused on safety of both our clients, our staff, as well as residents of the community, so we continue to evolve.

There are a number of different ways we hope to get some information, Mr. Speaker. We have put in place a number, a telephone number...

Yes, the Member is correct. ALS is not one of the conditions covered under our specified disease conditions under our supplemental health program, but I do want to make it clear that, unlike many other jurisdictions, things like homecare are part of our services that we do provide. We are working with clients and residents who have different specified diseases such as ALS, providing them with things like homecare and other services that they wouldn't get, or they would have to pay for in other jurisdictions. Having said that, the specified disease condition is just one of our programs that...

The public administrator will be required to do public meetings similar to board meetings. At which point, he will have an opportunity to explain and identify some of the things that he's seeing and witnessing in the community and hear from community residents on where their concerns are. I know the Member has been very good at helping articulate some of the challenges that people are seeing in Hay River, and he has shared those with me. We are certainly attempting to address some of those.

One of the things I think we can be happy about is there have been an awful lot of concerns about wait...

We have certain processes within the Government of the Northwest Territories' budget planning and whatnot. I imagine largerterm solutions will have to follow that cycle, but we are trying to find some shortterm interim solutions with existing resources that we can actually implement during the 20182019 fiscal year. We are hoping that we will be able to finish that work, recognizing that that is part of the solution, and it will not be the comprehensive solution that will follow our normal processes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a territorial problem. We have residents across the Northwest Territories on dialysis. We are looking at it from a territorial lens, recognizing, of course, that both Hay River and Yellowknife are the only places that dialysis is currently located.

The authority and the department have already begun their analysis. They are looking at other options like homebased dialysis. I think one Member did mention a travelling dialysis. There are some concerns about that, especially the models that exist in the South, but we have started to explore those options.

Also, recognizing that we need a...

We understand the challenges that the Y is facing. We understand that they have really put themselves out there to backstop the placement of the individuals throughout the Northwest Territories that used to be in their building, and we do understand the financial risk that puts the Y in and the challenges that it puts on them.

I don't know what financial contribution we will be able to make at this point. We haven't received an ask. We don't know the magnitude. We are hoping and we expect that we will see something so that we can begin to have those very discussions, but, at this point, it...