Jane Groenewegen

I see this as only being helpful. When there is a crisis of mental health issues in a community, what are we doing about protocol so that everybody knows what the plan is? You don’t hear very often of people being medevaced because there’s a mental health crisis. You do certainly when there’s a physical illness, you hear that but, when there’s a mental illness and there’s a crisis, you don’t hear of what the protocols are for dealing with that.

We live in a severe climate and environment, and when you’re in the smaller communities, if we do not have those kinds of protocols and infrastructure...

Thank you. I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms, please, to escort the witnesses into the Chamber.

Minister Miltenberger, for the record, would you please introduce your witness?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Next for general comments I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about what I see as a lack of support in the smaller communities for people suffering from mental illness. This is a problem which has come into very clear focus in Hay River in the last month. I am very interested in this Mental Health First Aid program which is rolling out in a couple of small communities and I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what the plan is for the roll-out of this. If he could just describe it for us briefly and give people some hope that maybe there is something coming here that...

Minister Miltenberger, would you like to bring witnesses to the witness table?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Tabled Document 64-17(3) and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a former colleague from the Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod. We got sworn in a year ago today so your cooling off period is over, so get back to work.

Good afternoon, colleagues. I`d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. One document that’s in Committee of the Whole today is Tabled Document 64-17(3). What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to offer my congratulations to the successful candidates in Monday’s municipal election in Hay River. I look forward to working closely with Mayor-elect Andrew Cassidy and councillors Brad Mapes, Kandis Jameson, Keith Dohey, Donna Lee Jungkind, Vince McKay, Roger Candow, Jason Coakwell and Michael Maher. While Mayor Cassidy and councillors McKay and Maher bring the wisdom of municipal experience to this group, others bring fresh ideas and new perspectives.

We have the voice for youth in Councillor Dohey, a fourth-generation Hay Riverite, and might I say that...

Thank you. I think the Premier is reiterating some things that have been told to committee, but I do want it on the public record here in the House for the people of the Northwest Territories to hear, as well, and I think if left up to the public service, the initiative of decentralization will not happen. So I think that they need clear political direction from this government, from this Premier, from these Cabinet Ministers that this is a task to be undertaken with all seriousness. We would like to see some progress on this. So I would like to again ask the Premier if he will have...