Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The particular focus of the virtual care work is between in-territory providers, health providers, and in-territory patients. There has been some work done, although COVID-19 reorganized priorities, and that work has slowed down. We already have a head start because the secure messaging will be through the territorial EMR system, which is available in every health centre and cabin that we have, so there is widespread availability once the secure messaging is developed for application across the NWT. The only other loose end is that we need to continue work with...

Thank you for the question. Yes, the CPHO is fully aware that outdoor funerals, if not already over, will be over in a matter of weeks because of the temperature outside. It's my understanding that the protocol that's in place now will remain in place but she is actively reviewing the funeral protocol, and that there is a possibility of revised public health orders next month, and that this would be the time we hear what she's decided about funerals.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. This is before my time over here, but my understanding is that, yes, Cabinet did have a chance to review the plan before it was made public. Thank you.

Thank you for the question, Member for Monfwi. The situation with facility-based treatment is to provide a range of options. Poundmaker’s is one of the six. Aventa, which is for women, is another; Edgewood in B.C.; Fresh Start, which is for men in Calgary; and an Indigenous Healing Centre called Renascent in Toronto and another called the Thorpe Healing Centre in Lloydminster. There are a lot of different choices there for people to make. This is a matter of public policy that affects all residents of the NWT. Also, more particularly for Indigenous organizations, there is on-the-land healing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for Monfwi for that question. I'm unaware of a promise by the Department of Health and Social Services to revisit the question of southern-based in-facility addictions treatment. In fact, recently, in response to a call for proposals, six facilities in total, two new, were approved for southern-based addictions treatment. The reason it's in the South is because people can get in right away. They can choose the place they want to go. They can be in a co-ed or a gender-specific facility depending on their preference. They have access to a range...

Thank you to the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. There is no current plan to establish a facility-based treatment option in the Northwest Territories. The last one was Nats'ejee K'eh. It cost as much to run Nats'ejee K'eh as it does to contract the six other places in the South, and so we feel that it's better value for money to have the facility-based treatment in the South, notwithstanding the fact that that money is not being spent in the North. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in the lead-up to the last election, I offered a series of campaign readiness workshops in Yellowknife in the hope of getting more women to run. The Member for Great Slave attended some of those sessions, along with some of the other women in this Chamber. I had high hopes they would be elected and bring their many talents to provide good governance and better the lives of NWT residents. The end result, as we all know, was the historic election of nine women from all across the territory, and from among that group a woman Premier and four women Cabinet Ministers. We had and still...

The authors of the paper suggest that we could begin this retrofit work right now, by scaling up programs offered by organizations like the Arctic Energy Alliance. What we need to kick-start the process is an investment in rebates that will encourage homeowners to make these upgrades sooner rather than later. If not now, then when? Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the document "The Northern Retrofit Economy: Ambitious, Achievable Building Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions with Net Positive Returns, Improved Quality of Life and Job Creation, by Ecology North." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks again to the Minister. I am going to continue to ask this question because I think people need to understand whether it's a matter of having a case, 10 cases, 100 cases, and also whether it matters in the decision-making whether those cases are in Yellowknife or whether they are in one of the small communities. I think that people want some accountability about when the phases could be reversed, what would trigger that in the NWT rather than in the country as a whole.