Julie Green

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services is reviewing the supplementary health benefits available to NWT residents. These benefits cover prescription drugs for approximately 1,500 residents, benefits that go beyond coverage provided by the NWT Health Plan. Unfortunately, these programs are not currently available to everyone, so we are now updating policies that underpin this program.

To access the Supplementary Health Benefits Program, you must be a senior or have a specified disease named on a list of conditions developed more than 30 years ago. The seniors program remains...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as I said earlier to the Member this week, this program actually hasn't launched yet. The uptake is unknown. The funding is secure for the 25 positions at this point. So while I know she would like to score a point today, it is not possible for me to commit to what she wants. Thank you.

Thank you. This is part of the trajectory of health needs to do more and more and more without any additional money. So this program is funded from within. What we can afford to do is 25 students at this point.

I want to say, however, that this bursary is not the only bursary or way to receive additional funds for education. If people in the nursing program go to the bursary section of the Aurora College website, they'll see some additional ways that they can apply for funding. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. My information is that there are a total of 121 people enrolled in the nursing program, and 29 of them are first year. And between 24 and 28 typically are Northern or Indigenous. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have a territorial specialist of chronic disease management who has been in the position since May of 2019. It's that person's job to research and provide recommendations on patient care standards related to chronic disease management services. The focus is on providing culturally appropriate and standardized diabetes programming by working with all of the communitybased dieticians to ensure that that's the case. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I also would like to congratulate the Arctic Energy Alliance for 25 years of service to the NWT in saving energy and introduce four members of the staff who are residents of Yellowknife Centre Faye MacDonald, Dharshan Maheswaran, Taylor Arsenault, and Mark Heyck. Thank you very much for coming.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this is the standard operating procedure, that a person leaves with a safety plan. I think that some of the confusion comes around having a standard diagnosis. Not everyone who comes in with selfharm is recorded consistently in that way or with suicidal ideation. So they may not always fall into the category of the suicide risk assessment. So it depends on what kind of information is conveyed right at the beginning. But the safety plan is required. So if the Member knows of times that safety plans have not been given to people who have suicidal ideation...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I think that would be the intention, but I can't commit to this funding. What the process is, is that Hay River Health and Social Services Authority needs to make a business case for the medical social workers and then submit it during the regular business planning cycle. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. The medical social workers work within the acute care settings and so at this time they are not in communities, and we don't have a plan to expand them there. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, over the last decade, the Department of Health and Social Services has been working on improving cultural safety for the Indigenous communities and peoples of the Northwest Territories. This critical work underpins everything the health and social services system does to redress the legacy of colonialism and antiIndigenous racism that has so deeply affected Indigenous communities.

This fall, a distinct cultural safety and antiracism division was established to create a systemwide environment where Indigenous peoples feel safe, respected, and free of racism and discrimination when...