Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I appreciate this motion. I think it's really important to talk about this area. I think that it helps to remove the stigma, and it helps connect people with the resources they need. There are a number of resources that have been mentioned by Members in their statements.

The important thing here is that we all have a role to play. We can be, as individuals, a mentor to someone who is struggling. We can be a leader in our communities. We can have a professional role in this. But we all have a role to play in ensuring that we hear what it is that people in...

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's worth noting that this program is not only for registered nurses; it's also for people who are in allied professions including midwifery and physicians and so on. I find it impossible to make a commitment about extending the program without it ever having been introduced. But I do invite the Member to ask me about this again once it has been introduced. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I think it's fair to say that the youth subscription boxes have been more popular than we anticipated, so much so that we've made the resources available online to people who are not able to obtain one of the boxes. We are now evaluating the success of that program with a view to deciding how and when to expand it. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you for the question. We are reviewing the suicide risk assessment tool, which has been in place since 2019, which NTHSSA staff use when someone comes to the hospital with suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt. The policy runs to ten pages and talks about the ways in which staff need to respond, who needs to be involved, and what kind of a safety plan the patient leaves with. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I would like to confirm for the Member that we, in fact, do see the connection between homelessness and health, and for that reason, we have been participating in the development of a homelessness strategy being led by the NWT Housing Corporation. We believe that homelessness requires a wholeofgovernment approach. It's not usually just one reason that a person is homeless or one kind of service, like a house that they need; they need a number of different services. And so we are able and willing to participate in improving services to homeless...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. So adult services supports case management of people with disabilities, including those who may have addictions and mental health challenges. These positions aren't necessarily social workers, but they could be other professionals who are able to provide case management support. It's important to say, however, that this position does not exist at the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. They don't have a medical social worker or an adult social worker at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the Member's passion for this. I am not going to change my answer. This program hasn't even launched, and the criteria the Member's asking for the criteria to be changed. We need to launch the program. And I invite her to come back to me with questions once it has been launched during the winter term. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, at this point, this is a brand new program, the bursaries actually are not going to be available to apply for until the winter of 2023, and at that point it will be possible to apply for them retroactively. So we don't have any information on the uptake to say whether it's possible to expand it to other populations. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the cultural safety division of the department, which is called community, culture and innovation has a mandate to help with all programs and services to ensure that they are culturally safe and antiracist. So that would be in place in any initiatives that are put in place. At this point, the asks are, I'm going to say, primarily processoriented with a view to collecting better data so that we know and we have a better idea of what the outcomes are, and we're certainly committed to doing that work. We want to be able to show that what we're doing...

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the intention is to look at individual income at this point. But what I want to stress is that this is not a program at this point. It's a discussion. We have provided four months worth of public consultation, and that now extends until November the 23rd. There are many ways to participate, including a town hall that will take place in mid November with more information to come. So if people feel that there should be a different way of calculating income, that it should be household income or some other form, then certainly that input is welcome...