Julie Green

Opposed.

In favour.

In favour.

In favour.

In favour.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this House and residents of the NWT about the upcoming changes to the Extended Health Benefits Policy. They will come into effect on April 1st next year. The Government of the Northwest Territories is dedicated to ensuring fair access to extended health benefits for all NWT residents, with a focus on people with low income who are not covered under the existing policy.

The existing Extended Health Benefits Policy has been in place for over 30 years without substantial change. The updated policy addresses gaps in coverage that have left...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the question. The GNWT does not cover the cost of psychologists or their services. There are, however, private insurance programs, such as the GNWT Employee Benefit Program, that will pay for psychologists' services and so people can obtain them in that way. But this is not a funded service. And so it is not provided by the GNWT.

And an analogy that people may be familiar with is massage. Massage may be very beneficial but it is not a service that is offered by the GNWT, but it is offered in Yellowknife, for example, and it can be paid for through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the question. The Member, I think, does not want to hear about counsellors and the community counselling program; he wants to hear about psychologists. They are not part of the NWT health plan. We don't employ any at the Department of Health and Social Services. The Department of Justice employs two who serve the incarcerated population. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on May 30th this year there were 133 children in temporary or permanent care and custody of the director of child and family services compared to 169 youth in the temporary or permanent care or custody of the director of child and family services on September 1st, 2018. So that's 36 fewer children.

This is really been the result of a change in approach by the Department of Health and Social Services. We have provided family preservation workers to assist families with keeping children in their homes and providing services to them in their homes and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. We responded to the standing committee's report on October 13th last year. And just to recap briefly, we thanked the committee for their research, recommendations, and engagement. We think that they are positive and will contribute to the wellbeing of children and youth in our territory. We responded to each recommendation separately. In some cases we were able to act on them in our next quality improvement plan, which will be tabled in the August 2023 session. Other recommendations require funding and so they would go into...