Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I recognize that the pandemic has been incredibly stressful for almost everyone. It has produced a lot of anxiety, depression, loneliness, especially for people who live on their own like elders. And we have provided services throughout. The demand for services is uneven. At this point, we are able to keep up with the demand for services, and so I feel confident that we're not facing anything that we can't deal with. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. I appreciate the Member shining a light on this area. It's obviously every parent's worst nightmare is to fear that their child has suicidal thoughts or has attempted or completed a suicide. I appreciate her shining a light on that. I think that it's very important to do that.

We have, of course, the community counselling program that's available to individuals or people could attend in families. We also have a specific app, and of course that depends on having the right tools and the connectivity. But it's called the Strongest Family Institute, and it is specifically geared to...

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker, and I appreciate the question. The child and youth care counsellor initiative is a joint project between ECE and the Department of Health and Social Services. It is, if you like, school counselling 2.0. What we have is a fouryear implementation plan of which we are now in year four where we've provided 42 positions to schools and seven clinical supervisors in order to address the needs of children and youth, particularly with respect to mental health, but they could bring any needs forward. We are now at the point of beginning an evaluation of this program so...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we do not at this point have a specific pandemic mental health action plan. But depending on the results of the community counselling questionnaire, that may be a good direction for us to go in. In the meantime, we do offer a wide range of services. And I certainly hope that the Member is promoting those services in whatever way he can, community counselling, online services, outofterritory services. We try to provide variety so that we can meet people where they're at. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have a pot of money called the community initiatives fund. And what we ask communities to do is create their own wellness plan to identify the things they need in their community in order to be well and to be healthy. These wellness plans are on the Department of Health and Social Services website. They're funded annually. The funding can be carried over. The plans also are evergreen plans, meaning that they can change over time to meet the needs of the communities. And this year, we are going through an exercise where we are reaching out to...

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and I appreciate the question from the Member for Monfwi.

The provision of Health and Social Services in the Tlicho region is delivered by the Tlicho Community Services agency. They create their own budget based on their own process, and they submit it to me for approval. I've recently received the budget for the next fiscal year. I haven't yet reviewed it. But I certainly will be doing so. What I suggest is that the Member speak to the board of the Tlicho Community Services agency about how to address the needs that she has in mind to improve the social...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. The thing that the families who are now in Edmonton should do is talk to their health care provider in Edmonton about the possibility of travelling back to Yellowknife in order to give birth at Stanton, and that health care provider can evaluate the stage of their pregnancy, potential complications and so on, and give them an answer. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is right. I certainly would like to help his communities to gain or regain their mental health. I said that I would inquire about sending a travelling team to Tuktoyaktuk. I'm not sure about the staffing levels off the top of my head in his other communities and whether they are as shortstaffed as they are in Tuk. But that's something that I will inquire about.

At the end of the day, we want people to be living their best lives, and we're prepared to support that in whatever way we can. And if that's a travelling team while there aren't...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Member for that question. There's no question that the pandemic has been very hard on the mental health of the whole population. People at different times have been stressed; they've been lonely; they've been anxious; they've been worried. And we have tried to respond by providing counselling in a virtual setting if COVID restrictions are in place, or facetoface if not. I realize that Tuktoyaktuk is short a couple of counsellors. And the primary reason for that is because there's no housing for them, and so people have been offered...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate again what a difficult time this has been for people across the NWT in all the age groups. There is nobody who has been unaffected by the stress and the strain of the pandemic and now trying to rebound in the light coming back; it's still very cold.

Before committing to helping the entire Beaufort Delta, I want to take a look at the differing service levels in different communities, because I don't think all of them have the same needs. It is possible for us to contract services. We do that for child and youth community counsellors...