Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am pleased to announce the temporary day shelter will open next week at the site of the former visitors centre in Yellowknife. The day shelter is vital to keeping residents experiencing homelessness safe during the depths of winter.

Madam Speaker, the need for a temporary day shelter arose from the public health order to physically distance indoors during the COVID19 pandemic. This order, while critical to keeping all residents safe, has reduced capacity at the day shelter and sobering centre on 50th Street, meaning that many individuals who need that service are...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there isn't hiring that's being planned that would support diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. That really requires a level of specialty that it's necessary to use medical travel to obtain. So, you know, the person would need to go to Edmonton or another place where that kind of specialty is available. What we're offering more is how to support the patient who has that diagnosis.

So going back to home and community care, there was a comprehensive review of that program done in September 2019, and it did, indeed, verify what the Member has said...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Health and Social Services system has always relied on locums, and that is still the case. The positions are located throughout the NWT, and we use them to cover shortterm gaps and ensure that we're providing quality services to our patients. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this information is housed in the same place as I mentioned to the Member from Deh Cho, the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance Program which, as a reminder, is a collaborative network of provincial and territorial surveillance systems supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The information on the website is broken down into geographic region, age, and sex; and the rate of Alzheimer's and other dementias in the NWT for residents aged 65 and older is 5.73 percent which compares to 6.68 percent nationally. The rate of Parkinson's in the NWT for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update Members on the temporary shutdown of labor and delivery services at Stanton Territorial Hospital. This closure requires the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority to send pregnant people to Edmonton to give birth. I know that this has placed a significant burden on NWT families at what should be a time of joy and celebration. I also recognize that this decision is even more difficult, coming as it does, so close to the holiday season.

This difficult decision was made to ensure the safety of individuals and their...

Yes, thanks. I'm not a big fan of all the editorializing but I'm happy to answer the questions.

So most communities have a resident counselor through either the community counseling service or the child and youth counseling program. And in the event that they don't have a resident counselor, a counselor visits on a known schedule to provide those services.

I recognize from my own travels in the NWT that it's not easy in some communities to obtain enough internet connectivity to sustain a conversation, especially one that has video related to it, and that's a real impediment to the services that...

Yes, thank you. I take it that the Member is talking about buildings. We don't have any buildings on the books other than the wellness and recovery centre in Yellowknife. In Members decide that's a priority, they should bring it to the regular business plan process and pursue the resources necessary to build and operate it. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm absolutely open to the idea of creating a partnership in a community outside of Yellowknife to offer these services, however, there would still be the question of resources, where the program was going to be located and who was going to pay for it. So at this point, as I said, there is no plan for a new facility or for the additional resources that would be required. But if Indigenous governments or community organizations are interested in partnering in the provision of wellness services, I urge them to contact me. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell the Member, the Member from Thebacha as well as the other Members, that our focus right now is opening the permanent wellness and recovery centre which the Member referenced in her statement. This facility will replace the current day and sobering centre, and the services offered in the one place will be transferred to the other once the building is open.

At this time, there are no plans to establish a similar service in any other community. That would require new resources which would need to follow established GNWT resource allocation processes...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 31, an Act to Amend the Pharmacy Act be read for the third time. And Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.