Julie Green

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, progress in this area has been about implementing community-based models to promote selfmanagement of chronic diseases and creating, as the Member referenced, new diabetic/dietician positions. So the health authorities now have registered dieticians in every region of the NWT and so they, together, serve every community in the NWT. They're trained to provide to support to support people living with diabetes and they do this not only by providing education and support but also education in the form of, for example, grocery store tours, health fairs, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Member in his statement referenced a knee replacement that took a number of years to accomplish. I don't think that we track those wait times for those major joint surgeries, and I know the time is variable. You can put yourself on a waitlist and get within a few months, or you can end up waiting years. I don't know how hard it is to track that kind of information so that's something I would have to take back to the department and inquire about.

There is some information online which I want to bring to the Member's attention.

Home care wait times are available...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for Deh Cho for that question.

So Primary Health Care Reform goes beyond the traditional health care system, and it is a systemwide initiative to provide culturallysafe and relationshipbased care in both the Health and Social Services system. So rather than having decisions made in a centralized way and then implemented through regions and communities, under the Primary Health Care Reform, frontline clients and staff and communities are involved in developing new approaches and solutions based on their own needs and priority, building on their...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware that specific staffing is being considered at this point, although it makes sense to have someone who is able to answer questions and provide a navigationtype of role with people with neurodegenerative diseases for the reason that the Member has mentioned, that the incidences of these diseases is likely to get greater as time goes on.

I know of people who have had neurodegenerative diseases in the Northwest Territories who have received good support from nonprofits, but mostly that's been by telephone and not by in-person means. And so...

Yes, on the left is Kelly Mahoney, director of policy, legislation and communications, and on the right is Christina Duffy from the Department of Justice.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have any more specific information than the Minister of Finance has. So I can commit to getting that information and bringing it back to the Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm pleased to be here today to discuss Bill 31, an Act to Amend the Pharmacy Act.

The development of this bill is the result of swift effort by the Department of Health and Social Services and would not have been possible without the full support of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight.

Madam Chair, the purpose of this bill is twofold:

First is to ensure that residents continue to have access to lifesaving naloxone kits in their communities and from organizations that work directly with residents at risk.

The proposed change will assist in the...

Yes, thank you. I'm very pleased that the Member has taken note of our recruitment efforts. And those are ongoing of course. We want to make sure that we have the full component of staff. And as I said earlier, we are not anticipating any more closures at the hospital. We have, through a variety of people foregoing holidays, working extra shifts, locums, and so on, we have enough staff to provide the excellent services that residents are used to. Thank you.