Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start for thanking the Member for drawing attention to this Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. It's a very significant problem all around, but especially in the Beaufort-Delta. She will be pleased to know that the program rolled out as planned in January of 2020. The response rate was low in Paulatuk and Ulukhaktok, so the kits were sent again in November of 2020 to those communities. In total, there were 1,157 FIT kits distributed, and the screening rates in the smaller Beaufort-Delta communities, that is, excluding Inuvik, doubled from 7.9 percent to...

Yes. Thank you. That is a federal program, but the assistant deputy minister will be able to answer. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to refer the question to the deputy minister.

Excuse me, Madam Chair. Could we switch witnesses again, please?

All residents should be able to receive their second dose within that 28-to-42-day time frame. I am not aware of people going over that unless they are unavailable to have the second dose because they are out of their community or out of the territory. To the best of my knowledge, there is no delay in this area.

Yes. Thank you. The point of the vaccine is to reduce the severity of illness should it be contracted. In the NWT, we have not reduced isolation times based on having the vaccine, so the real point there is to reassure people about their safety in the event of infection. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to refer this question to Mr. Elkin.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's our tax money that is paying for those benefits. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about this issue, because it is one that I have heard discussed quite often. The Chief Public Health Officer is the staff person who is ultimately responsible, but she doesn't work in a vacuum. She works with colleagues across the country. She works with colleagues in her office. She regularly consults community and Indigenous leaders. She also receives advice from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. She uses a variety of information sources to look at the decisions she makes about priority groups for vaccination and, as...

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am not aware of any assistance that is being provided in that circumstance. Thank you.