Steve Norn

Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to consider the following documents: Tabled Document 286-19(2), Main Estimates 2021-2022, and Committee Report 8-19(2), Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on Motion 5-19(2), Referral of Point of Privilege Raised by Member for Monfwi on March 10, 2020. Marsi cho, Mr. Chair.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to tease out the right information after listening to my colleagues from Kam Lake and Great Slave. I'm happy to hear that the Department of Health and Social Services, CPHO is going to review how we are guiding our restrictions. My first question to the Minister is: is the Department of Health and Social Services still using the Emerging Wisely plan to guide decisions around restrictions? Thank you,

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. I remember saying, when we first got elected about a year and a half ago, you try to figure out what our record, our proceedings, are going to look like way down the road when people look back through our archives and whatnot, what languages are being used. I am hoping down the road that our elders tell us to think ahead several generations. I think this is one of those things, as well. When we speak our language in here, we want to hear that echoed in history, no matter what language we speak in here. It could be French, English, Tlicho, Dene Suline, and so on. I think...

Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. There was a lot of work that went into this. A lot of staff put a lot of time into this, and as the Minister mentioned, it was a collaborative effort, a lot of moving parts. Like I said, it wasn't just any one Member. It was all of us working together. I am very, very proud that we moved forward with this. Again, you always hear the media say things about backroom deals. There was nothing like that done here. It was all very open. We had a certain amount of commitment. Of course, there is always going to be compromise. Not everybody is going to get what they want. This...

Just trying to get going in the right direction here, again listening to my colleagues here. Given everything that we've seen over the last year, does that mean we will have a new, updated Emerging Wisely document with a clear timeline to easing restrictions?

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about GNWT's Emerging Wisely Plan today. This document, which was released last spring in May, laid out the government's plan in how to deal with the pandemic response. First off, I want to say what a great job our medical teams have done in mitigating the spread of this virus and a big marsi cho to all our residents who have done their part by following all the current restrictions. At the moment, we have zero active cases, and this is definitely something to be very proud of.

Mr. Speaker, since last spring, a lot has happened. This pandemic is a fluid...

That was one of the things I wrote down just about five minutes ago. The next review is 2022, and for me, that is far too long. I don't want to lose any more residents anywhere in the territory because of this really glaring service gap. I'll try to redirect this a little bit. Can the Minister have this reviewed sooner than 2022 and direct that NTHSSA to do this?

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Marsi cho, colleagues. In this policy, it also states that nurses or NTHSSA staff must have the ability to legally operate a motor vehicle in order to drive to and from clients' homes. In reading that, this job description is contradictory to the policy in my statement earlier. What are the true duties of our staff in our small communities? I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.