Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. We had a great conversation yesterday about the Dental Auxiliaries Act, and I just want to make sure that the wheels keep turning on that one. As part of the oral health strategy, has the department done any jurisdictional research or spoken with dentists and dental hygienists to determine the feasibility of allowing dental hygienists to be self-initiated? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, I identified an important change to the NWT Dental Auxiliaries Act that I would like to see the Minister of health make to improve access to and delivery of oral health services for residents of the NWT. As the Member for Kam Lake, I speak for my constituents. Every dollar spent by this government, whether in my constituency or across the NWT, impacts the cost of living for the people of Kam Lake. However, I also feel a responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interests of all residents of the Northwest Territories.

In 2020, the Department of...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I really appreciate the Premier’s response. The last line item there is travel. Travel in 2018-2019 was at $82,000, and then, for main estimates this year, it’s at $420,000. Is that because it was leading into an election year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question for the Minister of health is: has recruitment begun for the chief oral health officer position that was identified as part of the oral health strategy? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Have the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services sat down together and looked at the cost in regard to medical travel for these types of services, for students who are travelling outside of their home community to places like Yellowknife or to places like Edmonton to receive these types of services, to see if the cost can be offset by costs we're already putting out for medical travel? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. This time around, I might start at the bottom of the page. I have the same question in regard to travel here. I am wondering if the Minister would mind speaking to the changes in travel costs. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. That was my last question for those pages. I am just curious as to: we don't see too many line items that say "interest" within the budget. I am just wondering what we are paying interest on. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that, Madam Chair. I'd appreciate that. I just want to make sure that we haven't gotten rid of our Indigenous language scholarships. Speaking of which, I'm wondering if the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has any type of formal interpreter or translator program available, given our need for cultural resurgence within the Northwest Territories and for professional translators. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have noticed that, over time, this funding between 2018-2019 actuals to the main estimates for this year seems to be going down to the tune of approximately a half million dollars. Is this a trend that we can expect to continue to see over the life of this Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. For my next question, I'm going to go back to the conversation about the NWT Arts Council. I know that there is an arts strategy currently in the works in conjunction with ITI, and I'm wondering when we can expect to see that. Thank you.