Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm looking for accountability as well, and I hear this refrain that it's the governance council that's in charge; it's not the Minister, there's only so much she can do. So why are these -- why are we not bringing the governing council to listen to these meetings? It doesn't matter if it's Stanton. They're responsible for the entire thing. The individual wellness council's, fine. But the overall management of the system and oversight of the system is one body so why are they not being involved with this effort?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health care worker I spoke to about the recent round of engagements within the system the Minister's undertaking and the authority's undertaking said, quote: We don't need more opportunities for feedback. The reason health care workers don't feel heard is because there's never any real action or bold moves on the feedback we've given for years.

So I'd like to ask the Minister of health today, in these town halls that she's having with health care workers what is she hearing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And that number is $200 billion over ten years. So, you know, I appreciate that it's going to be divvied out in different places. We need to have a resolution to this. We need to find a way to retain workers. This is a blockage that's been identified to me. Will the Minister at least commit to doing an exploration of this, working with staff, working with the whole team, and coming up with a solution that's meaningful, impactful, and will actually solve this problem instead of just more listening exercises? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister willing to look at the length of contracts? A six-month contract means the worker's going to stay in the Northwest Territories for at least a longer time commitment. We're talking about contracts that are two days long, that are a week long. Will the Minister commit to stopping that practice and ensuring contracts are long enough to keep people in the North and keep money in the North and keep continuity of care in the North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the workers are looking for bold action. They're looking for a clear commitment. So what is the Minister's idea for how to solve this problem? What's the clear commitment and deliverable that she can give hope to workers that things are going to get better and improve? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the governing council joining the Minister on these listening sessions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm starting to see why the largest ever surplus has disappeared. Why are we not following guide -- or we only have guidelines but not controls. So how is the Minister going to ensure these guidelines are met? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the strategy calls for forced growth and new initiatives to be held to $10 million per budget -- per annual budget. Can the Minister tell us how she did in regards to holding it to $10 million the last budget, the last O and M budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for clarifying that but I'm not asking for a licensing body. I think that is the too larger project. I'm asking if the Minister will explore partnerships with other provinces to bring their licensing bodies to the Northwest Territories to provide this to paramedicine. And I'll point out as well that we have contractors that provide this kind of services in the Northwest Territories. Maybe if we had more flexibility or more range of options, we would see more of those operators open up North and expand the range of services. So will the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the same vein, community paramedicine is an emerging initiative that's proven to be successful to provide safe, timely, mobile medical care in the community setting, such as palliative care, pharmacology, dementia, delirium, and depression services, transfusions medicine, and all manner of things. This helps keep people out of the health care system and gets to problems before they get worse. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Can the Minister work to deliver on this initiative with local emergency services providers to advance community paramedicine in...