Okay, thanks for that. And I wonder if the Minister can explain whether residents in all communities, or some communities, are going to be seeing a change in home care? Are we going to have more access to home care? Different criteria -- like, expanded criteria or more services being offered or what changes are people going to see on the ground in their home? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from.
So what the change with the -- the change in the funding, once we have the new agreement and the money that we are -- you know, I think that's the piece, where as I mentioned before, home care will continue to be run as it always has. We will have the nursing services. There will be self-referral. There will be home support workers when needed through the same process, through home care assessments. It's the personal pieces that Indigenous governments felt that they wanted to take on and they can do that themselves in the communities. They are more flexible to be able to do other things. They can hire staff that could do work more in the evenings. You know, there's many different -- every single community that I travel to, Indigenous community, has a different perspective on what they want to provide to their community residents and what their communities wanted. So this is a way of ISC saying we will, through our northern wellness agreement, carve this out, and then they -- they can utilize that to do the -- more of the social aspect - the transportation, the non-nursing, the nonclinical things. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Yellowknife North.
That's all for now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I am going to go to the Member from Monfwi.
So we are on page 208 and 209? Okay, I have a question for page 204, grants and contribution and transfers. But go to page 209.
Okay, disabilities and respite and seniors fund, the contribution for that -- those programs. You know, it's low, and it looks like it's been low for many years, and I -- there's no increase. I just wanted to ask the Minister why, why the budget remain the same when I believe this supports all the regions. Is that -- this fund goes -- this program is -- are being distributed to other small communities as well?
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the funding that goes to this line item, it goes to the NWT Disabilities Council and the Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay. So it's not being -- other communities where there's a lot of need as well within the disabilities and respite and the seniors??? funds, so is there a program that goes to the small communities to support these three items?
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is long, ongoing funding that I believe that the NWT Disability Council advocates for all residents of the Northwest Territories, and so these pockets of funding are historic, ongoing funding that has been ongoing -- like, I don't even know how long that they've been in the budget. And as I stated, they do go to NWT Disabilities Council and they do -- I think -- I believe, you know, they provide different services throughout the territory.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Well, you know, the disability fund, 229, it says funding to support organization that provide increase independence and reduce barriers for residents living with disabilities within the NWT.
I know at one time we -- like, in Tlicho region, we don't have any programs. I know it's probably associated with another department. But at one time, we had -- well, I will just use an example, like, friendship centre. They had a program for people with disabilities and, you know, a program where they went every day, went to school, and from what I heard from people there before and after is that they benefitted a lot from it. The participant feel good, and they showed up before class starts, and some of them didn't really want to leave because it was a program that was meeting their needs. But we don't have any programs like that anymore. The only programs that has -- that offer, it's in the larger regional centre but not in small communities because we do have a lot of young people with autism and even in their school. So I just wanted to ask the Minister does the department fund a school or, you know, education where there's our young people with challenges, to support young people with challenges? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe the funding that it provides to NWT Disability Council does provide for staff that can work with families to try and help them navigate the different areas where there is program dollars or funding. Many of our different departments -- I know, like, within ECE and housing have different areas, you know, for disabilities. We also, you know, through the health system referral system, you know, if there's referrals for children that need services, that's usually -- it's just kind of spread out all over in different areas. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. As a result, you know, this is really because of the neglect for so long that many of our young people with challenges, they didn't have the opportunity, they fell through the cracks and it's like, you know, they miss out on a lot so this is where the JP program came in, and that's where JP helped many of our young people because we do have -- the autism is the one that's coming up more and more in many of the smaller communities, especially for disabilities. And I know that, you know, whether the JP gets approved or not and with them, I know, you know -- because JP was not approved for many of the education. And so will the department -- it's not just only for education, the education department, but will the department fill in the gap where JP failed or JP is not funding the programs for many of the schools to support students with challenges. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do believe that myself and my colleague, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, have been working together and trying to ensure that children in small communities -- you know, before we got into this government, there was decisions made, you know, to best support children in small communities. It really -- you know, I can't speak to it but we do know that it's been addressed, it's been highlighted as a concern, and so our -- both of our departments are working together to come back with the funding that we do have in our different areas to support children, especially the children in school, is to find the easiest, best path forward for that funding to be able to be used for students in schools, especially when it comes to looking at, you know, children in small communities because we know that, you know, that's even more of a challenge. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Precedence was set already by the Department of education because they fill in the gap. So what's going to happen if we don't have any JP program for the next fiscal year? So this is where I think the health and education, they need to do more, especially with -- because JP program is -- JP is for young Indigenous living with challenges, and a lot of schools do rely -- because we've been -- a lot of small communities did not get adequate funding from education so JP program was the one that helped many of our young people. And I know that I see -- I see it when I go to the school in my community, you know. Young people, they're happy, you know, they're driving, and they're, like -- and it would be sad if JP did not come through -- pull through for us, but this is where I hope that the two departments will do something and not leave our young people not supported, especially those that really need it. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I am going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am going to just say that myself and the Minister -- I won't speak for her, but we are both very live to this Jordan's Principle issue and how the impact of it is in our territory. We are continuing to work with our Indigenous partners and advocating the federal government to make sure that they recognize the Northwest Territories' issues separately than just an on-reserve/off-reserve situation like they previously did. And so, you know, we are continuing to work together and just so you know, I think our whole Cabinet, and I think everyone in this House will agree, that we all are live to this issue. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Is there any further questions? Please turn to page 208.
Health and social services, long-term and continuing care services, $69,761,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Okay, thank you. Moving on to out of territory services, beginning on page 211, with information item on 213. Is there any questions?
I am going to go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will note that medical services in this activity continues to be the same amount year over year. That includes insured hospital and physician services provided to NWT residents outside of the NWT. Just to clarify and just to make sure I understand this before I jump into a deeper question, this is, indeed, the funding that we provide to other jurisdictions to provide services for our residents who -- residents when they are undertaking medical travel? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So it is services that when -- physician services outside of the territory that can include when we do send people away, but it also includes anybody accessing services when they're not in the territory. So if you're travelling, like we have many teachers that leave the territory all summer and so they all travel to other parts of the country, we have many Northerners who leave the territory for parts of the summer and travel to other territories, when they're accessing services in other jurisdictions those are billed back to us, and then we allocate this pot of funding so that we can ensure that we can continue to pay those bills. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and thank you to the Minister for clarification. So in essence, it's sort of a charge back pot is what I heard, so thank you for that.
I have corresponded with the Minister several times around medical travel when residents feel compelled to go south and make appointments and book things on their own on various topics, not any one topic, and the information I have received back is that her department is constrained by the NWT-Canada health transfer around using health care -- private health care facilities and so reimbursing folks who use private facilities, that sort of thing, when they, quote unquote, jump the line and get services completed down south that maybe delays here are causing. Ultimately, you know, it's a chicken and egg situation, and I'd like for the Minister to sort of get into that today, if at all possible, because by not offering services here in the territory or not having, you know, a real eye to managing waitlists, people then jump the line anyway and we do create two-tier healthcare system and some people come and ask for reimbursement and then are denied, and fair enough. But what is the -- what is the way out of this cycle, Mr. Chair? I realize that it's a big question. Thanks.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the conversation that all health Ministers across Canada are having right now and, you know, there's -- in every jurisdiction, there's a little bit different going on everywhere. And one of the issues -- and I don't want to take up the whole time to -- so I am going to be very -- when we have a -- we have a public healthcare system in Canada. That's the free system that's insured services. We're already constrained by the amount of, you know, healthcare staff that are provided. Private clinics are usually -- they can charge more, they can pay their staff more, they're not bound by collective agreements. They're private businesses. And therefore they are -- you know, if you have money -- it's like a two-tier system. If you have money, then you should -- you get access faster, which is not the vision of the public health care -- healthcare system in Canada. But, however, this is where we're struggling right now because there's even changes to the Canada Health Act were made in the last -- in the last federal government that if we started to use private healthcare systems to -- you know, to -- and pay for people to go to private clinics, they would start deducting those out of our health transfers. And so that means -- you know, so this is the struggle that we're having, that we can't afford to get anything taken out of our health transfer. So if we start paying for people -- and I am not going rude or anything, but it's -- if you can afford it, then you can jump the line. And that's -- you know, and -- but then because you can afford it, you can jump the line and then you get reimbursed? It's the same amount of physicians and nurses and doctors that we need in a public healthcare system. And I am not -- you know, this is -- this is a struggle that we're having as health Ministers, is trying to make sure that we keep enough of the staff within the public healthcare system that we can keep it flowing. We hear it right across Canada; you know, surgeries are -- surgery waitlists, you know, specialists waitlists, all of these things in our public healthcare system. However, reimbursing people for going around the system is not -- it's not going to benefit us if -- especially if it decreases the amount of money that we get to be able to provide those services in the territories. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
Yeah, no, thank you. And I can appreciate that answer, and I guess I think it's something I would very much like to be kept up to date as you have those FPT -- as the Minister has those FPT meetings and discussions. I think it's something that is definitely affecting Yellowknife, I assume is affecting smaller communities, and is across the entire country is something that -- that public governments are grappling with. What I would say is, you know, from my perspective and my knowledge base is the way to move forward on that is to work on more labour market supplements with healthcare professionals and really listen to doctors, but that's more of a comment for the Minister. If she wants to expand on her filling up the rest of the three minutes with her thoughts, I actually would love to hear them. Thank you.
Thank you. I am going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, and I appreciate the comments from the Member. And, you know, I think one of the areas where -- since COVID, I believe that most of the healthcare providers -- and we've heard from healthcare practitioners, health care -- you know, all healthcare providers and people working in the 24-hour system is this work-life balance. So if -- even if we were to say, okay, we're going to pay you more, people only want to work so much hours, and they may not increase the amount of hours they do by just by increasing the pay, you know. It actually could be negative. Like, you could make more and work less if we do that. So it's trying to find the balance. And I've heard from many members. I've heard from staff. It's those other things that make their life better by living here and being here. But it's also taking into account that those things actually cost dollars and, you know, when a health authority is already running deficits, it's really hard for them to try to find funding for incentives. And so this is why it's important that we're getting NTHSSA right funded so that way they could utilize the money, they can get the right funding for the programs and services that they're providing, that the Northwest Territories residents need and deserve however they're able to allocate funding to those important things for staff recruitment and that we've heard from staff. So this work is ongoing, and it's been -- I mean, my entire career in the healthcare system, I've been saying there's certain things that I need and wanted in my time and there's still -- you know, we're still trying to find the funding to be able to implement those things. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Member from Great Slave, did you have a follow-up question? Okay, thank you. Is there any further questions?
I will go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On your facility-based addictions treatment centre, it's gone down -- or treatment, it's gone down some 31 percent. Can you elaborate on that a bit. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the question from the Member. You know, I know that this funding amount is not enough, and the funding that was in the previous year's budget was a one-time funding because of sunset funding. It's gone back to the original amount that was -- that's currently core funding for this program. However, this program is currently under review under the health sustainability unit, and I think -- I believe it's the first one that's going to come back with recommendations on this line item so that we could -- once I have those recommendations and, you know, that will help us decide what the funding probably needs to be. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. How much of this funding is allocated towards aftercare? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
This funding is specifically based for facility-based addictions treatment, so this pot of funding is for when we utilize the contract services for those who have addictions that, you know -- that have polysubstance abuse and multiple -- you know, and they need to go out for treatment and they work with their case workers for the best specific treatment plan, whether it's in territory or out of territory. However, the aftercare funding, I believe, is in the previous section. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Mackenzie Delta.
I am good, Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Any further questions? Go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
