Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
So the equitable access report that HSS released in November 2025, which the Minister's staff referred to as our roadmap for primary care moving forward, identified as one of its seven overarching goals, strong and lasting workforce, yet out of the list of 17 actions in the report none relate to stabilizing the health care workforce or recruitment and retention.
So my first question for the Minister: Is it possible to achieve culturally safe care with the current level and ever increasing portion of our health care workforce made up of temporary workers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a culturally safe healthcare system does not only rely on culturally safe training. Workforce instability affects continuity in care of patients, and hiring people alone doesn't guarantee cultural safe care. Cultural safety must be built in to the whole system so everybody provider can deliver it, even temporary staff. Our new primary and community care framework puts cultural safety and anti-racism at the centre of the framework and a culturally safe system that will attract staff who share those values which will boost morale, which will reduce burnout, which will improve long-term retention, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if that equitable access report published last year is seen to be the primary care roadmap, why doesn't it include any specific actions related to health care workforce stabilization, recruitment, or retention? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the roadmap was released -- and this is the -- as it is, it's a roadmap for the framework. And so we wanted to release the direction that we're going prior to -- as the work is going on with the framework. So this report was meant to show work done to build the new primary care framework, and it doesn't list every action. The new framework, which will include the strategies to improve staff well-being, recruitment, retention, long-term workforce, key components include valuing Indigenous roles and Indigenous leadership on care teams, increasing Indigenous representation in the health care workforce, and this is essential for stabilizing the workforce supporting local Indigenous use and delivering culturally safe care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the Indigenous patient advocate office, or the Office of Client Experience, been gathering any data on what percentage of complaints regarding patients being treated disrespectfully or insensitively by practitioners involve temporary staff who have been brought in to plug holes within the healthcare system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do receive these complaints but don't track the complaints specifically about which staff are -- through the office, like if it's temporary or permanent. They do record general complaints related to discrimination, but they don't identify, as I mentioned, whether they're temporary or permanent staff. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
