Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, again, there's 11 departments, multiple different types of services. There's Tlicho, TCSA already, and district education authority services. So there already are some services that are delivered directly, then there are other services that go through the North Slave regional office. And the effort, as I understand, of having a working group set up with the Tlicho government is to ensure exactly that we do not have duplication between our governments or between what's happening in the region and in headquarters functions. So that work does need to get done. That does need to happen so that we can ensure that there's seamless provision of service, not duplication, and clarity so that if there are gaps and where there are gaps, that they get filled. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Tlicho do not want feasibility studies. With that in mind, will the Minister commit to establishing a potential Tlicho administrative region to make it easier for government to monitor progress and respond quickly to local priorities. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, again, there's some of the groups -- the housing corporation may well be able to more quickly move to set up an office there. That does not necessarily make it an administrative region. ITI may have a superintendent. That does not necessarily make it an administrative region. There are some government services -- TCSA already -- where does that fit into an administrative region? Which departments need to establish new positions? Which departments could move positions? It is not as simple as simply saying there is a new region, and everything is sorted. It is more complicated than that. I do want to work with the Member. I want to say that this is a large region, a large population, and we want to do this in a way that is respectful of the Tlicho government as well. So the first step was to meet with them to figure out what services are being provided, what could be provided better, and where can we streamline those services. That work was underway. I understood it was paused, and I am committed to seeing it get back going. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the health Minister.
What is the Minister's rationale for denying funding to Northerners who have completed treatment and are transitioning into essential aftercare and sober living programs outside the territory when existing programs are extremely limited and at capacity here in the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the facility-based addiction program was created to be able to provide that out of territory initial treatment program; however, every person that has to leave the territory works with a caseworker, whether the caseworker is within -- some of them are embedded with Indigenous governments, some of them are embedded into Indigenous organizations, and some of them are our own GNWT staff. Those case managers work with the client on their treatment journey, and the journey on the return is part of that work that they do before they leave. And so a lot of times when people attend these out of territory programs, there are -- and every program in the south, there's all types of different programs that -- you know, and what we're trying to do right now is we're creating the program in the territory, which is the THARP, the transitional housing and aftercare recovery program, and that is an investment this government has put in to that. However, I know when I speak to residents and my own constituents on the aftercare piece, it does -- a lot of it does -- it's kind of like a whole of government. Many of our residents leave the territory when they're in active addiction and when they -- you know, when they're in an active addiction, they may be homeless. And so the big piece is working together with my counterparts on the plan on that goal of when they're coming back because that's what we've heard many times is that is the issue. The payment piece around that, we are in a -- with the health sustainability is reviewing this part, so we're waiting on that because we overspend every year about $5 million just on this program alone as it is. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the spirit of upholding treaties, Article 24 of UNDRIP on the rights of Indigenous people which affirms the rights to the highest standards without discrimination, also in line with Canada Health Act, my question -- yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Will the Minister commit today to funding out of territory aftercare services for our people who need help? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, at this time, as I mentioned, the facility-based addiction treatment, that policy, that funding pot, is under current review, and recommendations will be back soon from the health sustainability unit. When they get those back, we will work with my colleagues and, you know, we'll have conversations with Members on the other side of the House with what those recommendations are. However, we do have aftercare, mental health counselling. There's virtual aspects when people are coming back into the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker; I am trying to speak slow.
What concrete steps is the Minister taking to ensure that by the end of her term a growing network of Indigenous-led, trauma-informed addiction treatment, healing aftercare, and sober living services is established across the North, not only in Yellowknife but in small communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this topic is at the core of why we created the working group through the Council of Leaders as all of the leaders throughout the territory want all of us to work together to find a solution. And so through that work, you know, there's partnerships with housing that we need to be -- as health is only one piece of that aftercare, it's -- you know, it's coming back into a system. And so what we are doing is -- right now is we've invested, just this government, into the transitional housing that is for people coming back and having supportive housing living. Once that -- the pilot and has been assessed, then we can come back to this government to continue to look at opening other areas in other parts of the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services.
Before we go any further I'd like to recognize Sheila Bassett-Kellett, former deputy minister, city manager, now our equal pay Commissioner. Welcome to your Assembly.
Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government must recognize the caregiver burden for families for adults who are experiencing disabilities is a systemic issue. Will the Minister of Health and Social Services expand the supported living model to private homes, opening access to supports, respite, and paid caregiver resources that are currently limited to designated providers only? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate, you know, the advocacy that -- not just this MLA but there are other MLAs that have come, and it makes the work that we're doing move. And I think that's the thing, is under the health sustainability unit once we have those recommendations, those will be able to -- that working -- their unit is working in partnership with the health authority, the department, so that we have proper -- we'll know what it's going to cost us and those recommendations to be able to bring forward to, you know, provide that level of -- like, the care to the residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We got to get rid of these lakes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I mean, the people who deserve the credit are the people who are advocating to us, right. They're the ones who are going through this, and they're the ones who are identifying the gaps.
Mr. Speaker, she's got 33 recommendations to look at. Now we're waiting for more recommendations. It just seems like we're getting into endless amounts of waiting and waiting and waiting. When will we see some real timelines and real results that people can look at so they can have some certainty that this problem is going to be resolved? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before -- in case, you know, the public doesn't understand how we have to approve money to spend on programs and services, so we have the recommendations, we will have to bring those, you know, through a process, through our business planning process, to be able to allocate funds to the recommendations. And, however, we do also know that within our health system, we've been having deficits for year after year after year, so we have to look. And what we're doing right now is looking at where our money is being spent and how our money is being spent, especially in this area, and what can we do to make improvements. And so as that unit doesn't sit under me, I am -- you know, I am -- I am obligated to be waiting for those recommendations so then I can move forward with the business planning process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the final report was issued four years ago, so this is not like this came out yesterday and I am asking the Minister to hurry up. Will the Minister either implement these recommendations within the next -- within the next business plan or admit to the public that they're just not going to get done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I became the Minister, there was no -- what was able to be implemented which was -- could be funded from within. There was no new money that came with the recommendations, the recommendations, the report that came forward. So that's -- a lot of times, you know, within many of our departments, they come back with all the things that we need to fix, but it comes with huge amounts of money. We only have through our business processes small amounts of money, and as you see in this budget, we were able to allocate new things or improve things to certain areas that are high pressure, and that's the -- that's what will happen when we get these -- the health sustainability unit recommendations as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of health only because they're great questions, and I look forward to her answer.
Mr. Speaker, many parents will tell me that they're concerned that they need the speech and language pathology services, and they're worried about positions not filled and their loved ones, their children, not being seen. And, of course, Mr. Speaker, the last point is they're worried this government is more interested in servicing the other regions in Canada, Nunavut, over our children and our loved ones, Mr. Speaker. So let's get it on the record. How many positions do we have that are specifically designated for speech-language and pathology and how many of them are actually filled currently? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not know the actuals, but I do -- I don't have them at my desk here. But I do know that we do have vacancies, and we've had chronic vacancies throughout the territory in these positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many parents will say they're worried other regions are more important than their children in this region, Mr. Speaker. I hope that isn't the case.
Mr. Speaker, my next question is built around service response time.
Mr. Speaker, when someone puts in an application and gets the support measures in place saying this child needs help, is there a service standard that we are tied to in some type of legal or regulatory framework that says in other words this child must be seen within 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etcetera? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the health and social services, because of the chronic shortages, what's happening is that there -- just like in an emergency room, every referral that comes in is triaged and those that have -- like, within the speech, you know, if there's swallowing issues, if there's -- you know, type of issues that are higher triage then those ones will be seen sooner. But I would like to say that this is something that the Minister of ECE and myself are working on because it's been raised, and we -- we're currently working on a solution how to utilize, you know, both of the funding that we get and both of our -- and our budgets for supporting children, especially children in -- school-aged children. So that information, we're still waiting on that from our department so that we can have a plan to move forward with it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, the formative years of a young person are so critical to get positive response. It may not cure them fully, but yet it changes the dignity and the life that they may be able to fulfill in a positive way.
Mr. Speaker, does the department in any way assess looking back on overall a continuum over the last, say, 5 to 10 years on their types of response and assessment times? In other words, have they been able to say they've serviced 90 percent of the young people within six months, that type of assessment. Have they or are they able to do that type of assessment to show they're responding to the needs of Northerners?
Mr. Speaker, I don't have that level of detail here today. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a new grassroots volunteered-based community called Canadian Health Care Infusion looking to -- seeking to help US healthcare workers relocate to Canada and work here. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance, since she's responsible for health care recruitment.
Has the Minister's staff had any outreach from NWT healthcare workers or volunteers seeking to do a similar chapter here in the NWT, one from -- it just opened in the Yukon today, I believe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not to my knowledge, Mr. Speaker. But I would be more than happy to put that on the radar of the health recruitment unit. They have been very busy, have seen a lot of success, have met their targets of recruitment, and if this is an opportunity to see more recruitment then we will certainly work with perhaps a non-profit or a non-government entity to see if there's a chapter that could be opened here. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's nice to hear. And I realize the Minister's not responsible for our nomination program and, indeed, the GNWT is not responsible for immigration. Can the Minister explain to me what barriers might exist for international hires and what work we're doing to reduce any hoops and barriers that may exist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the registration of nurses is managed by CAN, not by the GNWT. So I don't know if I'd describe it as a barrier, Mr. Speaker, but certainly would want to ensure that we work closely with them. They do have a process for internationally educated nurses, and it would be that process that anyone obviously internationally trained would have to go through. Again, we certainly have looked at some opportunities that the GNWT could find ways to support folks who are foreign trained to make their way through that system, and I am happy to take that back and to see where we are at on some of those initiatives. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of health. I just want to briefly talk about the youth in my community that really need help. Early in her statement, she was talking about transitional housing. I am hoping that we are able to get this off the ground before her term ends and so that we have a place -- when people come back from treatment from the south, they have a place to go to. So maybe if we -- if I could maybe -- give me an update on where we could get that done in the next 18 months. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the first one opened here in Yellowknife and through their case workers as they come back, you know, if that is -- that is an option. It is a territorial initiative so it's not just for -- so if there's people coming back from treatment and they need to stabilize with a place to stay and some support, their caseworker could work with the transitional housing in Yellowknife that's currently open while they're trying to make arrangements to return back to their home community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, as people come back from their treatment program and not just able to come here, to Yellowknife for the program, they go back home, is there additional funding we could find to help with Indigenous governments to do on-the-land program, maybe a top off or whatever you could do to help. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would encourage the Member's communities to look at the mental wellness and recovery fund right now. That is open for applications to start April 1st, and it can be -- you know, the community can allocate up to $209,000 a year, and they can use that to develop or support aftercare program within their community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my final question would be is that now that we have case workers, do we have one in the three -- or sorry, my four communities in Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding? Thank you.
