Thank you, Minister responsible for NTPC. Final supplementary. Member from the Dehcho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, without having phase 3 power, you can't do anything. You can't set up a business or anything. So how is NTPC working with the Hamlet of Enterprise and the government departments and federal partners to ensure that restoring phase 3 power becomes an immediate priority, aligning with the community rebuilding and future investment? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so, again, Mr. Speaker, they originally had only had phase 3. I think there had been -- or phase 1. I gather there had been some requests prior to the fires with some of the industrial developments in and around the region that there was a request to consider moving up to phase 3. That is not what Naka opted to install following the wildfires. So at present time, I haven't asked them to make that change. I could only do so by way of a request to Naka. It would be up to them. So, again, we do work with Naka on other things. We're working with them right now on integrated services planning and can certainly include some discussion of this with them in that respect. We are working together to do systems planning for the whole of the territory. So this is -- in that sense, may well be part of that discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister responsible for NTPC. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a question for Minister of Health and Social Services. So I want to ask the Minister what specific financial supports are currently available to NWT residents who fall ill outside the territory and incur illness-related costs, such as extended accommodations -- accommodations or rebooked flights? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When NWT residents leave the territory for personal reasons, there is no cover from the government for those instances; however, across Canada, you know, as long as you have a current health care card, you will be able to access health services, any insured services, so hospital service to see a doctor and things like that. However, if you haven't been referred out of the territory by a practitioner from the Northwest Territories, then you're not considered on medical travel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain why access to Larga accommodations is strictly tied to prior GNWT-approved medical travel even in cases where a resident experiences an unforeseen medical emergency while away? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when people leave the territory for personal reasons, they are not referred out of the territory therefore they're not a medical travel patient therefore they're not eligible to stay in Larga. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you. Will the Minister consider creating a clear exception process for residents who become unexpectedly ill outside the Northwest Territories and face unavoidable costs related to that illness? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we have done is that we have done some information -- I can share it with the Members. They can share it with their constituents. They can share it on their social media -- that when you're leaving the Northwest Territories and -- you know, if you were leaving the country, most people are -- always buy travel insurance but not necessarily when we leave to drive to Edmonton. Not -- people are not thinking that, you know, certain things aren't covered. But when you're driving out of the territory or flying out of the territory and on personal reasons, then I would encourage people to buy travel insurance. That would help to cover the costs if an unexpected medical issue comes up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to continue following up on the questions I was asking the health Minister earlier.
Mr. Speaker, as I had asked, considering people -- and the Minister pointed out, considering people are increasingly having to travel to regional centres to give birth from the communities, is the department working on a plan to ensure access to midwifery services in our hospitals? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, the working group is meeting next month, and they are -- part of that work is to look at options of how to implement midwifery into our hospitals. We know that not just here but even in Inuvik, as a birthing hospital for instance, we struggle with obstetric nurses and so this work is happening right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very encouraged to hear that and appreciate that from the Minister. I am really glad to hear that we have this working group going. I just note that the -- can the Minister give us any indication of how this is going to work? Can the Minister give any indication of staffing levels that they're looking for? What kind of timeline we can expect? I know that my constituents have been very clear with me that they want access to midwifery services in this community. Is the Minister working towards that goal? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have that level of detail right now, but what I can do is once the session is over, I will ask my department to brief me as to all of the work that has been going on in this area and, you know, I can meet with the Member after I have that briefing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When my colleague for Range Lake was asking questions regarding nurse retention yesterday, it got me wondering what the department of health is doing in collaboration with HR.
Mr. Speaker, we always talk about recruitment. Do we ever put enough time in retention? My question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is what is she doing specifically to retain nurses knowing that they can find better deals elsewhere? We need to find ways to keep them here. So what is she doing about it.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services has a working group, and they have staff that are involved in the retention of staff. There are certain things that are going on within the department, and one of the other big pieces is within the health authority is training and mentorship, because we do have a lot of new staff, especially with us having the college and the nurses coming in. Our staff are feeling overwhelmed so to have dedicated staff to making sure that they are being supplemented to be able to support these new nurses and things. There's also other -- I know I have a list of them, but I don't have that detail at my fingertips. So I can share with the Members on that information. Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will certainly accept that information. I am happy to read it and look through it.
Mr. Speaker, in many employment situations, they have what's called exit interviews. I understand that the territorial government does this in some cases. Not all cases are possible. I get that. So what the question really comes down to is what happens to that data through the exit interviews; where is it stored, who is it shared with, are there themes developed? And, you know, what type of transparency is brought into that data so we can talk about real challenges and real solutions? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. That was a little bit more than one question. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, we do do exit interviews. The level of where those are done, I am not aware, but I know that when I was being briefed on coming up with the new -- you know, with the new people strategy, that that is one of the bigger areas where they are looking at, also from the town halls, also from the in-person meetings. And they've taken a lot of that information and tried to turn it into the new document that we should be hopefully being able to share shortly with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am hearing workloads, ratios, and premiums matter to the nursing community specifically. But I am referring to the health section, so let's not just hammer it to -- or sorry, be too specific on one. That said, the Minister did allude to sharing it. I'd like to ask, can she share the last two years of data with Members so we can start talking about challenges and working on themes to be successful to keep them here in the Northwest Territories? Whether they're in a small community, a region, or in Yellowknife, it matters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will take that back to NTHSSA to see what we have available to be able to share that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up with the Minister of health on the CIHI data gaps, specifically now around health information management workforce. How many certified HIM professionals does NTHSSA employ, and is that sufficient for meeting national reporting requirements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services. Two questions there.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have that level of detail. Thank you.
I think when the Minister finds out, she'll find that we are lacking, Mr. Speaker. The labour market supplement covers nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, many professionals, Mr. Speaker, yet HIM professionals are excluded. Will the Minister commit to fixing this and provide labour market supplements for these important professionals so we can get our data to where it needs to go and use it properly? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will have a conversation with my colleague, of Minister of health about that information -- or Finance. Sorry, I am Minister of health. Minister of Finance. It's been a long week.
Thank you, Minister of health. That would have been a really interesting conversation. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Look, if Cabinet has too many portfolios, there's Members who can come over and help them out.
Mr. Speaker, the NTHSSA is filling health information roles with uncertified staff who lack certification from the Canadian Health Information Management Association and have no recognized coding training. Will the Minister commit that coding positions will now require certification going forward for all these positions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I am not sure how that is hired and how that is screened within our context, but I will take that back to NTHSSA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have another question for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Can he tell me if there is contemplation of new and emerging threats such as drought, data centres, water bankruptcy and their impacts, to water quality or quantity in future monitoring under the transboundary agreements or regulation amendments that we will see later this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think as we sit, you know, here in the fourth year of drought, certainly, you know, the climate impacts are top of mind, and they'll certainly do reach out and impact the other discussion topics around development in the jurisdictions that are upstream of the Northwest Territories.
I will use the proposed Peace nuclear facility as an example here in that, you know, we are currently involved in the federal impact assessment, providing information. We are currently lobbying with Energy Alberta, the federal and provincial government on behalf of the Indigenous governments and organizations of the Northwest Territories to ensure we have meaningful input into those projects as they go forward. And there have been other projects as well in Alberta that have been identified, such as data centres, etcetera, which we are currently engaged in many of those conversations as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, now that there's new leadership at the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, my question is for our Premier. And has the Premier reached out and taken steps to renew that -- or his relationship and our relationship with Inuvialuit Regional Corporation? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Mr. Premier.
