Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Assistant Deputy Minister Elkin.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My questions are regarding the line item under Child and Family Services. There is an increase of $4 million. I know that it is probably due to the increased staffing that we see, but is there any work being done in that department for collaboration with Aboriginal governments on them taking over, or assuming parts, or a planning process, to children in care, assuming that part of the department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sure he won't have the information that I'm going to ask for next, so I'm just going to continue to ask it. That way, I can get that commitment to have the answers. I would like to also know, out of these 114 clients, how many of those clients are from Yellowknife? How many of those clients are from regional centres? How many of those clients are from small communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the Minister for her answer. I can honestly say that, in theory, I know the department has a lot of good solutions, but at the frontline, these don't necessarily follow through. There are gaps. The worker that is on the other end who has nowhere to turn falls short. What is the process used by staff to support individuals leaving treatment who are facing homelessness or inadequate housing? Are staff able to act as pathfinders to navigate how to access housing programs?

The 50 clients that my colleague asked about, that the deputy minister mentioned, in the Northwest Territories is not included in this?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. She mentioned on Wednesday to my colleague that there are staff in place to connect people when exiting treatment with counselling and other support. How many staff are doing this important work, and where are they located? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My colleagues have asked a lot of the questions, but some of the questions that I have are in the same areas but just a little bit different. In the residential care, I see that we have $35 million. We have $26 million of that, to my understanding, is part of that residential care, and then there's another contracts and services that is $10 million. This services 114 clients and the 50 clients within the Northwest Territories. Can I just get clarification on that?

Thank you to the Minister for that, and this is more just, the last is just a comment. We've heard really good success of uptake of vaccine in our small communities, which is great. We don't have that for our regional centres, and that's where our long-term cares are. That just extends that time. Being in the regional centre, I do know a lot of people that are hesitant to even get the first or second, like to even get vaccinated. I think that poses the issue, and that's why I'm raising it because our small communities are getting vaccinated at high rates than our regional centres. Thank you...

Yes. Thank you. Also looking at long-term care and supported living, my colleague and I, we had discussed this, and we have heard the stories over the past year. I addressed it, I think it was in the fall time, and I addressed it in the spring time sitting, that a lot of our elders are in long-term care. I know we have opened it up so some of them can have one visitor and things like that. Within this fund, within this budget, is there extra funding in there or are there COVID dollars that the Minister is accessing to try to get extra community staff or support so that some of the elders who...