Lesa Semmler

Yes, Madam Chair, the health sustainability unit is taking -- I mean, they have to analyze the entire system and that's where -- we cannot just analyze pieces of it. And if we continue to analyze pieces of it, then, you know, we don't know how those pieces are working together. So, yes, the health sustainability is -- and the deputy minister and her department and the PA have been directed to work, you know, all together so that way the whole system is being analyzed. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to clarify, I think it's the renewals that are up right now for Northwest Territories residents to make sure that they're applying within a couple of months of their health care card. I'd have to look into how or who is the procurement of how we do our health care cards. But that is all kind of the questions that I have just started to have because I think it's important that if we're doing this in the Northwest Territories, then we need to be making sure that those cards, everybody in our territory has one. Maybe having their picture on it, maybe it being their...

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is -- the work is being done, yes, on that new agreement.

It's moving the midwife position back into this, so that specialist midwife position. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. You know, my very first job after high school was a health care card registration specialist, and one of the things my colleague taught me was is that we have very -- we have a lot of people that we're doing, we have to be doing investigations on that are outside of the territory. So that probably speaks to the time when the Member was in the House, that we started to change the way that we provide health care cards. And now they actually have an expiry date. So when you renew your health care card, you have to have an NWT...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to get the ADM Mathison to explain that section. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So because the decision and everything happened partway through the year, I think there is -- the numbers in here, it's more of an accounting thing. The initial reduction was, I believe, around $900,000, and that included 3.75 midwives, plus the position -- the specialist position in the department and the position of the territorial manager in NTHSSA. Those two positions were kept -- or negotiated back and came through a supplementary appropriation. So the money and for the remainder of the positions that are showing that are going down are just -- the funding was in...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So the changes in this line here are because of the sunset of the cost share agreements. There are the northern wellness agreement funding. So with that funding, because of the timing of the negotiating of that agreement, it wasn't done in time for these mains but there are -- there are increases in those areas. But for this budget, it shows a decrease because of the sunsetting. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As I mentioned, I would follow up back with NTHSSA, and I will follow up to see what their engagement is with the staff and how that's taking place. And I have no problem sharing that with Members, and I think it's an important piece. Like, we've heard it many, many times on the floor of this House is that our staff need to be heard, and so we'll make sure there is some kind of documentation on how that is being done, and so we can share that with Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we do provide community counsellors and wellness workers within most regions in the Northwest Territories but what we also -- you know, and I've mentioned this in this House, what we -- the direction that has come from Indigenous governments is that they want to have a fund to be able to access funds to be able to provide those types of programs in their own way in their own regions, and so what we do have is the community wellness and recovery -- or wellness and addictions recovery fund. And I know that most of the regions access this -- Indigenous...