Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what will happen is the current staff will transition into the new building. There hasn't been any planning on new staff, but what I will say is that we are in the process -- in the early processes of looking at our health centres and the model of how we provide health services in our communities, in our small communities and so, you know, that's going to take some time and analysis to look through because, you know, what happens in some small communities is not the same in the other. Some communities are bigger. So at this point, no. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm really glad that the Member has asked that because that has been asked in this House over and over and over again many times. The rates are to make things equitable in the territory. So the rates fall in line with all of our policies. Some of our policies that are federally funded, and we try to match what those rates are so that it's equitable across all residents with that. And, yes, times have changed, things cost more. That is in the review process. The one thing that I would like to highlight is if we -- you know, that's a decision that will have to be made...

Again, Mr. Speaker, that move was just recently done to remove the people that are actually doing the medical travel process from not having to now be the ones to appeal -- work with an appeal or an exception on their own work. So that part has moved into the department. The Member is asking what good is that. Well, every case is case by case and then it's looked at, so there's not, like, a tick list of everything because it's new within the department, so there's not -- there's not a case -- there's not a line by line item as to what it is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Community Wellness and Recovery Fund, there has been $573,000 to the Deh Cho First Nation which include -- including in that is KFN. The amount -- yes, so split between those two. And then there's the Community Suicide Prevention Fund which there's another additional $185,206 to Chief Sunrise, K'atlodeeche First Nation, DFFN. So all together, those three groups and KFN received $185,000. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we have credentialed staff within our authority running our authority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community counselling program provides mental health supports to all residents in the Northwest Territories, including children and youth. They also help facilitate referrals to more specialized service, including access to facility-based treatment. There's also, again, like I mentioned just previously, the Community Wellness and Addiction Recovery Fund that is something that the government does provide a fund so Indigenous groups can access to create their own community-based, on the land, cultural, Indigenous-based programming within their community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the decision to create the NTHSSA as one territorial health and social services came in 2016, long before my time, while I was still an employee within that -- the health area. The governance council structure at the time of the day, I even remember watching the Legislative Assembly, I remember hearing and seeing and talking with other people that were attending those meetings and the consultations to create the structure. The communities were very afraid that they would lose their voice on how health care and social services should be in their communities...

Mr. Speaker, when this team does training, they do use the Indigenous people from wherever they are doing the training. The MLAs were able to take this training and the senior management took this training within the government. And so they do -- as the MLAs may be -- like, remember at the beginning after our first Assembly that there are Indigenous -- it is led by Northerners, that training, Indigenous Northerners, and they do have people coming in and doing presentations, adding to the work that they do. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, on September 30th, 2024, Canada's national Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Government of Canada, and Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat made history by signing the Inuvialuit Coordination Agreement and Fiscal Agreement.

This historic agreement identifies how the implementation of the Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat, also referred to as the Inuvialuit Family Way of Living Law, will be supported in the Northwest Territories. This is the first coordination agreement...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have an amazing team called the cultural safety and antiracism unit. That unit is staffed with all Indigenous highly, highly intelligent group of individuals that are all Indigenous from the Northwest Territories, and they are guided by the Indigenous advisory body that are appointed to that by the Indigenous governments from the Northwest Territories, and they are the ones that, you know, tackle a lot of the work in our health care system on making sure that all of our policies, our programs. They do the anti -- cultural safety and antiracism training...