Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my deputy minister JoAnne Cecchetto. And ADM of finance, policy and planning, Jeannie Mathison. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess by increasing that I mean, the thing is is that what do we what do we establish as a if this is the range that we're going to be using, you know and this is something that it's not just my department. It's something that we're all using this as the income testing. But it would cost us more if we increased because we would have to pay more. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, one of the things that within the Northwest Territories, there are many programs that we provide at no cost and we have been providing those at no cost to residents of the Northwest Territories who hold a valid NWT health care card. Many of those services, when you look across the jurisdictional scan in Canada, those are a fee for service like throughout Canada. And so within extended health benefits, one of the areas in that is they're you know, what we're focusing on right now is trying to make a program that's equitable to the Northwest Territories...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess where I'm at is is that if somebody was to yeah, and I hear what the Member's concern is. And if somebody was to be gone out on medical and they passed away then, of course, we would cover that. If there's a family member, you know, we have like I said, there's support. There's financial support. There's federal support for families who you know, that have lost somebody. And so we do have some, you know, areas where we do support families with some of those costs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I hear where the Member's coming from and I understand that there's many the clients that we do have in residential care facilities are very complex and, you know, however, we all wish that we would be able to have all the service to support people. And, you know, my community is kind of like your community, it doesn't have all of the specialized services there. And we also don't have the staff that will help to be able to take care of a number of the needs of the people and to support the family on top of that. So right now what we do is we look at each...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department of health is very active on social media. I mean, it came to my attention that tomorrow is World No Smoking Day through the health and social services media campaign. So as for the information how it relates to youth, the youth are on so many different media platforms so I can't be -- I'm not familiar as to what platforms that they're targeting, but I know that it is on social media and, you know, we can be reaching out to all the schools to ensure that, you know, with The Dope Experience, that campaign, that covers all different areas that is being...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, midwifery began in Fort Smith, and midwifery in Fort Smith began with two midwives. And those two midwives did the majority of the births and if not all the births in Fort Smith, and ran the only midwifery program in the Northwest Territories. I don't have exact dates but we have expanded that program over the years. So midwifery expansion happened in Fort Smith to an additional nurse. Then it expanded into Hay River. And currently, they have expanded from Hay River into supporting Fort Resolution, Deninu Kue, and the Metis of that community. As of right now...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess each region -- so I know in the Beaufort Delta, the physicians are scheduled to travel from -- like, if they're hired as indeterminate doctors in the Beaufort Delta or locums to fill the vacancies, they are all scheduled to -- each community has its scheduled allotment of visits per month and those doctors will service those communities. The same thing in the south. There's different models for different areas. I mean, if you want more detail I can pass it on to the deputy minister to describe the south of the -- and there's the doctors from Yellowknife that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is -- yes, it is under this department and it is under the -- sorry, under the other community wellness and addiction recovery. So the new initiatives transition housing and addiction recovery, there's $1.417 million right there. And the role of the department's going to be in that is -- this is a collaboration between housing and Infrastructure as well as partnering with an Indigenous partner, and we are there to be the -- to support the program in our capacity. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, at this time I won't commit to that because what I am committed to is -- in the business plan is taking a look at the medical travel and how we move people around is going to -- you know, I'm hoping we'll be able to -- I guess what I want to do is I want to implement, by the end of this government, a better way to move people, a way to make sure that when people have medical travel -- and this is -- you know, are not as stressed about getting the medical travel as they are about having to go to the appointment that they're going for. You know, and I think we...