Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as for, you know, I think committees, we do have the regional wellness councils that do help, and there are members from the Member for Mackenzie Delta's riding on the regional wellness council. They do provide feedback. Mental health and addictions have been one that has been highlighted by many of the regions and especially from the Beaufort Delta. This area -- you know, the thing is that we do collaborate with the communities on the GNWT provided programs. There has been, you know, some work done in the Beaufort Delta on how we provide services within...

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services is committed to enabling seniors to age in place with dignity as close to home as possible. With an aging population and an increase in the complexity of health care needs, the demand for personal support workers is growing.

Mr. Speaker, personal support workers are essential to the Northwest Territories health and social services system, especially in more remote communities. They are professional care providers equipped with the training and expertise needed to work in critical programs like home and community care, long-term care...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as this program is for -- not just for Indigenous governments, it is for low income families to be able to access to assist with funeral costs. So, I mean, I can have more -- you know, I will commit to looking into what the policy is and how it's being provided. You know, and I think if there are ways that Indigenous governments want to support, if there's ways to do that, you know, we can also look at that. I mean, I'll commit to reviewing this policy before it does go back out for RFP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can get back to the Member on what -- like, what the budget is for that part -- the burial program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, I have not seen NTHSSA's budget. I have not seen -- they have not presented it yet. It usually comes within -- in this month. I will be having a conversation next week with them. What I can say is that this is what goes on every year, within our -- and so once I do have it -- like, I can't say whether there's going to be cuts. The PA started in December. You know, we went into mandatory leave. We're here sitting, it's the 7th of February, so they're working on, you know, how -- like, the contract for the PA is over the next two years, so trying...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister, that's pretty in the weeds for me but I can tell you right now whatever services that we are trying to provide in the Northwest Territories, we only want to improve and enhance. That is why we're also looking at modernizing our medical travel. That doesn't mean that we're going to expand medical travel services so everybody's flying more. It's modernizing it so that way we're looking at it so that when people need to travel, they're travelling, but how can we make sure that they're not needing to travel as much. And so that does not mean to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the role of the public administrator is to -- as the Member has said, is to do both. Not necessarily to come in now and then -- but to make the work plan so that way all of the things that I highlighted yesterday in this House on recruitment and retention, you know, the historic deficit of the NTHSSA has been hanging over the NTHSSA and being able to be strategic in how -- because they've been focusing on just how to manage within that system. So this is support to that to be able to look at how we're providing care in the Northwest Territories, looking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I can do is I can commit to looking into the delivery of the service to better understand how it's -- you know, how it's operating within our communities just so that there's more clear understanding for myself -- not just for myself, but for residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would have to have further conversations with the Member to understand the committees that he's wanting information about. As I mentioned, we have the regional wellness councils that give the input to NTHSSA on how programs work. Those are vital committees. They're members from the local communities. And, again, the direction of how those monies that are flowing to the Indigenous governments would be through their own committees to do that, so. But I'm willing to have more conversations with the Member to figure out how to respond to if there is more work...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this area where the Member is speaking to has been identified. There were changes put in place to ensure that programs for wellness and recovery addictions can be in one pot of money and be flexible. So within health and social services, we have the Community Wellness and Addiction Recovery Fund which Indigenous -- regional Indigenous governments can apply, and then there's a deadline if there is no uptake in the regional governments and the community Indigenous governments can apply individually as they're -- you know, for their needs of their community...