Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, I will commit to doing that and making sure that there is some kind of information that can go out to Members and to -- a communique on how this list is monitored. Thank you.

Thank you, Member, for the question. And after our back and forth on this question the last time, I did try to get more and more of the information that I would be able to provide to the Member. And so the list -- this list has been in place -- it sits within the -- like, the -- it's an electronic list. So people -- and it's monitored regularly. And the information that I can provide is that there -- if there's a need for a patient that, you know, has chronic illness and things like that, then they, you know, they may, you know, be able to be assigned a doctor sooner. As for how long people...

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. We are continuing to work with Alberta in -- there's -- nothing has changed, and I want -- I think that's the thing is right now, within our health care system our referral process is to Alberta. There is no change in that referral service. The -- they are still -- they are still providing the service in Alberta. If -- and I think -- so people are aware, we will continue -- like our department is continuing to work with the Government of Alberta to clarify Alberta's proposed policy and how they may impact residents of the Northwest Territories receiving out-of-territorial...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the NWT residents that healthcare services for transgender individuals, including children and youth, will continue to be available under our existing model as there -- at this time we are still utilizing the same referral plan as usual. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will not hold up this policy any longer. The changes will be implemented on September 1st. You know, we will be monitoring the program and, you know, if there are people that are impacted, you know, with the changes that are made, I would suggest them come back. You know, there is appeal process going to be you know, within it and so that's you know, we can look at each case by case once the program rolls out September 1st. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the extended health benefits policy addresses gaps in some of the NWT residents. Like I mentioned that they did not have services. It's not taking away any benefits from anybody. The policy before, you had to fall under a specific disease. Senior benefits haven't changed. Extended NIHB, like, they all have their own programs. So this is just actually giving access to health care benefits for those residents who never had access before. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I just mentioned it. I mentioned it in this House. I mentioned it before I got here. I think one of the things that in order for us to be able to tackle the mental health issues that we all have stressed in this House is collaboration with our communities, collaboration with our Indigenous governments, collaboration with NGOs. You know, and I think that, for myself the direction has gone to the department. That is what the department is doing, and I'm committing here that we'll continue to do that work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work required to bring regulations in is a minimum of two years. What we are projecting is a 2025 comeintoforce date for the pharmacy regulations, and we are very pleased with the support and commitment of the pharmacists' working group with the department to move this work forward as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. An advisory committee has been established with the pharmacists appointed by the NWT Pharmaceutical Association to collaborate with the department officials. The advisory committee operates under clear terms of reference and reviews and advises on issues identified during the development and drafting instructions and regulations under the Health and Social Services Profession Act.

To date, this group has convened ten times to address this mandate. As well as through the work of bringing more professionals under the Health and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, this is not taking away benefits from anybody who was previously covered. In the previous policy, it was outdated and there were it was put in place where specific diseases and you had to have a specific disease to fall to be able to qualify for the program. Within that program, there was no like, it just it was a blanket so we didn't you know, and so this time what it's doing is people who are applying are going to be you know, if they make above the threshold, there's and that was part of the standing committee, that there's...