Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the Member for being able to have this conversation. And I was. I was a Member of the Standing Committee on Social Development, and we did make we did have lots of consultations on this. And what we we did reduce the costs. Like, with the changes that we've put in place, there are members of the residents of the Northwest Territories that had no access to any benefits will now be able to fall under the extended health benefits policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I mean, I can we have health centres. We have staff within those health centres. We have community health representatives in the communities. There are we provide information. We work with in collaboration with Indigenous governments. You know, there's wellness departments in some communities. You know, there's mental health and addictions programs in all of the communities. I'm not clear on what the Member is asking. So I mean, if there's more detail that the Member can provide for me as to which areas that she's looking into, I'd be willing to provide...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the scope of practice being considered is in line with the scope of other jurisdictions. The work will hopefully align the Northwest Territories with best practice and establish standards with the rest of Canada provides practitioners and patients and an understanding of what's required and expected of professionals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories continues to work to address the national shortage of health care professionals that has led to service reductions and system impacts not only in the NWT but across the country. Postpandemic, this shortage has only intensified, with many health professionals resigning, retiring, or reducing their working hours.

The results of our internal staff surveys and feedback sessions indicate that employee recruitment and retention challenges persist within our system. To address this shortage and its impact on our staff, we have increased our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work being done in this area so, you know, I want to be able to provide some of the information, and I'll highlight, and then what I don't get to I'll provide that information to the Member, specifically to her riding as well.

So there's early planning for testing culturally grounded approaches to diabetes prevention and management, and this is currently being completed in partnership with the Tlicho government, Tlicho Community Services Agency, Deh Cho First Nations, and NTHSSA Deh Cho region. We've also implemented group nutrition...

Mr. Speaker, I will get back to the Member on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Was that a question, Mr. Speaker? I didn't really hear the Member.

Mr. Speaker, I also too want to recognize Dean Myer from Yellowknife. My family and his will forever be connected. Thank you for coming today.

Mr. Speaker, last week the Department of Health and Social Services hosted the second ever Weaving our Wisdom gathering for which 350 leaders, elders, and knowledgeholders from across the Northwest Territories came together to celebrate and share Indigenous communitydriven wellness knowledge. The gathering featured inspiring guest speakers, workshops, facilitated discussions on important topics such as:

Frameworks for total health optimization;

The impact of colonization and systemic racism on Indigenous people's health;

Practical strategies to heal the wounds of intergenerational trauma;

Indig...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I answered the Member. As this list is changing and the model may change, and so that is the work that we're doing. So as there's a list, whether it's changing, those are things that you know, everybody has access to a physician whether it's a family like, the model is changing and it's changing across the country. And so I've answered the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.