Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister provide me, and certainly this House, some information with respect to what infrastructure the department of health is going to be moving forward on this in partnership with the current dentist organizations here in the Northwest Territories? In other words, they can't do it all. Can we build some type of partnership and infrastructure to meet the needs of Northerners? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk today about something truly sparkling. And no, it won't be about the northern lights although they are pretty spectacular. Today I want to talk about healthy smiles and the amazing folks that make that happen.

There was a time when dental therapists were common which, you know, I hope to see again one day. Imagine this: We all know this story. You're down south, and even that could mean Yellowknife, that could mean somewhere else. You have a toothache, and you need to call a dentist. Boom, you get it done. Mr. Speaker, but that sometimes isn't as easy as you...

-- you are the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's all fantastic. Can the Minister confirm that the local housing authorities are a standard invitee in any of these types of initiatives when it comes to public announcements, public tours, public engagement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's answer, who will get back to me on that particular thing. I just want to return for clarity.

When a young person is being served between the ages of one and four and they time out of support and services, then they're timed out. That means their time is gone. Just like question period at the end of it.

Mr. Speaker, the issue is, is if they're on the list and approved to get supports but supports aren't available, can the Minister change the policy to make sure that those young people aren't lost in the system because the system is unable to...

Thank you for your both kindness and generosity, Mr. Speaker. Good Speaker. Greatest Speaker. Best Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I got some information with respect to the speech and language pathologists back, and I am curious if the Minister can talk about the challenges of how many young people time out of speech and language support given the fact that there's an age limit and then they get kicked to ECE for responses. Because the challenge, of course, is always to help young people early when it comes to speech and language pathology therapy. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, you can only keep filling the cup so much until it spills over. You can only keep putting inmates into cells that no longer fit. Mr. Speaker, what does the department do when you have reached 100 percent capacity? What is the trigger point to ask yourself we need expanded space? Schools have it, why doesn't the jail system have it? Or maybe the Minister can enlighten the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whatever follow-up the Minister can provide me would be greatly appreciated.

Mr. Speaker, my last question is about recruitment, retention, and certainly about training and incentives. Mr. Speaker, as we are aware, Saskatchewan is moving forward on this. Is there a way to create some incentives so we can hook our northern students who are taking science who might be interested in this career? Is there a way we can create incentives so they may follow through and, again, so they can help serve Northerners where we need them best. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement today, I talked about the dental therapist program. It was an enjoyed program in the Northwest Territories. It even had schooling and training in Fort Smith, then it went to Saskatoon, and then it went the way of the dodo bird. They're trying to revive it and hence that's the theme of my Member's statement today, which is trying to be very friendly and remind people how important and critical it was to service this.

So my question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is what is she doing to help bring back this program to life so we can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't try to get the Minister in a pickle on this one. But I will say, can the Minister guarantee that all future events that involve, you know, goodwill, cutting ribbons, talking about programs, those types of things, will she guarantee and direct the department to ensure that these local housing authorities are involved in that process, because they deserve to be part of the initiative. Thank you very much.