Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think my statement spoke for itself earlier.
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of health. Has the health department done any work to date on regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists under the Health and Social Services Professions Act that they can report back to the Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time our efforts are being currently focused on bringing current regulated professionals under the Health Professions Act so not -- we are not considering counsellors and psychotherapists at this time. Psychologists are being brought under the Health and Social Services Professions Act. However, this is not an issue specific to the Northwest Territories. From the information that -- you know, that I've gotten from my team is that nationally there is a consistent -- there is not one consistent approach to regulating counsellors; however, for our counsellors that are employed by health and social services' community counselling program, we do have program standards that state that if they're able to be registered with a professional body that they should do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just following up on that response, I heard a "should" but that doesn't sound like a requirement to me. So can -- first of all, can the Minister just clarify for the House about that; is that a requirement or is it simply a recommendation? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. He'd have to be more clear when my response of what -- which part of my -- that I said "should". Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope that this is simply a clarification of the second question as opposed to my third. But I simply say that the Minister said that -- something along the lines of counsellors under one of their programs -- I can't exactly remember which one off the fly -- but should register with a regulatory body. I was trying to determine if that is a requirement or simply a suggestion. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. And I'm going to say it's a clarification. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And sorry, yes, it does say "should", and that means that we encourage all our staff. And, like, there are different ways that they can, under their -- like, with their -- the difference pieces in Canada, the Canadian association, some can register through that, but then there are some social workers that are professional counsellors and so they would be under the Health and Social Services Profession Act. So there are some clinical counsellors that are being regulated under Health Professions Act, and that being social workers, but if they're not social workers and they're just clinical counsellors -- and this is a -- this is the area where, you know, we have many different levels of social work, so this is something that I would be considered to have more discussions with the Member and -- you know, and to kind of find a way to move forward with the things that he's looking for. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final Supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, and I appreciate your indulgence, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister has highlighted exactly the problem that I'm trying to raise today, and that is that we do not have a regulated counsellor and psychotherapist under the Health and Social Services Professions Act. Will the Minister commit to investigating the potential for regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists and report back to the Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would only be -- as I said before, what we are focused on are currently bringing in regulated professionals under the Health Professions Act at this time, and so that would be -- you know, at this time I'm not going to be considering that, but it's something that we can discuss further in the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
