Alfred Moses

Last question. Just in terms of that, to make that assessment from a medical practitioner, I think that’s why that time after withdrawal, that time for observation to look at the patient, keep them in the hospital for 24, 48, 72 hours, which also can be done within this act, to see what other psychiatric assessments might need to be done on this patient, and then in terms of medical practitioners, you know, communities that don’t have nurses, how many psychiatrists or medical practitioners do we have in the Northwest right now that can actually do that kind of diagnosis?

I know we’re unique in the North in terms of barriers and challenges, especially when it comes to the remote communities. I just want to make reference to a news article on CBC, I don’t know how many years ago, but they were talking to a psychologist or psychiatric physician that talked about not being able to do a correct assessment because he couldn’t see the individual and talk to him, so I think there are some flaws in there. I just want to put that out there.

In terms of withdrawal management, do we have a policy right now in terms of how long do we keep an individual who’s going through...

What are we doing for the small communities that just have health centres and specifically with the eight communities that don’t have nurses that can provide any kind of medical treatment for anybody that might be going through some withdrawals? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I’m kind of intrigued in how the Department of Justice and Department of ECE both contributed to the Day Shelter here in Yellowknife. I believe there’s only one other Day Shelter in the Northwest Territories and that’s in Inuvik, and whether or not the department would work with the other departments in looking at accessing those funds, as well, because the cost of doing business further up north is a lot higher. So, I’m intrigued and wouldn’t mind getting more information on that, and I’ll ask the Ministers when it does become time to review this. Thank you, Mr. Chair. More of a comment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I made reference earlier in my Member’s statement about the psychological health and well-being of our employees or any employees, for that matter, in the Northwest Territories and the National Standard of Canada for Psychological and Safety in the Workplace that the Mental Health Commission of Canada did. I would like to ask my questions to the Minister of Human Resources.

I know the GNWT has its own program, the Employee and Family Assistance Program. What does the government pay to run the EFAP and how often is that utilized? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate that, because I’ve heard it a couple times from local residents as well as residents from the small communities. Not just Inuvik but right across the Northwest Territories. I think we have to make sure we have an adequate supply should this happen.

Just moving forward, I was speaking with a physician on the plane ride coming back to Yellowknife and he was talking about this TED Talks and where this physician was talking about the use of remote technology. When we talk about ambulatory care services, a lot of it is very time sensitive, and actually trying to get into communities...

I’m glad to hear that that analysis is being undertaken and I think that there will be cost savings and also in terms of time for the patient, rather than have to go all the way down to Edmonton that they can actually come to Yellowknife. I know we got an e-mail not too long ago from the Minister in terms of a sonographer, in terms of breaking down in Inuvik and the amount of ultrasounds that patients might need was about four or five a week. Any update on that? I know in the e-mail it had mentioned that there is a shortage across Canada, but is there an update on when that’s going to be...

Just for clarification and just why some of our employees are not going to work and why some are missing work and why some are going on stress leave and why some are maybe sick all the time is another area that I think we need to look into, because when people are sick and people are getting stress leave we’re still paying them and we’re also paying for somebody to fill in their position. So, those are indicators that we really need to address and look at and how to fix those. I think, as we move into this one system, we’ll be able to identify those a lot more. Just more of a comment. I just...

Thank you. Just looking at how some of these authorities run and the services and programs that each authority provides in the communities, especially in the communities when you might just have one nurse who might get a call-out at seven o’clock at night. I just want to know what the department is doing in terms of their overtime policy, which could be one of our biggest cost drivers throughout all authorities. The callbacks, overtime, people getting sick and other individuals filling in. What is the department doing in terms of their overtime policy and whether they’re going to make a strong...

[Microphone turned off] …he’d be looking at working with these organizations and fund them a little bit more from our programs. I’ve talked about program duplication, but we’ve got organizations out there that are doing really good work on behalf of government and whether the Minister would sit down with these organizations and develop some contributions where they can support these successful programs.