Statements in Debates
I went too fast? On my right is Lisa Cardinal. She is the director of corporate planning and evaluation; on my left is Thomas Druyan, who is legislative counsel.
Yes, please.
There are a number of different things that we're doing. We have the ASIST training as well. That is available to Education, Culture and Employment. I know Education, Culture and Employment takes this very seriously as well and is looking at providing different types of supports in their school system. We are currently working on a Youth Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, which we are hoping will help strengthen us and the services we provide in this area.
I will go back to Mental Health First Aid, Mr. Speaker. This is, as I have indicated, a Canadian program. In the Northwest...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mental Health First Aid is one of the programs that we offer throughout the Northwest Territories. It is recognized internationally as one of the best practice models out there for tackling mental health issues, and we make it available to all residents across the Northwest Territories. In-house, we do have training for our staff about our particular programs and services they provide, but that is for staff that we have within the Health and Social Services system. As far as training we provide to other GNWT employees, I would have to check with the...
Yes, please share the e-mail with everybody you want to share. In fact, all the MLAs I would encourage to share the information. Mr. Speaker, this is a good news story and it shows us working together as an Assembly and that we recognize the need to invest in staff and home support positions to meet the needs of our residents across the Northwest Territories. Please share the information with everybody that the Member would like to.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the report that is being done by Avens now on this very exact topic is expected to be completed by Avens by mid-June 2017. At that point, they will have some ideas how they intend to move forward to support day programming. The continuing care review, the homecare review that we have been talking about, has already been intended to be available to Members of this House in time for business planning so that we can have an informed discussion, and allocated resources to meet the needs of residents across the Northwest Territories moving forward in subsequent...
Core funding is provided to Avens to provide the wide range of programs and services that they have. I had an opportunity to meet with the board and the acting executive director about a week and a half ago where we were talking about a future expansion on the site of 48 beds. This topic also came up at the time, and at that time, Avens indicated that they would like to work with the department on an operational review to look at how they're spending their money to make sure that they are getting the dollars that are being allocated, and they are using them to maximum effect. We haven't...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when it comes to action plans that are across departments, like the Youth Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan that is coming, we do work closely with our partner departments to make sure that whatever we are proposing is reasonable and feasible across the Government of the Northwest Territories. I do take the Member's point, and we do need to work to ensure that our front-line staff, including teachers, social workers, income support workers, and others who may have direct contact with individuals who are struggling are aware and can identify the signs...
When it comes to addressing mental health issues and challenges across the Northwest Territories, there are a number of stakeholders and partners involved doing really fantastic work. Bell Canada is doing a significant amount of work to create awareness and encourage people to talk about the challenges that residents are having, and there are other organizations like Sport and Rec Council that are delivering training as well.
I am not as familiar with the program that the Member is talking about today. I have asked the Member to provide me with some details on the program so that I can share...
I am a little reluctant to speculate on a timeline. There is a significant amount of work that needs to be done. The position job descriptions need to be written. They need to be evaluated. They need to be incorporated into the complement of positions that are out there. Then we do have to go out and staff those positions and that can take a bit of time. Once we do have the positions filled it will likely require some training for individuals to make sure that they're providing the high-quality service that we want to make available to residents throughout the Northwest Territories. I can say...