Great Slave

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 33)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I just got back from the FTP meeting earlier today. The meeting went well on many fronts. We talked about many of the areas where the federal and provincial and territorial governments are working together, like pharmaceutical prices across this country. Working together we've brought the price of pharmaceuticals down by over $700 million annually and with the new partnership with the federal government, we look like we might be able to bring it down by $1.2 billion annually. So a lot of good work on that front. When it came to the health accord, we...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm committed to moving this initiative forward. The community of Fort Simpson does need an upgrade to their health centre. We need to bring it to current standards. We are moving the planning process forward. I'm happy to move this into the capital planning process at the earliest opportunity, but it does have to compete with a number of projects across the Northwest Territories, whether it's schools, health centres in different locations, other infrastructure that are being demanded by residents of the Northwest Territories. We're doing the work. We're...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

As with all the facilities that we've built, including the ones that we're currently building, there is no addition of services being added to Fort Simpson. The facilities will provide us with the ability to provide services better, more effectively, safer, given the technology requirements of our health system as it stands today. So there will be no new or additional programs being added to Fort Simpson, which is consistent with the health centre in Norman Wells, which is consistent with the health centre in Fort Res, and the one we would be building in Tulita. The one difference is the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Mr. Speaker, there was a number of reasons that the project was delayed or rather the planning study was delayed. Part of that included our inability to obtain or secure a suitable parcel of land. Here was a significant amount of debate in the community about where the health centre should be and where it should not be, and it took us longer to get a set piece of land. That set piece of land was required before we could actually move forward with the planning study because the location helps us build the planning study.

When the parcel of land was actually approved we had to do an...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Mr. Speaker, I think, at the time, that meeting was to discuss land location and a few other things to get, actually, a confirmed sense of where that building would be located. There was some talk about some of the specifics of the building. It is going to be a level B/C facility, which is basically one of our larger health centres in the Northwest Territories, providing a larger range of services given the size and scope of the community that it's located in and the regional nature of that community.

In a sense, the facility is going to be very similar to the one in Norman Wells. There was...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize some students from the Tree of Peace Adult Education program. This program has been operating since 1974 and it has assisted hundreds of Aboriginal people, both access and achieve their academic goals. The students with us today are William Buggins, Annie Harry, Justin Donovan, Ernest Okian, and Marie Louise Abel. I'd like to welcome them to the gallery.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and welcome Steven Jackson, the executive director of Avens, and Kimberly Doyle, the executive director of the YK Seniors' Society...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Mr. Speaker, the city has already made a significant amount of progress on putting together the RIDE program. One of the challenges we face is, unfortunately, finding a location for the sobering centre, itself. We've also made a commitment to relocating the day shelter, which is also proving difficult. We have our staff currently out looking for appropriate locations in the community.

If we're able to get a location, and we're hoping to find one soon, we need a bit of time to do some retrofitting to make it suitable and we need a bit of time to do some staffing in order to get appropriate staff...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services is developing a strategic framework for mental health and addictions recovery in the Northwest Territories, which is going to include, or rather will be built from that framework, an addictions recovery action plan. As part of that plan, we are focusing on a recovery-oriented system, which does include harm reduction.

So we are looking at what's being done in other jurisdictions by way of harm reduction, on how we might be able to implement some of those harm reduction initiatives here in the Northwest Territories. Recognizing...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

We only have only one dementia facility in the Northwest Territories, and that is the facility in Yellowknife. Individuals with dementia have a higher need and a higher requirement for support than individuals in long-term care who may have early-onset Alzheimer's or some level of minor dementia but not extreme dementia. Individuals with dementia, we try to get into the long-term or the dementia facility here in Yellowknife, but as the Member knows, as all Members know, we have a shortage of beds in the Northwest Territories. We are trying to come up with a plan to increase the number of beds...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated previously, when an incident does occur within any of our long-term care facilities, the immediate measures are taken to ensure the residents and staff are safe, such as separating the residents and removing other residents and staff from the area where the incident might be taking place, and doing what we can with the residents themselves to make sure that the altercation is ended as quickly as possible.