Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, certainly I'm not going to talk to a motion that was in the previous government, but I can say that this government is actually committed to moving forward with an action plan for persons with disabilities, building upon the work that's been already done, but also working with our partners who are doing incredible work within the communities to help and address the issues of persons with disabilities. This is consistent with our mandate, and we'll have a plan in place and be able to give some details of how that plan is going to roll out and when the action plan will be completed...

The department does occasionally do quality reviews and other audits of the regional authorities. In the situation that the Member is talking about, it was an audit that was actually done by the department. These are internal systems audits, and the results aren't shared, but as I indicated the other day, I would be happy to sit down with the Member and go through the audit with the Member so that he has an understanding of where we are and what we learned for that particular audit.

We do accreditations here in the Northwest Territories, and Stanton, the Beaufort-Delta, Hay River and Fort Smith...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it depends on the situation. There are a couple of different ways information might come to an authority. As I said, we do have the patient representatives in the individual authorities, where individuals can go if they've actually had concerns about how services were provided. These patient representatives can actually do some investigation and research to find out what happened, and offer recommendations to the CEO to ensure that those types of situations, if any problems occurred, won't happen again. Those individuals track their own information and do...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my capacity as the Minster responsible for Persons with Disabilities, I am pleased to support this motion today. The Government of the Northwest Territories remains committed to improving services for persons with disabilities and to do so we need to take a government-wide view of what needs to be done and how to accomplish it. We need to also rely on the expertise, the knowledge, and dedication of non-government organisations and volunteers in our communities, who work every day to improve access and services for persons with disabilities.

The 2008...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled “Quality Mental Health Care: An Action Plan, February 2016.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll read Hansard tomorrow but I think I just made that commitment in my previous answer. This is something that is consistent with our mandate. It's something consistent with what we actually said in the life of the last government, even though we didn't support the motion for technical reasons, and it is something that we're going to do in this Assembly.

Absolutely. I’m certainly willing to do a tour with the Member through his riding, meet with the residents, and hear their individual concerns, but in addition to that, I would still encourage the Member to have constituents work with the quality assurance representative in their authority. If they are having trouble navigating the system, please have them get in touch with the system navigator, and as we move forward to a single Authority, there will be a wellness council re-established in the region where the individuals, the residents, will have a voice on regional delivery, but more...

As a standard practice, the information pertaining to an individual concerned in a complaint is only shared as needed to help resolve that complaint, and at this time, there is no central collection or reporting of information on these individual cases. I can say that the CEOs from the authorities meet on a regular basis, where they can discuss common or reoccurring issues or themes, so that they can work with the department to resolve the bigger picture issues. I can say that, as we move forward to a single authority, we will be better positioned to have some tracking mechanisms to track...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Assembly has made it a priority to focus on culturally appropriate delivery methods for mental health and addictions services within our communities. To accomplish this we need to improve the services and supports that we provide to our residents. We know that the current system needs improvement, and we must rethink the way mental health and addictions services are delivered. This is why we have updated the Mental Health Act, and we are conducting an external review of mental health and addictions programs as the first steps towards developing a Mental Health and...

In addition to the items that I've already described specific to the Nunakput Region, in Ulukhaktok the ASIST training, it took place in November last year, from November 24 to 25. The Suicide Awareness Event Workshop was held in September 2015. It included a community feast, a sharing circle, discussions, and addressed impacts, prevention, supports, and resources available in the community. National and territorial hotline numbers were also shared with the community members during that event.

In Paulatuk, Mental Health First Aid is scheduled to take place March 8 to 11, 2016, so in a week. In...