Glen Abernethy

Not at this time.

I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to take this opportunity to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their thorough review and debate on this bill. I believe, as many of them have said, that this is an incredibly important bill. I really appreciate being here to help bring this bill across the finish line. I really appreciate the Members and support from all the Members. Thank you so much. We’re moving forward. There were a number of recommendations put out to us in the committee report and we will be responding to committee on all of those. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me today on my right is Lisa Cardinal, director responsible for health and social services professional licensing; and on my left is Thomas Druyan, legislative counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here to discuss Bill 36, Health and Social Services Professions Act. The Health and Social Services Professions Act is a result of five years of work by the department and reflects significant feedback from professionals as well as the public. This act will provide the foundation for future regulation of health and social services professions in the Northwest Territories.

If passed, this legislation will enable the Government of the Northwest Territories to regulate numerous professions under one legislative framework. This includes modernizing existing...

I understand the Member’s point but I do have to continually remind everybody that health outcomes are primarily influenced by socio-economic conditions and it’s going to take all of us working together, all of the departments working together.

With respect to the Department of Health and Social Services, we are the lead on the Anti-Poverty Action Plan; we are a partner on Early Childhood Development Action Plan; we’re the lead on Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. We’ve also got a number of different cancer strategies that we’re partnering with the Government of Canada to implement here...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are large health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in residents across Canada. Poor health outcomes in the proportionately larger Aboriginal population here in the Northwest Territories, compared to other jurisdictions, is influencing the overall results in the NWT.

To be clear, the Conference Board of Canada’s report, How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada, measures health outcomes based on 10 indicators which evaluate health outcomes as opposed to health care systems. Health outcomes are primarily influenced by socio-economic...

Mr. Chair, the timeline is we need to pass the legislation. The legislation is before committee. Committee is reviewing that legislation. Should that legislation pass, then we have a go live date of April 1, 2016. Our hope would be that we would be able to facilitate this change for that time, but we recognize that it may take a little bit longer to work through all the challenges with superann and union, but our goal is to look at April 1, 2016. So it would not be the 2015-16 fiscal year.

The Member keeps talking about the health care system, but I do need to remind the Member that the Conference Board of Canada’s report, How Canada Performs, is a snapshot at a point in time intended to provide governments with recommendations on how they can improve their systems by providing a snapshot. Health outcomes, once again, are measured using 10 indicators that recognize or evaluate health outcomes, not the health care system. We have to deal with the root causes and here in the Northwest Territories, and today I have clearly articulated that many, many actions and activities that we...