Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left is the director of Finance, Jeannie Mathison. On my right is the deputy minister, Debbie DeLancey.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would be pleased to meet with committee and provide them with an update on where we are with the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. From a health point of view, maybe we should probably have a joint meeting with Health and Social Services as well as Education where we can go through the items with committee.

I’m eager to resolve this issue and it is something that I have already discussed at length with the deputy minister of Health and Social Services and we’ve also had discussions with legal.

The issue is it’s not a simple fix, it’s a significant component of the new legislation and it would actually not really fix it if all the other components of the act were still as archaic and bad as they are today.

I want this legislation done. My colleagues on this side want this legislation done. My colleagues on that side want this legislation done, but I believe they want it done right as opposed to...

Actually, Stanton already did consider this. They explored it and there were a couple concerns that they raised. Number one, it’s not particularly culturally sensitive. It also doesn’t really articulate or recognize the fact that sometimes people are missing appointments for reasons beyond their control such as medical travel, flight delays. A lot of the people utilizing the speciality clinic are coming in from other communities to receive those services. Also, in a time of fiscal restraint and being prudent with our dollars, there is also a cost to it, a cost that has to come from somewhere...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is still in place. We have had some difficulties over the year with some specific issues, but for the details, I will go to the deputy for that.

It’s certainly an intriguing idea and I get the Member’s point here. If it’s the wish of committee, we’re certainly willing to have those discussions. I will note that this may be an opportunity as we continue to expand the Integrated Case Management Program that we’re applying to the Wellness Court. So this might be an opportunity or a next logical fit. So, if it’s the wish of committee, we’re certainly willing to explore that. Thank you.

It’s my understanding that we actually do have individuals from the health authority as well as I believe there’s income support and Housing staff going in there, but I will get a confirmation of exactly who’s visiting that facility and how regularly to provide information to users of the Day Shelter.

I do acknowledge this is certainly more complex than it was before. This offers way more detail than the budget did in previous years. When we indicated to committee that we were going to be moving to a system that actually provided some consistency between the authorities and the department and was consistent with the CIHI definitions of different program areas, we did offer a briefing. We ran out of time. We’d be happy to come back and give committee a briefing on these new categories and how they relate. There is some certain crossover. Some of the money will fall into multiple areas for...

The Member and I want the same thing, which is a comprehensive Mental Health Act that meets the needs of the residents of the Northwest Territories, and we’re committed to doing that. The department is working on it every day.

A significant amount of information came out during our public consultation process. We had a lot of feedback. It was wonderful to get as much feedback as we did. The department is going through that data. It’s analysing that data and writing the act as we speak. The act is currently being written as we speak, but it will take a bit of time and there’s a good chance that...

I’ll just re-state again we are using CanTalk, which is technology. But I agree with what the Member is saying completely and Education, Culture and Employment is working with a number of the Aboriginal governments to create actual apps for things that can be used on iPhones and iPads around languages and to help people do exactly what the Member is talking about.

We’re currently working with a number of the different Aboriginal organizations and language groups in the Northwest Territories to help provide translation around medical terminology. When that’s done it would be a great opportunity...