Glen Abernethy

The Day Shelter has only been open for a couple months at this point and there are number of things happening there, including some significant renovations in the building. We have talked to the provider who has indicated that they’re hoping to provide some additional programs and services as well as links to the programs and services that exist. There is space in that building for health practitioners to go to the building and meet with people, as well as Housing staff to go and meet with people, as well as individuals from Justice or income support to go and meet with the people who are...

On Page 197, under community mental health and addictions there’s a budget line of $15.24 million. That’s where those dollars are.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are no quick fixes for the NWT Mental Health Act. It is a significant act with many parts and components. We have actually considered whether short-term amendments would be appropriate. Even those amendments would take a bit of time. The type of amendment the Member is talking about is not a small amendment. It would be a significant amendment and a significant part of the new act. It’s not a year away. We’re anticipating having the legislation done in the spring. Unfortunately, we don’t believe it will be ready for the May/June session, at which point I do intend...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Department of Health and Social Services does recognize the importance of language and culture in all aspects of daily lives throughout the Northwest Territories. In many of the small communities, it is indeed a struggle to recruit and retain health care providers in any language. We do strive to offer services in all official languages here in the Northwest Territories.

However, because of capacity issues, this is obviously sometimes quite difficult. We have a multi-lingual website which offers a range of information in all official languages here in the Northwest...

We do see this as a challenge and it is something that we want to fix. I agree with what the Member is saying. We actually have begun negotiations some time ago with the Government of Alberta in order to increase the amount of coverage that is being provided by these northern support nurses that happen to be in Alberta. Unfortunately, those negotiations have temporarily ceased as Alberta is going full forward into their budget process as well. We anticipate those discussions will continue once their budget is concluded.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There’s $113,000 for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, $183,000 for the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities and $39,000 for the Hay River Community for Persons with Disabilities for a total of $335,000 in the Disabilities Fund.

There is no plan in the budget that is before the committee today to increase the number of community counsellors in the communities. There are wait times. I will acknowledge that there are wait times throughout the Northwest Territories, but I think it’s important to note that these are mostly wait times for non-urgent clients. Clients with urgent needs are seen within 24 hours. Urgent issues, issues of extreme risk or importance can be dealt with immediately, within 24 hours.

We already have a Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, and as far as indicators to help us identify whether we’re on the right track, or whether we have to amend our approach, we’re always looking for ways to improve what we do.

The Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan is a living document and it will continue to move forward and it will continue to evolve as realities change. As we learn more through new indicators, it would be inappropriate for us to remain static. We will have to be flexible.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, just to be clear, these are grants and contributions. There are dollars that are flowing out to other organizations such as the authorities but as well as other organizations for specific programming. This is in no way, shape or form indicative of the entire budget being spent on mental health and addictions by the Department of Health and Social Services. I believe that number is closer to $15.7 million. For some specifics I will go to the deputy minister.

As we move forward, actually, to one health and social services system here in the Northwest Territories, we’ll be able to balance out some of these peaks and lows in different communities throughout the Northwest Territories because we’ll be able to share resources and professionals as needed to meet increasing demands in one area where there may not be demands in another area.

As far as committing additional resources and approving overtime, that often happens already in many situations where there are urgent issues. But I will commit to continuing to look into this issue and share the...