Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks to the Member for his comments. I too am very excited about the opening of the Hay River hospital. I know that the Members did have an opportunity to tour that facility last summer and got to see the size and the scope of that particular building and the amazing things that are going to be going on there, including midwifery, in Hay River. We will be able to support births. I believe we might even have some births anticipated for this month. That’s fantastic news that we’ve been able to make that progress.

I really appreciate the Member’s comments on the system...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I had a conversation with the deputy minister and the chief public health officer just recently about that exact topic, and the public health officer did confirm to me that there are no cases of things like measles in the Northwest Territories.

We actually have a very high rate of immunizations here in the Northwest Territories. Obviously, we want to continue to immunize as much as possible, so I really appreciate this opportunity to speak to the Members as well as to the residents of the Northwest Territories and just reiterate a comment that the Member made...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I thank the Member for his comments. I’m not going to go into too much detail, just a couple points.

The Mental Health Act is a priority. We really wanted to get that done in the life of this government. But, as the Member said, it’s huge. It’s a big piece of legislation. It’s an incredibly important piece of legislation. In addition to all the other pieces of legislation that are happening here in the government and all the other work that is being done, I don’t believe we’re going to be able to get it done. I know we’re not going to be able to get it done in time to table...

Mr. Speaker, I do hear the Member, but that actually does contradict what we heard from the Aboriginal governments, which is they wanted to have the ownership of these programs; they wanted to be the leaders of these programs. We’re partners. We’re participants in helping ensure they have the resources they need.

We do recognize that there’s a real demand for these programs, and more so, which is why we’re working with the Aboriginal governments to pursue other funding partners so that we can hopefully expand the number of programs in the Northwest Territories. But given that these are...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the comments from the Member. I mean, we’ve had many of these discussions in committee and many of the things I’ve heard Members say today are things that I’ve also said and I share many of his opinions on this. We have a lot of work to do, but I think good things are happening.

I agree with the Member that the transition to one system isn’t the final solution, but it’s an important, integral part of improving services in the Northwest Territories. But it by itself will not help us improve the health results for residents of the Northwest Territories. There...

Mr. Speaker, as we have been hearing in this Assembly recently, on-the-land healing programs are critical to achieving our goal of healthy, educated people free from poverty. That discussion echoes recommendations previously made by the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness.

The Department of Health and Social Services recognizes the importance of spiritual and cultural healing and has made on-the-land programming a key component of the continuum of care and treatment of addictions. We are working with Aboriginal governments to deliver on-the-land programs as part of Territorial...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m happy to go with whatever the committee wishes. Thanks to the Member for his comments. We too are really looking forward to moving forward and completing the construction of the long-term care facility and the health centre in Norman Wells. We believe it’s going to bring a new and important service to the residents of the Sahtu, which I believe they have wanted for a really long time. It’s also building upon our elders in our communities, which is creating more beds in the Northwest Territories for long-term care.

The Member is absolutely right; this will create...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to introduce, on my left, Jeannie Mathison, director of finance – you’ll notice I got it right this time – and Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The significant increase here is the service centre where the increase is around $2 million. Then there are also some other increases, Microsoft licensing for $1.12 million and licensing and maintenance, the inflation we experience on our health programs. So those are the main areas for increase in that particular line.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to present the 2015-2016 Main Estimates for the Department of Health and Social Services. Overall, the department’s estimates propose an increase of $14.9 million, or 3.8 percent, over the 2014-2015 estimates.

One of the highlights of the estimates is new operational funding for a long-term care facility in Norman Wells as part of the ongoing implementation of our strategic framework, Our Elders, Our Communities.

This budget supports continued work to bring all health and social services authorities onto common information platforms and allow them to access...