Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Member’s comments and suggestions and questions. The Member did talk about the shutdown of the long-term care facility in Aklavik. The facility in Aklavik was a supported living facility, and I understand that the Housing Corp has actually constructed an independent living unit to replace that facility. In working with the Housing Corp, we’ve actually ensured that these new facilities the Housing Corp is building to support our residents and needs throughout the Northwest Territories, including Aklavik, is actually program space where we can have our...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d be happy to, but are we going to follow the same protocol we have with other departments that we go through the Members, a couple of them and then come back? Or is there a preference on how we move forward?

I would, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In this area, the areas of significant growth are as a result of the French language services, around $1.1 million, and there’s also some growth around the Information System Services Centre. A lot of those costs in the Information Services Centre, there are about $1.5 million of one-time costs and that’s actually built into the budget.

The other areas that the Member is talking about, we have provisions for the work that’s being done. A lot of the work that’s being done is being done by staff, which is covered by staff dollars. The other one-time costs, some of them may...

When it comes to additional time off and things like that, we are bound by the terms and conditions in the Collective Agreement. So we have to find ways to recruit as well as retain our professionals within the working environment that we have. But we are open to suggestions and recommendations from committee. I would say that if committee has some ideas, we did share the draft plan with them, they did provide us with some input, but it’s a living document and we’re open to suggestions from Members, from communities, from Aboriginal governments, anybody that can help us find ways to recruit...

I remember in the 16th Assembly there were a lot of questions around this, and at that time we didn’t have solid agreements with Nunavut on what the actual costs are being, but we do have solid reciprocal billing agreements with Nunavut which clearly articulate the cost of the services and which services there are costs associated with, and we do collect the money. There are some delays. For instance, Stanton is behind about five months at this time on billings, and this is often as a result of capacity within Stanton. Receivables at year end are for services in that year to Nunavut and some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; we do continue to have issues with retaining mental health and addictions counsellors as well as counsellors throughout the system. It’s a difficult position to fill and it is a position that does come with a significant amount of burnout, given that the individuals are often working with very difficult situations. We are coming forward with a new Human Resource Strategy within the Department of Health and Social Services and we plan to release that later this month, so that will start to outline some of the work that we’re doing to recruit as well...

Bringing Hay River into the one social services authority is an important element of the system transformation. We will absolutely work closely with Hay River Health Authority, the staff representatives, the union, but we also have to include superannuation, because one of the hanging points is what if, at all, the superann is willing to allow these individuals to leave or come into the GNWT, so a lot of negotiations. The GNWT currently has a mandate to begin those negotiations with the UNW, superann and Hay River Health and Social Services Authority.

Mr. Speaker, we’re conscious and aware of the fiscal realities of this government and we are doing the work that is necessary. We’ve got the team in place with the individuals who can do the work and we continue to move forward. We’ve already made significant progress. We’ll continue to make progress and this will happen.

It’s hardly a watered down approach. The territorial director is involved in that working group as well as the directors of social services and all the authorities in the Northwest Territories. They meet on a regular basis – monthly at this point – to ensure that this progress, this initiative is rolled out as the timelines have outlined.