Glen Abernethy

Residents who are required to go south for treatment and/or assessment at the direction of a physician or another health care provider in the Northwest Territories are eligible for medical travel. They would go through the medical travel office, who would arrange the travel, once it’s been approved accordingly. We aren’t requiring individuals to pay for their approved treatments up front, so I’m confused by this one. It shouldn’t be happening, and as I said, I would certainly be happy to hear the details and make sure that we correct it. Thank you.

This gap in the 16 to 18-year-olds is what I think the Member is alluding to. Right now, when a youth turns 16, they are not required to receive care under the Child and Family Services Act. They can, in a sense, opt out and opt out of foster care. But, at the same time, they can opt in and they can volunteer to stay within the system and continue to receive the supports of the foster parent who will continue to receive support until they’re 18. But this is an optional thing. I believe, and I think the 16th Assembly clearly articulated, that we have an obligation as de facto guardians for...

Thank you. This is where it gets really complicated, as I’ve said. If we’ve got a child entering the system and we want to work with the family to keep the child in the community and if the grandparents are willing to, through the foster screening assessment they are going to get the financial support they need to provide for those kids. But as we heard clearly when we went out to the communities during the Child and Family Services review, not all kids are entering the system, but we still need to find a way to support them.

This is something that was recommended to the department to look into...

As I’ve already indicated, we are trying to deal with it on a more holistic level. We are working on promoting healthy living, healthy activity and healthy eating. We are doing that in cooperation with Education, Culture and Employment and MACA. Obviously, we would like to do a little bit more. I think it’s important to educate the people on the differences of natural sugar occurring in food and white sugar, which is more of the problem than the sugar naturally occurring in food.

We need to do a better job. We are going to put something together so that we can help people understand the...

In cooperation with Education, Culture and Employment and MACA, we are obviously encouraging healthy living, healthy eating, healthy activity within our schools and within our youth populations. We do have the Drop the Pop campaign, which is specifically aimed at pop, but by default, we are trying to address some sugar issues there as well.

In this budget, we also have a significant amount of money – $1 million – put into healthy eating for school programs as part of our Early Childhood Development and Anti-Poverty strategies. So there are a number of things we’re trying to do. I personally...

I appreciate the comment and I look forward to doing the review, as I’ve indicated. There is way more to it than adding in a nurse, or not adding, in a community. We need to make sure the liability issues are good; we need to make sure that safety is taken into consideration; we need to make sure the community is receiving the services they need and expect, so there are a number of things to consider. It’s not just a matter of saying yes, but I will work on it with the Member and committee and get back to the Member with additional information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated the week before last when I was asked similar questions, I have directed the department to do a review of the ISDM with respect to small communities and the types of supports we need to provide to those small communities, whether it is a nurse or some other mechanism to provide support that is appropriate to the communities. When that review is done, I would be happy to share it with the Member and committee. I am certainly looking for any input the Member may have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s an intriguing idea and then it could… Obviously, if something like that existed, it could stretch to sugar, it could stretch to other things as well. I don’t know if we actually have the capacity to do something like that, but I would certainly be willing to have some conversations with the department and some more discussions with committee to see what options exist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I know that in the 16th Assembly we did put a significant increase on taxes for cigarettes and in this budget we did increase the budget for loose tobacco, but as far as increased taxes on tobacco, I would certainly be willing to have that conversation with the Minister of Finance and see where we can go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, investing in prevention, education and awareness, and early childhood development are priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

On March 4th and 5th, the Department of Health and Social Services will host the Canada Northwest Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Partnership Symposium. The theme is Sharing Voices, Inspiring Hope: FASD in Northern Communities - Finding Solutions that Work.

Professionals and community workers will share information on innovative approaches and initiatives that are uniquely suited to northern communities and can both prevent FASD and improve the quality...