Glen Abernethy

Yes.

No, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Currently everything in the GNWT’s response to the framework is funded and identified to be funded within the plan. We hope to, with partners, leverage for more dollars to combat poverty here in the Northwest Territories, but I must remind everybody that this $2.6 million we’re talking about is new investment into the combat against poverty. There are a number of actions within the action plan that already have dollars associated with them and a bunch of the work being done by departments like the Housing Corp are part of the strategy to combat poverty in the Northwest Territories...

One of the main reasons for the reduction here is the dollars from here, some of these dollars were the dollars that went to Nats’ejee K’eh and we’re not providing that in the same way. Those dollars have now been reverted into the department. We’re using them to fund the four facilities, or portions of the four facilities that we’re contracting with in the South plus the mobile treatment program that we’re exploring with Poundmaker’s and some of the other programs related to mental health and addictions.

That was done in the past when we did the assessment previously in 2005. I am pretty sure that’s accurate, I might be off a little bit. We would have to do the same to make sure that if we move forward and it is reasonable to move forward based on cost, that we are basing it on fully understood numbers.

No, Mr. Chair. We have dental therapist positions throughout the Northwest Territories and those dollars that I refer to are for the dental therapist positions.

About 50 percent of our positions at this point are vacant. What I was talking about previously in the motion is there’s nowhere to train new dental therapists and this is a problem, and the three territories are trying to come up with a solution that will allow us to provide training to individuals to fill these roles. This isn’t a problem unique to the Northwest Territories, this is the three territories that are suffering from this.

O...

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me today are Jeannie Mathison, director of finance with the Department of Health and Social Services; and Debbie DeLancey, the deputy minister.

Thank you. The $1.073 million in Health and Social Services and the $1.53 million in the other departments totaling $2.603 million are additions to the base.

It’s not in the strategic plan for the 17th Assembly, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t continue to do analysis and collect data that will help us be informed when the department does move forward with reviewing this more thoroughly. We do have a significant number of projects on the go that are going to improve the health and the care and the future of residents, and those need to be our priority for the remainder of this term.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The dollars identified here are the dollars that are provided to the authorities to provide services in regions and communities.