Glen Abernethy

Until we do the analysis of that facility and the programs that will be delivered there, it’s hard to give a definite yes. I can say that it may be possible for us to deliver personal care and coordination of the programs in the Fort Good Hope independent living unit using existing home care staff in the community. However, if additional staff are required through the analysis that’s being done, we’re happy to work with our training partners, such as Aurora College, in the community to coordinate training for future staff.

Mr. Speaker, a key priority of this government is to make sure that NWT residents have access to the right tools and supports that they can choose from to help overcome addiction issues and poor mental health. As a government, we are committed to ensuring that our residents have as many options as possible to help them move forward on their path towards wellness.

The updated action plan, Pathways to Wellness, which I will be tabling later today, combines the actions contained in the 2012 action plan, A Shared Path Towards Wellness, with the recommendations from Healing Voices, the report of the...

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, titled “Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Healing Voices: The Report of the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There may be, but it’s going to be 17 years away. We’ve just signed a 20-year contract three years ago; two years ago, 18 years away.

It might be a little early to go out and to actually do an expression, but we’re absolutely willing to share any information that we have on the program with other communities that might be interested in doing the same type of thing. But until we do an actual evaluation and conclude that evaluation, we won’t necessarily be in a position to make any commitments to support that program in any of the other communities, but we will share information.

The changes to the Canada Health Act affect all the provinces and territories in exactly the same way. The magnitude might be different because of the size of the police force and the RCMP in each of the jurisdictions. The Ministers of Justice across the territories raised these concerns at one of their FTPs and it was pretty clear that the federal government was going to be moving ahead with this regardless, and those costs are now, as Mr. Dolynny indicated, downloaded on to the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness and the 12 individuals who helped us with that. Today I’d like to recognize Paul Andrew, who is the chair of the forum, and thank him for all of his hard work and that of his colleagues. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Since April 1, 2013, we have been providing those services and paying for those services. Prior to that we were providing those services and invoices were sent to the RCMP to recoup our costs. That no longer happens.

Families were covered by RCMP before and they’re covered by us now.