Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member indicated, this is currently in the pilot status, and as with pilots, we will evaluate and determine whether or not we will be able to deliver this in the future in other communities, regions, locations throughout the Northwest Territories. I will get a follow-up on the status of the evaluation for the Member.

Prior to April 1, 2013, those services were provided by the Northwest Territories for RCMP in the Northwest Territories as those services were provided to RCMP members in all the jurisdictions by the jurisdiction providing those services. The difference was prior to April 1, 2013, they were covered under the Canada Health Act, and the RCMP was billed back for those services in all jurisdictions, including the Northwest Territories. Effective April 1, 2013, the federal government has taken the RCMP out of the Canada Health Act and made it a responsibility of the jurisdictions where the members...

Mr. Speaker, the 17th Legislative Assembly identified the need to enhance addictions treatment programs as a key priority. Our government is committed to making sure that NWT residents have the tools and support they need to overcome their addictions challenges.

Addictions are linked to poverty and to educational achievement. Addictions can affect parents’ ability to care for their children and meet their needs. Their impact goes well beyond the individual. Families, communities and even our economy can be affected.

Mr. Speaker, we asked 12 respected community leaders to come together, to...

There is a policy in place and recommendations do have to come for an escort and sometimes they don’t meet the policy as it stands, which is another indication that there seems to be a glitch in the matrix, if you will, and we need to work on this policy and we need to fix this policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I believe it’s important to get to the communities to meet with the residents. As the Minister of Health and Social Services, I’m absolutely committed to do that. I’ll take that as an invitation, and I’ll have my staff work with the Member’s staff and we’ll work out a date.

What we are trying to accomplish is a more integrated system of health and social services delivery in the Northwest Territories so that a resident in a community can receive seamless care through the whole system from their community of origin to any facility that can provide them the services they need. With a more integrated system, we can maximize our benefits of having patients go to other locations as opposed to just focusing, say, on Yellowknife. We’ll be able to flow patients to Inuvik, Hay River or wherever we can provide the best service in the best time for the best results, so it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Government of the Northwest Territories Anti-Poverty Action Plan, Building on the Strengths of Northerners, 2014-15 to 2015-16. Thank you.

I’d like to thank the Member for the invitation. We will certainly come to the community and we will come prepared. Thank you.

Where it’s deemed medically necessary by physicians or other health professionals, we would certainly be willing to have that conversation. I would encourage the Member to come to my office and maybe we can discuss the individual cases, because I’m not actually aware of the individual cases at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is actually currently completing a Territorial Palliative Care Framework and Action Plan, which is going to guide us on the delivery of community-based palliative care services throughout the Northwest Territories, and this plan and action plan are expected to be completed by the end of March 2014. Once that’s done we’ll be in a better position to have a discussion about what we can do with existing infrastructure and new infrastructure.

I do know that with all new infrastructure that we’re building with respect to long-term care facilities, we are...