Glen Abernethy
Statements in Debates
I hear the Member. We do know that there is some frustration with individuals who are uncomfortable with going the day of their appointments just in case there is a cancellation. There is some frustration there. Patients can go early. They can book the flights themselves and seek reimbursement. The reimbursement is based on the rate that we would pay. We have a standing offer agreement with a number of our airlines, which is a little cheaper than what residents would pay if they booked themselves. We can reimburse them up to that rate.
If there are unique situations, the residents can approach...
Thank you Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the $50,000 for a jurisdictional review of public health legislation and regulations and identification and development of the NWT regulatory changes under the Public Health Act that are harmonized with federal and GNWT legislation related to public health and agriculture. It's a contract of $50,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, these dollars were identified and put in place as a result of the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan that identified the need for options. The majority of this money flows directly to Aboriginal governments who run different On the Land Healing Programs designed by them for them. We always indicate that we're happy to provide some human resources or expertise if they require it.
In addition to that, Mr. Chair, there is the NWT On the Land Collaborative that exists in the Northwest Territories. That's where departments like Health and Social Services...
I'm not 100 per cent sure what the Member means. We are working through our public health office to create awareness of country foods. We have really cool materials like colouring books for kids, and some other resources that are available to promote healthy country foods, but I'm not sure what the Member is referring to, exactly what she is referring to, so I apologize.
We have the Aboriginal Health and Community Wellness Division within the Department of Health and Social Services. I'm happy to say that they have been working very closely with Education, Culture and Employment on new health curriculum here in the Northwest Territories that focuses on some of the realities and challenges that our people are facing. It does focus on prevention, and it's my understanding, but I will certainly confirm, that there is information in there on pregnancy and the risks of alcohol on a child of a pregnant mother.
Certainly, we need to go further and make sure that there...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, individuals who access the healthcare system cannot opt out of utilizing the record systems that we have in place. Our priority, and following up on the recommendations of the Information and Privacy Commissioner about concerns raised by others including individuals of this House, is the ability for a resident to block the ability of their information to be shared with others. We didn't think we initially could do that, but we believe now that we can, so we're working on finding a mechanism whereby a resident, should they choose to, could require us to block...
Mr. Chair, I am pretty good at growing carrots and potatoes. I have a hard time with fruit, even raspberries; the wild ones do not work so well, so we will take any advice the Member may have.
The $900,000 is as a result of work that we have already done. We have brought all of the medical professionals under a single authority, and we have been able to get some economies of scale as far as recruitment. We have actually, I think, done better than we have in the past under recruitment. We have more stability in Hay River and Inuvik than we have had in many, many years, and as a result we have...
As much as I'd like to be able to control the weather, we can't. When there are flights cancelled as a result of weather, we work with our residents to make sure that those appointments are rescheduled and the flights rescheduled appropriately. The Member has brought that concern from his region to me. I share his frustration on the number of cancellations that occurred.
Following up on our discussions, the department did follow up with one of our main contractors from Medical Travel, who does the majority of the flights in the Nahendeh region. They indicated to us that it has been a...
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'll certainly share that information with the Minister of Finance. As a note, we are looking at exactly the same document. We just have the information that there has been a slight change, and that has been brought to your attention. I take the Member's point and we'll endeavour to make sure that happens. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the work we anticipate is going to take a bit of time. It's going to be done by a private contractor. We really have to dig in right at the base community level. At this point, it's not expected that work will be done in time for business planning, but it will be available for future decision-making in the Assembly. I will say that we do appreciate that, in the last budget round, we did have some additional money put into this area and we were able to hire and create some homecare and home support positions throughout the Northwest Territories in the areas...