Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Ms. DeLancey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that the Minister reminded me about community counselling, because as my colleague Mr. Bouchard mentioned, yes, we do have these services in the community, but we’ve recently heard that in Hay River right now that if you need counselling you are going to be on a three- or four-month waiting list, and that isn’t really good when it comes to issues of needing counselling for anything to do with mental illness.

I’d like to ask the Minister, is there any plan by his department to enhance those services in the communities so that we do not end up with a backlog of...

Thank you very much, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Ms. Bisaro.

I would love to take Mental Health First Aid. I don’t know exactly how I would access that or what I could do. But as an MLA, you have to understand that we get called to the homes by parents who are going out of their minds, worried about their children because they don’t know what they’re going to do next. You can take them to the hospital, but we cannot admit and treat except for only the really critical cases. So it is hard to know, as a parent, as a friend, as a community member, as an MLA, how to respond to some of these really stressful situations, because it does involve entire...

Agreed. Thank you. Administrative and support services, active positions on page 191.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Abernethy.

My colleagues are telling me to slow down. Obviously this is something that I’m very passionate about, as you can tell.

We need to think outside of the box. As I said, when I found myself in that situation, the only thing that saved me in a small, northern town was a lady that I knew that stayed home all day and baked and watched soap operas. Now, she didn’t talk a lot and she wasn’t a lot of help to me, but she was there. Because I was afraid to go in. I was afraid to stay home. I didn’t know where to go. My husband had to go to work because he had a job. These are the kinds of pressures that...

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Abernethy.