Julie Green

Yeah, thank you. I have the same thought as well. There have been issues in each of the Assemblies that I've that I've been a Member of with attendance, and it seems counterintuitive to suspend someone who's not coming anyway. But at the same time, it draws attention to the problem that some Members are not doing their jobs. And I think it's important for the public to know about that. But having said that, I take the point of the Member for Hay River North that we're sort of looking at both sides of the coin here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The timing set out in Bill 80 now provides the department with just over two years to develop professional regulations. The department remains concerned that they may not be able to meet this deadline. The timing set out in the bill leaves little room for delays that are frequently encountered during the regulatory development. It does not reflect the challenges that the department anticipates when engaging the dental hygiene profession.

Dental hygienists in the NWT do not have a territorial association or organization representing the profession, nor has the department...

Mr. Chair, I'm here as the Minister of health to discuss this Private Member's Bill, Bill 80, the Dental Hygienist Profession Statute Amendment Act. I would like to thank the Member for Kam Lake and the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes for their efforts to advance a modern regulatory framework for dental hygienists. I'd also like to thank the Members of the Standing Committee on Social Development for the time they have taken to hear the department's concerns with the approach taken to this bill, and specifically the time it will take to create new professionspecific regulations for dental...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say goodbye to you and my colleagues in this House. It has been a privilege to spend the last eight years in this Legislative Assembly representing the constituents of Yellowknife Centre and for the last three years serving all residents in the NWT as Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister responsible for Seniors, and Minister responsible for People with Disabilities. I would like to start with some acknowledgements.

My parents made the decision to immigrate to Canada when I was a child. It opened a world of opportunities in education and employment I don...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as with other health professions, we don't have the capacity to evaluate international credentials to decide whether they meet the registration requirements in our jurisdiction. So what we count on is that internationally trained health care providers are licensed in another province and once that happens, they're eligible for registration in the NWT. So we depend on the greater capacity of the provinces to assess their credentials and then once they've been assessed and found to be adequate, then of course we would register them here in the NWT as well...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a shortage nationally and internationally of midwifery candidates which is hobbling our efforts to fully staff our program. That doesn't diminish our commitment, and we are still actively recruiting for midwives wherever the program exists. So to be more specific, the territorial manager position is vacant and currently open for competition. The midwifery specialist position is filled and will focus and support the territorial program. Fort Smith, one out of three positions are filled so the services are limited. Hay River, two out of 3.75 fulltime...

Mr. Speaker, substance abuse continues to challenge residents, family, friends and communities in the Northwest Territories. The health and social services system has a range of options to help Northerners recover their health and wellbeing. I am going to summarize a few of those options that have taken shape in the 19th Assembly.

An approach called Stepped Care 2.0 has transformed the community counselling program by offering sameday or dropin support, resulting in a 79 percent decrease in wait times. Community counsellors can also help residents gain access to more specialized services such...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I feel like this is the icing on the cake of making this a family friendly workplace. Just to recap, when I first started working here, if you wanted to change a baby you had to change him or her on the bathroom floor. That was the only available place. So what a long way we've come from that to actually welcoming babies into the Chamber. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my time as health Minister is drawing to a close so I'm unable to commit to any further examinations of the medical travel policy. But I encourage the next Assembly to continue its focus on improving those services. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're always interested in hearing about people's experience with medical travel in an effort to improve it. We have done reviews of different aspects of the medical travel policy while I have been the Minister. And at this point, our primary focus is negotiating with Canada to sign a new NIHB agreement, which includes the compensation for medical travel, to include a wider range of escorts. We hear many complaints about the lack of escorts, and we would like to improve that but we need the funding from Canada to make that work. Thank you.