Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health and social services system doesn't have any formal relationships of the type that the Member is talking about. But I think there's room for us to be proactive there because we do, in fact, welcome students to do practicums in our health and social services system and that, of course, extends to midwifery as well. So I think that there's room for us to perhaps create a more solid relationship with one of the training facilities to make sure that we have a steady supply of students. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'd like to start by introducing Darin Chocolate, who is sitting right there, and Kenzie Yakelaya, who I haven't seen, who are working for us as pages in this session. They are residents of Yellowknife Centre, and I want to thank them for all the work they've done for us in the last two weeks.

I'd also like to introduce Mr. Shawn Dean, a constituent of Yellowknife Yellowknife Centre, a former director of communications for the Legislative Assembly. I hope you're enjoying your retirement, Shawn.

And I'd also like to recognize my partner Janice McKenna...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I would like this rule to be called the Kevin O'Reilly Memorial Rule. Thank you.

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, and thanks to the Member for that question. No one who turns up at the emergency department in Yellowknife is denied treatment, and people from anywhere in the Northwest Territories are welcomed to make appointments in Yellowknife when they think they're going to be here. So I'm not really clear what the barriers are that the Member is talking about. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the Member that the way medical travel works is that the patient needs to see a care provider in the Northwest Territories who refers them for services in the south that are not available here. And then in that case, medical travel pays for the travel, the hotel, the ground transportation, and so on. If people go and book travel on their own to see their own practitioners, the expense is theirs. Thank you.