Julie Green

The point of which they are looking for housing is really outside of the Department of Health and Social Services, but having said that, we do recognize the importance of housing to maintaining sobriety. The counsellor would connect people with the housing authority where, honestly, they're likely to see a huge waiting list, and also to connect them with Income Assistance, where they may be able to obtain market housing if it's available and have that paid for through the Income Assistance program, along with the other benefits that that program provides.

To me, this is a systemic wraparound...

I don't see that there is a linkage between those two programs, but I'd like to refer this question to the deputy minister, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is correct.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, the department has been working on cultural safety initiatives since the 2013-2014 fiscal year, and what we have focused on, to define what we're talking about with cultural safety, is initiatives that are designed to address inequities experienced by Indigenous residents when accessing our health services, to improve early childhood development indicators, enable seniors to age in place, and increase the number of mental health and addiction program supports. What we want is: we recognize that, because of historic factors, Indigenous people may not be accessing the...

The money that is going to be unspent in this fiscal year, I am not clear that that can be carried over and applied, so I would like to refer the question to the director of finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the most part, this is the continuum that happens with treatment. The access to treatment is facilitated by somebody who is a counsellor, often in the community counselling program. They could be in a non-profit like the Tree of Peace here in Yellowknife or in the Ingamo Hall in Inuvik, and as soon as that person is referred and accepted into treatment, there is an expectation that planning for after-care begins immediately. The counsellor will begin that after-care planning, will be in discussion with the client while that person is in treatment, and connect with...

Thank you. There is only one service provider in that area, and that is Avens. Avens, I know, is reviewing its own set of services as it moves forward with its independent living offering at the pavilion. We are also, of course, looking at additional long-term care beds in the Stanton legacy hospital. This is an area where there is some churn going on at the moment, and we continue to collaborate and try to figure out how to support one another to provide the best service to seniors. Thank you.

Could the Member please confirm that she is on page 190?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The child and youth care counsellors program is a joint initiative of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Health and Social Services. It's a four-year phased-in project. In the next fiscal year, the one that starts April 1st, these positions will be available in the South Slave. That's the last year of the four-year implementation in the South Slave, is the target there. That means that there will be counselling positions that are trained to a different standard than the current school counsellors, who will be available to help children and youth...

Yes. I have to say, honestly, that's a bewildering list of questions. I am just going to try, if I can, to start with the FASD portion, and then maybe the Member can just go over, again, the physician and out-of-territory care.

What I want to say about out-of-territory care is that the reason people go out of territory is because we don't have the appropriate services for their needs available in the NWT. It's not our wish to have them go away, but rather, it's a necessity. Some of these people have lived outside of the territory for the majority of their lives and, in fact, have replacement...