Julie Green

Of course, the pandemic makes it more difficult. I have to say that I have attended three meetings of seniors' organizations via Zoom, and the seniors are up on Zoom. It's not a problem. They will connect and give their input. The department is hiring a person full-time for two years to lead the process of developing a seniors' strategy. It will be the job of this person to figure out how the consultation is going to work and to include the voices of everyone who needs to be heard. Thank you.

Thank you for the question, Member for Frame Lake. We are collaborating across all government departments to identify what the gaps are and what the resources are available to seniors to figure out how we can develop a strategy that meets their needs in a holistic way. I also want to say that we plan to collaborate with the NWT Seniors' Society and other seniors' organizations and seniors as individuals in order to develop this strategy. It will be a collaborative process from top to bottom.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This was the platform that we used to provide virtual care during the pandemic, and the funding is specific to the COVID-19 response. What I can tell you is that the current work is around allowing for secure messaging between healthcare providers and patients. This is an ongoing project, and I just want to note that the expenses here are fully offset by a grant from the federal government. Thank you.

No, we haven't done that. Unfortunately, there is no funding available for this position at this time. We're concerned about funding for this position going forward because the Territorial Health Investment Fund expires on March 31st next year, and the federal government has not yet recommitted to funding this pot of money which would provide for the oral health coordinator.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you for the question. The Dental Auxiliaries Act is a dated piece of legislation that doesn't align with our other medical professions' legislation or with that, that exists in the province, so what the department would like to do is create new legislation for dental hygienists under our umbrella act, the Health and Social Services Professions Act. This isn't something that is on our radar right now and is time consuming to finish. The request can be made now, but it's not likely there will be legislation for another two or three years at a minimum. Thank you.

I'm sorry. I don't have that information. That information we would need to obtain from the NIHB, both the numbers of patients and the cost of the service.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you for the question. The department doesn't restrict dentists from going into small communities. The issue at the moment is about infection control in some of the health centres where they are not adequate to meet the challenges of COVID-19. There hasn't been as much travel as there was previously. As an alternative, emergency cases are being flown to Yellowknife for service. Thank you.

We do now collaborate with other government departments in order to provide services to seniors, but we could be doing better. For example, I am very interested to see whether it's possible to have a common application for all seniors' services across all government departments, rather than having seniors having to apply to each government department for the service that they require. That is the kind of initiative that I'm looking at going forward. Of course, there is a lot of work related to seniors going on now around our priority to have seniors age in place with dignity. That involves...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. There will be an elders' strategy developed within this Assembly. Thank you.

I am a bossy person, but I am not the boss of the CPHO. I can't tell her what to do. I can make a suggestion, and she can weigh it and decide whether she wants to go along with it. She is a very compassionate person, and I am sure that she has looked at requests like this before. If the Member has specific constituents in mind who need this service, I would encourage them to contact ProtectNWT and seek that exemption.