Julie Green
Statements in Debates
Yes. I don't think that there is any guarantee that a building will make someone well. It's a place where they may access services that are helpful, but the building itself has no magic related to it. I will give you as an example the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation that operates here in Yellowknife, out of McPherson tents with wood stoves in them. I know quite a number of people who are regular visitors there. They find counselling. They find companionship. There is a warm place to be. There is food and coffee. It has been proven very beneficial for those people. Now, that might not be...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by expressing my condolences to the family who lost their person to addictions. It happens, as the Member says, too often and with heartbreaking results.
I have some numbers here to share with the Member based on his question. For the most recent year, which is the year we are in now, where capacity has been very reduced because of the pandemic, people choosing not to go South, and limited capacity within the centres, a total of 50 people have been approved to go South; 20 people have completed the program; three people also completed the extension...
I am not aware that the department is looking at hiring a public veterinarian. We would certainly be working with ENR in the event that they are looking at hiring a public veterinarian so that we can work together on making sure that zoonotics do not proliferate in the NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a matter of fact, the Chief Public Health Officer has the authority to accept or deny applications for self-isolation. She has mandated, of course, that people isolate in the four hub communities, and there have been questions about exceptions so that people can go to their home community to isolate. I realize that that is the case in Fort Providence most recently. There is not a process that respects the privacy legislation, that allows the CPHO to contact the leadership and say: so and so wants to isolate; how do you feel about that? Rather, the advice that is...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member not leaving me out in the questions today. He was able to teach me a new word today, which is "zoonotics." Zoonotics is where viruses and other pathogens can be transmitted from animals or insects to humans, so rabies would be an example of a zoonotic. Public health has a role in monitoring and responding to those risks when they are present in the population, particularly in investigating human illness that may be a result of a jump from an animal to a person, so the focus here is on the person rather than the animal. Thank you.
I have no detailed information about how Nunavut created a plan to get the federal government to provide money for a healing centre in Nunavut. I certainly could find that out. I want to reiterate that it does not have to be up to the GNWT. Indigenous governments and Indigenous government organizations could band together to write a proposal for federal funding for a healing centre and to have some focus around what kind of services they want in that centre and where the centre will be located.
There will be a letter going to all of the patients awaiting surgery at Stanton this week so that they can have an update on what's happening there directly from Stanton. In the meantime, if they are having pain management issues, and I know that's very common with leg, hip surgeries, then they should continue to be in touch with their healthcare provider to have appropriate treatment for that and that also can be done virtually if people are housebound. We want to expand the capacity, obviously, and we need to tell people when this is going to be resolved. Unfortunately, there is no specific...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for Monfwi for his question. I think one of the first things to sort out is what is a healing centre and what is an addictions treatment centre. I'm not confident that they are the same thing. Not everybody who needs healing is an addict who needs to go through the process of detox and a 28-day program and the aftercare and so on. I think the discussion needs to be broader. What is it that we want this centre to do? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission sees it specifically as a healing centre and commits the federal money for that purpose. We...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that question. This is such a difficult issue because people are in pain waiting for this sterilization equipment to go back up to full functioning. It's very difficult to say to them, "We don't know when it's going to be fixed." What I can tell you is what you already know from your statement, Member for Frame Lake. These are complex issues. There are a number of different factors. There is the water quality, water testing for mineralization. The instruments themselves, Stanton has had specialist repair people come up from the South to assist with trying...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to oral question asked by the Member for Monfwi on October 20, 2020, regarding residential addictions treatment.
It is a priority in the mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories to "increase the number and variety of culturally respectful, community-based mental health and addictions programs, including aftercare." I am committed to making this priority a reality.
The Member said that the previous Minister and the current deputy minister made a promise to look into creating a northern treatment center. I have reviewed Hansard for that day...