Julie Green

Thanks again to the Member for Monfwi. The budget for the on-the-land healing program is $1.8 million. The budget for the southern treatment is $2.3 million, so there is a difference there of $500,000. The on-the-land treatment program was last increased last year in the last main estimates. There is a robust amount of money available there. As I mentioned before, that fund has not been completely spent. On the contrary, only a couple of Indigenous government organizations have applied for it. I really encourage everyone who has connections with on-the-land healing to make applications to this...

Thank you to the Member for Monfwi for that question. The departmental budget for addictions treatment this year is $2.3 million. There has been a decrease in the number of spaces available, which is why the department added two more facilities so that there is appropriate distancing during the pandemic. We know that 45 people have attended in-patient treatment in the first six months of this year. Fifteen of them have completed their program. We're going to be low on numbers this year, there are more typically around 200. The last treatment centre we had open in the NWT was Nats'ejee Keh on...

Thank you very much. I don't have a ready answer to that. I know that it's only recently that this money has been increased to $1.8 million and, given the pandemic, I wonder if there will be a carry-over this year because, at this point, we've only spent about a third of it. I can, however, get you more specific information and provide that in a written response.

Thank you to the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh for that question. The total budget for on-the-land funding is $1.095 million and the mobile treatment after-care funding, and these are often pooled together, is $729,000, so the total is $1.8 million. Of that, $482,631 has been spent, and the two IGOs with agreements in place are the Dehcho First Nations and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Each IGO is allocated the same amount. The on-the-land funding available to each IGO is $125,000, and the mobile treatment after-care funding is $66,350. I can make a copy of this page, and I can make it...

The department right now is working on adapting the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons physician standards, and those standards include a telehealth standard. What the department is doing is adapting those to NWT circumstances, step one. Step two, engage the key stakeholders with the content such as the NWT Medical Association and the Health and Social Services Authority so that they can provide their input into that. Finally, there may be a need for a legislative change in the Medical Profession Act, and if that's the case, we would certainly expedite work on that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The particular focus of the virtual care work is between in-territory providers, health providers, and in-territory patients. There has been some work done, although COVID-19 reorganized priorities, and that work has slowed down. We already have a head start because the secure messaging will be through the territorial EMR system, which is available in every health centre and cabin that we have, so there is widespread availability once the secure messaging is developed for application across the NWT. The only other loose end is that we need to continue work with...

Mr. Speaker, in the lead-up to the last election, I offered a series of campaign readiness workshops in Yellowknife in the hope of getting more women to run. The Member for Great Slave attended some of those sessions, along with some of the other women in this Chamber. I had high hopes they would be elected and bring their many talents to provide good governance and better the lives of NWT residents. The end result, as we all know, was the historic election of nine women from all across the territory, and from among that group a woman Premier and four women Cabinet Ministers. We had and still...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. I find the answer a little troubling, because we don't have the opportunity to question the Chief Public Health Officer in public, but we are holding the Executive Council responsible for the management of the pandemic, and they are, of course, taking advice from the Chief Public Health Officer. Where does the accountability lie on the decision to move backwards through the Emerging Wisely Plan, and how is Executive Council involved in that decision-making? Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for that response. I am looking for more specific information. How many cases would force us to reverse phase 2 or phase 1? Is there any consideration about where those cases would be located to drive this decision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My apologies. Thank you to the Minister for that information. The point is not that the information should be provided privately to me or to my colleagues but that this council that was put into being by the government should be made known to the public. This council wouldn't exist without the government, so the government has a responsibility to tell the public what this council is about and who is on it. You have just mentioned some names and what their mandate is. I'm sure you appreciate that there's a lot of interest in this council. There is some potential to make...