Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services doesn't license medical professionals who are nurses. They are licensed by the Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. And each graduating nurse would work with that entity to ensure they submit the necessary documents to be licensed in the NWT, whatever duration, whether they plan to be here on a temporary basis or fulltime. So once they're licensed, they would be eligible for employment and to compete on longterm employment and competitions within the GNWT because they would be...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I don't see that as practical. There is regional administration of the different health and social services authority, like the Tlicho Community Services Agency. But the department provides overall direction here in Yellowknife. I am not clear how it would work to have a few people in another location. Did you want to add on? The deputy minister would like to add on, please.

Yes, thank you. So the bed availability, that would be subject to triage like all of the health services. So if you have somebody detoxing from alcohol, that's a life and death situation. So the triage there, the triage score would be high versus somebody who would not be feeling the same effects of withdrawal.

I think that providing people with choices is the most important thing. When I toured the treatment centres in 2018, I came away having met people who were happy to be away from their community, their triggers, their you know, their colleagues who were kind of partners in misery. So I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The deputy minister will have the detail.

Yes, thank you. There's a segment of our budget called longterm and continuing care services that will be discussed later on that will include Stanton Legacy information.

Yes, thank you. If there was that kind of a person, I would suggest they apply to the United Way to obtain funding to deliver their service. I'll just say again that this is prioritized to Indigenous governments and Indigenous governments in partnership with community organizations. So they have a lot of leeway in deciding who they hire, what kind of services they want to offer with the pot of money, where they're going to offer them and so on. So it may be that if there's a person who's interested in working with an Indigenous government, they could find a way in that way. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Department of Infrastructure is in charge of the building and the renovation at this point. So any deficiencies or need to address deficiencies would be questions for them. We're the end user. So we get the keys, and at that point we sincerely hope it is trouble free.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the human resources unit that deals with staffing for medical professionals in the NTHSSA is working to finalize the process for hiring licensed practical nurses from Aurora College, and we know that there are 12 possible hires in that group. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, these are Department of Health and Social Services staff. There is only the one location. It's in Yellowknife. And it provides the policy, legislation, financial, and service support for NTHSSA and for the Tlicho Community Service Agency and Hay River Health and Social Services Agency. So the service delivery is decentralized but the policy and planning is located in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. This particular fund was new in this fiscal year, and the object of the fund is to build capacity within the NWT to provide mental wellness and addictions recovery support. I don't have any information yet on how much of that was taken up.

With respect to treatment, there are in territory and out of territory options. It's really up to the individual to speak with a counsellor and look at the options and decide what's best for them. And we don't have any limits on that fund. People can go to treatment more than once. They can go more than once in a year. They can go to a...