Julie Green

Thank you. This is part of the trajectory of health needs to do more and more and more without any additional money. So this program is funded from within. What we can afford to do is 25 students at this point.

I want to say, however, that this bursary is not the only bursary or way to receive additional funds for education. If people in the nursing program go to the bursary section of the Aurora College website, they'll see some additional ways that they can apply for funding. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. My information is that there are a total of 121 people enrolled in the nursing program, and 29 of them are first year. And between 24 and 28 typically are Northern or Indigenous. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have a territorial specialist of chronic disease management who has been in the position since May of 2019. It's that person's job to research and provide recommendations on patient care standards related to chronic disease management services. The focus is on providing culturally appropriate and standardized diabetes programming by working with all of the communitybased dieticians to ensure that that's the case. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I also would like to congratulate the Arctic Energy Alliance for 25 years of service to the NWT in saving energy and introduce four members of the staff who are residents of Yellowknife Centre Faye MacDonald, Dharshan Maheswaran, Taylor Arsenault, and Mark Heyck. Thank you very much for coming.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the bursary program is for Indigenous and northern students. It's not for the southern students who apply to go to school in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that there are enough funds to cover 25 bursaries. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's worth noting that this program is not only for registered nurses; it's also for people who are in allied professions including midwifery and physicians and so on. I find it impossible to make a commitment about extending the program without it ever having been introduced. But I do invite the Member to ask me about this again once it has been introduced. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I think it's fair to say that the youth subscription boxes have been more popular than we anticipated, so much so that we've made the resources available online to people who are not able to obtain one of the boxes. We are now evaluating the success of that program with a view to deciding how and when to expand it. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you for the question. We are reviewing the suicide risk assessment tool, which has been in place since 2019, which NTHSSA staff use when someone comes to the hospital with suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt. The policy runs to ten pages and talks about the ways in which staff need to respond, who needs to be involved, and what kind of a safety plan the patient leaves with. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I would like to confirm for the Member that we, in fact, do see the connection between homelessness and health, and for that reason, we have been participating in the development of a homelessness strategy being led by the NWT Housing Corporation. We believe that homelessness requires a wholeofgovernment approach. It's not usually just one reason that a person is homeless or one kind of service, like a house that they need; they need a number of different services. And so we are able and willing to participate in improving services to homeless...