Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reason for the delay has to do with the flood. The flood, while it didn't flood Woodland Manor, made services, water and sewer services, unavailable to the site, and as a result all of the residents had to be removed and relocated to other locations. And so we need to choose a site for the longterm care which is not subject to those risks. It is very difficult to move elders in an emergency. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I've learned in the two years that I've been in this role is that people want options when it comes to achieving their sobriety. They want the option of being on the land, in the community. In order to protect their privacy and not to engage with people who are also from the NWT, they want the option to go to different places. So what I've learned is that choice is really important. Telling people they have one place and only one place and one way to go for treatment has not been successful. And just as a matter of clarification, Nats'ejee K'eh was...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member better watch out or maybe by then I'll be a personal support worker helping him get in and out. So just pray that doesn't happen.

So what we've been able to do to supplement home care is provide funding for three additional positions in the last two years so that there is more staff available because, in fact, there are greater demands for that. The detail there is that's two home care nurses and a home support worker. The additional nursing position has enabled us to create more hours of service. So the service hours are now 8:30 to 4:30...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost estimate that is currently available has a contingency built into it. But there's a very important "but." If the site changes and it is no longer going to be where the old HH Williams Hospital was and it's now going to be over near the new health centre, getting the land ready for the construction has not been factored into that cost and so those costs may, in fact, rise. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have with me information about how many people attended the four previous treatment centres that were offered in the NWT, but I will ask the department if they can produce that information.

I also want to say that we have had a preliminary conversation at the Council of Leaders about alternatives to one single facility for healing and treatment, which is what the Member asked for, to see if there's something that could be developed on a regional basis that would better meet the needs of both treatment closer to home and the particular languages and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. I do not have those responses here today, and I haven't been given a date they're available. But I will commit now to making sure she has them before the session is over. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT medical travel program is for people who don't have private means to travel through their employer benefits, for example, whether those are public employers like the GNWT, or they are private employers, the medical travel program fills that gap.

In terms of who gets these benefits in the GNWT, the medical travel benefits are part of the compensation package for staff, and so they have them on that basis through their collective agreement.

In the last fiscal year, the medical travel program spent $43 million for approximately 15,000 cases. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question.

I want to start with that access to healthcare while it's determined by whether someone is Indigenous, Metis, on a private healthcare plan, or a public healthcare plan, access is the same. That is guaranteed under the Canada Health Act. How you get to that medical treatment I think is what the Member wants to hear about.

So the medical travel program is in place not to reimburse residents for everything that they spend but rather to reduce the financial barrier of travelling for a service that's not provided here. So the benefit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for that question.

The criteria for escorts is set by Indigenous Services Canada which pays most of the $44 million bill for medical travel each year. If the person receiving care is a minor, the parent goes with that child. But there is no provision at this point for the other children to go with that parent.

Having said that, I am aware of times where this issue has arisen and social services has been able to help with the voluntary services agreement. So if the Member knows of someone who needs this service, I suggest that they contact...

Yes, thank you it's true that there is a twotier approach. There are people who have insurance through their employer, including the GNWT, maybe through the federal government, through the school boards and so on, and people who don't, and the approaches are different and the benefits are different; one of the reasons that we are currently reviewing the supplementary health benefits. So the concept of providing benefits to employees is to compensate them, as part of their compensation, and it's also a part of the usually the retention strategy that people want employees to have these benefits...