Julie Green
Statements in Debates
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 108)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. I know that the department does track wait times in both the Beaufort Delta and through Stanton Territorial Hospital for these specialties, rehabilitation services for children. I am not clear how this information is shared with the public. But I would like to find that out and I, on the face of it, would like to advocate that this information be shared with the public so that people can make appropriate decisions about alternatives. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 108)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to be able to make a commitment to service standards knowing that we are shortstaffed and that the answer may be greater spending which we don't have in the budget at this time. But certainly I don't see any reason that people who call and ask for appointments can't receive accurate information about their wait times so that they can make informed decisions about what their next steps are. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 103)
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a full analysis has not been done but there are some estimates. So cost due to hospitalizations due to shingles for NWT residents aged 50 plus, for 2009 to 2018, was $1.3 million. The cost for the vaccine product to immunize the entire NWT population for 50 plus is $1.91 million. And there's also a need for boosters with shingles, and the annual cost of that would be $165,000.
So as things stand now, it would cost us more to vaccinate than it would cost for hospitalizations. But that is a very mathematical answer. People who have shingles and I'm aware...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 103)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide a personal tribute to Harold R. Johnson, who died last month. Mr. Johnson was Cree from Montreal Lake First Nation in northern Saskatchewan. He straddled two worlds as a logger, trapper and miner but also as a Harvardeducated lawyer and writer. Above all he was a storyteller.
I met Mr. Johnson in May 2019 when I read his book, Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing my People and Yours.
He reflected on decades he spent as a Crown prosecutor witnessing the damage caused by alcohol abuse death, lifetransforming injuries, families disrupted...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 103)
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the department is interested in targeting the most high risk population, which is that 65 to 70yearold group. Also, people who are receiving active cancer treatment who are immune compromised. And the NHIB program offers an exception to the 65 to 70 age group. People can apply for coverage if they feel they can make a case for that with NHIB.
Having said all of that, I think that the Member's suggestion is a good one, that we provide a more targeted campaign to encourage uptake on the vaccine for the 65 to 70 group and for those who have benefits...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 103)
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I recognize that shingles is a very painful condition for those who contract it and it can lead to significant health outcomes, as the Member said in his statement.
The rationale here is that the numbers of people in the NWT who require the shingles vaccine is relatively small compared to other vaccines that we would like to fund and don't have the money to fund at this point. In order to bring the vaccine to the whole 50 to 64yearold group, and then the EHB would cover it after that, we'd be looking for an investment of $2 million which is something...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I didn't review the information that was released, but I understand that it breached the privacy of the people about whom the information was collected and as a result of that breach of privacy, the matter was referred to the RCMP. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member raising this issue so that I can provide some additional information.
The NWT Disabilities Council has been our partner in operating the day shelter and sobering centre for the last three years, since the centre opened in the fall of 2018. And they gave us notice on February the 24th that they did not want to take the sixmonth extension that we offered, and so they then went through the process of notifying their staff that they would be laid off.
The NTHSSA has already announced that they will be operating the day shelter and sobering centre from...