Julie Green

Yes. Thank you. COVID did have an impact on the number of people who sought facility-based treatment in the South. The number, if I recall correctly, is down by about two-thirds. These are, of course, estimates. The actuals may be different. The spending actually varies according to the demand, and we know that there was less demand this year because of COVID. Thank you.

What I understood is that the question is whether the GNWT meets with Indigenous Services Canada to talk about NIHB? Is that the question? Yes.

I'm not clear whether we can make this commitment or not, so I will ask Mr. Elkin to answer the question. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We, as a department, fund a lot of different kinds of wellness initiatives like the healthy choices fund, which was just announced today for applications. With respect to this specific federally funded pot of money on wellness, I'll ask the deputy minister if he could provide some more detail. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to refer this question to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. Back to the director of finance, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am just going to talk a little bit about the role of community health nurses, and then I will give the specific answer the Member asked for. It's important to know that community health nurses are not first responders. First responders have a different skill set. Community health nurses are not permitted, under NTHSSA policy dated November 6, 2019, to leave the healthcare centre in order to provide emergency services. What we do recognize that exists in many NWT communities is a gap in service that relates to ambulances and first responders. That involves going to the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't think that this is the right category for that question. I think that we talked about the respite services in the previous health and social programs category, but I'll just ask the deputy minister to confirm that. Thank you.

Can I just clarify: is the Member asking where they were born or where they lived when they were referred to southern treatment? What kind of a classification is she looking for here? At what point in their lives does she want them classified by location?

Yes.Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Assembly of First Nations worked with the federal government to develop a child and family services law that became law in January of 2020, and this provides for sovereignty of First Nations to provide child and family services care. We, the Department of Health and Social Services in the NWT, fully endorse this law and the sovereignty of First Nations to provide this care, and we are more than happy to collaborate with them and with the federal government in having communities take this jurisdiction on and provide child and family services care that meets both...