Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is becoming extremely difficult for Health Canada counsellors who are contracted to provide counselling services to Northwest Territories residents impacted by the Indian Residential schools, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis, as well as day school clients, to carry out their work. They are self-employed contractors and work alone with no supports. These trauma therapists, employed under Health Canada's Indian Residential School Resolution Health Support Program, often travel into communities to see their clients, adding additional barriers...

When the Minister returns with that information, I am going to guess she is also going to have to come back with the next question I have, which is: What is the current COVID vaccine distribution broken down by demographic group?

I have also asked the Minister, and not received a response, to how many extra doses have been given out. A response received of "we're not tracking that" is not acceptable to me. All you need to do is take the number of appointments you have, the numbers of doses administered, and subtract them to find out how many extra vials have been opened and distributed to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister tell us what her department is doing to increase supports for seniors who are aging in place and maybe feeling the mental health impacts due to the restrictions around COVID-19, and whether or not she plans to increase those supports, given the CPHO's orders are likely to remain in place until the fall? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Advertising in the newspaper and spots on the radio are both places that seniors may hear about vaccine clinics or any news relevant to them. Posting notices on community bulletin boards or in places that seniors may frequent, such as the supermarket or seniors' centre, would also be useful. However, it is not good enough to just get information out there. There needs to be the proper resources in place to deal with these inquiries, dedicated staff to respond to these calls.

Additionally, beyond just the COVID era, we need to ensure that services are provided to seniors...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not really very concerned with how the department would report their statistics. The priority groups actually would be considered to be a demographic, the demographic being they are high priority for different reasons. I would still consider that to be a breakdown by demographic group and would appreciate having those numbers.

Moving on, how would seniors who are not technologically savvy reach out to the department to get help navigating not only the COVID vaccine forms online, but any other online services that they may be required to use? Is there a specialized...

I was asking about aging in place, not necessarily about the seniors' homes, but I am glad to hear that they are doing that. I don't really think that many of the seniors who are isolating and feeling the depression of COVID impacts are going to be heading out on the land, so I am not sure that that's really a support to seniors aging in place. Moving on, I would like to know how many people are over the age of 60 in the Northwest Territories, and how many of those seniors have received at least one round of the vaccination?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take a moment to recognize Joyce Williams, a constituent of the community of Great Slave and a long-time Yellowknifer, who celebrated her 80th birthday on January 13th. We wish her many more happy and healthy birthdays to come. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there is anything the last year has taught me, it is the importance of communication. The ability to express ourselves so that others can understand us or being easily able to connect with someone in a time of stress goes a long way in allowing us to be happy, productive, functioning members of our society. In many ways, communication is a key component to our positive mental health. Being easily able to connect with someone in a time of stress goes a long way in allowing us to be happy, productive, functioning members of our society.

In many ways, communication is a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just before I ask my last question, I wanted to apologize to the translators. I know I've got to get back into speaking a lot slower. My last question has to do with, again, something really close to my heart. Could the Minister provide an update on any programming or initiatives they are implementing to increase the number of women in trades? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister somewhat touched on my next question, which is to ask about the effects of COVID on the enrolment in the trades programs, and if the Minister could provide any of the costs associated with either adapting the programs to the distance learning or for having to take more in-person COVID containment methods. I guess what I'm asking, and you may have already answered this, is: Do we have empty classrooms in these campuses?