Kevin A. Menicoche

I’m not too sure. I was just quick to listen about the particular report that was on the news this morning and that the dentist had spoken about. It addresses that there are shortcomings in the smaller communities, shortcomings in providing dental services, as well as dental awareness.

I’d like to ask the Minister if the department is doing enough in this regard and what is his strategy going forward in improving these services in the smaller communities.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about dental issues in the North and how I wanted to find out more about how dentists are funded to go into the communities.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if he can give me a little bit of information on how dental services are provided to the smaller communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to say that we have a well-established capital planning process. It takes a lot of hard work, working with your colleagues, different committees, working with Cabinet, to get your plans into the capital plan, and having last minute additions is something that I’m not really in favour of, only because it impacts some of the potential projects that I have in my small communities in my riding. Just with that alone, I like Mr. Moses’ suggestion as well. Let’s re-evaluate this. Let’s just not throw motions in at the last minute to force things done. We have to have...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just in this year’s capital budget you do have a planning study for Trout Lake and their need for a replacement school. That’s how I’ve been approaching the community. The community has always said they want their own stand-alone school and they certainly do want to see renovations there. In fact, kudos to the community of Trout Lake, one of the fastest growing communities in the Northwest Territories. Many young families are moving back and that has resulted in many children now. They’ve actually got 20 in the school right now and those numbers are only going...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is not a case that there never were nurses there. There were nurses there, there was RCMP there, so I would like to once again ask the Minister to look into the situation, take into account the increased development in that area and start planning or accessing the need for restoring two nurses back to the community of Wrigley. Thank you.

Thank you very much. He was talking about models. Is there an actual policy that says the smaller communities cannot have nursing? When I’ve initially asked these questions, well, ever since I became MLA 10 years ago, there was an issue of having the support of policing as well. Is that still the issue here for returning nursing to Wrigley? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As previously mentioned in this House in many of my Member’s statements, the people of Trout Lake need a stand-alone school.

Officially known as Charles Tetcho School, the school is currently housed in a multi-purpose building. The building is also used as a community hall. The school portion essentially consists of a single classroom. For the number of students, the school is overcrowded and the facilities are inadequate. The Minister of Education has toured the school with me, so he has witnessed the problems firsthand.

Trout Lake has grown in size in recent...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I think the Minister laid it out there, but it still doesn’t squash the concern that there’s no capital in the future years upcoming. I think the only thing I saw in the books is 2018 or 2019, but I’d like to see it certainly moved up and the community would like to. So, if there’s any further remark, it would be that, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

The committee heard that the department should help residents understand significant changes under the new Wildlife Act and avoid inadvertent violations of the new act by promoting awareness of the roles, responsibilities and authorizations it contains. Recognizing the complexity of the Northwest Territories’ wildlife and habitat management system, the committee recommends that the department conduct an extensive communications campaign to ensure all residents are aware of the new act and its provisions. The committee highlights the importance of ensuring clarity surrounding the process for...

I guess the case here, as well, is that the community is expected to have increased development, increased traffic to the community, so the health and wellness of the community will be an issue here.

I would like to ask the Minister, will the Department start considering that and start planning towards that for restoring nursing to the community of Wrigley. Thank you.