Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is World TB Day. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the work that is being done to fight this disease, and the need for continued vigilance.

Mr. Speaker, the tuberculosis rate in our territory has remained five to 10 times above the national average over the past decade. Since the beginning of this year, five new cases have already been diagnosed, all in elders. The disease spreads through the air and can infect anyone. As Members know, this is very serious.

This morning we were launching a new video called Stop TB. The video is available in all...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently I understand there are five staff that are engaged in taking Nechi training. As I committed to the Member for Hay River South, we will be coming forward with a package which we will share with the Social Programs committee to get their feedback and advice so that we can come up with the best plan possible for community wellness workers so that we have some formal training that clearly encompasses the addictions component, as well as other areas of their job description. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wouldn't consider the Nechi training reinventing the wheel. It brings an important perspective and a type of training to bear in this area that is important. In fact, I have taken a couple of modules myself back when I was involved in the field. Our Member is correct, we are not interested in reinventing the wheel. We have had contact with the people referenced by my colleague, and we're going to continue to stay in contact with them as we try to develop the best training plan possible for community wellness workers. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we've made some commitments and committed some funds and have taken the direction with addictions where we've now transformed addictions counsellor positions into community wellness workers, where they have, hopefully, the ability to deal with issues over and above just strictly addictions. I recognize the clear and important role that that particular part of their job description covers, and we are working as a government to come up with a training plan and a fixed curriculum that will, in fact, allow them to be properly trained to meet the job description requirements. That is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are currently working groups that are at work due to the issue of the social impact of major resource development, as well as the government through the social agenda policy conference that was held. Our response to that conference was we committed $1 million to do some pilot projects in the impacted areas to try to help the communities get ready for the impact of major resource development. We have just concluded the first year of that process. We are evaluating what has been done to date. We were somewhat late getting started, but we are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will commit to having a package that I can take to the Social Programs committee and to the Members prior to our next gathering of session.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the type of training that has been used in the past and is still being used today is the Nechi training which has, I believe, eight components. We continue to access that training where those workers have been hired and are engaged in that activity. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week is NWT Social Work Week. Today I rise to recognize the valuable contribution of social workers to children, families and communities in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, the profession of social work is ultimately centred upon helping and protecting people. Social workers bring their own unique strengths, skills, education and life experience to their jobs. You can find our social workers in hospitals, with the homeless, in treatment centres, women's shelters, elders' facilities, and in the family and children's services system. Their focus is always on ensuring that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. This is an issue that has to be moved to as many tables as possible. That is, in fact, what we are in the process of doing. As I indicated and the Premier has indicated in this House, health issues like this one are on our agenda. The role of the federal government, their lack of response, the fact that they only fund 16 percent down from I think it’s 18, way down from the 25 recommended by Romanow. We’ve talked about this with our territorial colleagues. We’ve met with the former Minister of Health collectively. The new Minister of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a court case initiated in the past that got the federal government to the table and had some basic changes made. Since that time things have once again accumulated and we have, for example with the non-insured health benefits, the lack of recognition on the federal government’s part in terms of things like dental days, obsolete rates that they refuse to modernize, reflection of cost-of-living increases, population growth. There’s a whole number of fundamental issues that we constantly argue and debate with the federal government about and they’re...