Sandy Lee

I thought I stated earlier in the answer to the first question that the authorities who look after the staffing, the PYs and the service levels in Deh Cho, have told me — and I have talked to them following my meeting and my visits to Wrigley and other communities in Deh Cho — about the issues that were raised in the community, one of them being having more nursing services in Wrigley.

They told me then and they have told me lately that they believe that the nursing services in Wrigley are at or above the level they should be — for the size of the community, that is. Now, I understand that the...

There aren’t any reasons that I haven’t said already. I would like to just state that again that Wrigley is under the administrative oversight of the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority. They allocate how their money and their PYs are divided among all of their eight communities, I believe, that they serve — or maybe even more. They feel that the services they are providing right now to Wrigley are actually more than what they provide for another community within their region of similar size, so there are no plans to put permanent nurses there at the moment.

I understand in the past...

Mr. Speaker, let me say it again. We have CHRs that we pay for every day. They work for us. They’re all over the communities. Part of their job is to distribute car seats, and we have distributed 125 car seats. They teach the parents how to use them. All I’m saying is that we are already doing that. We will continue to do that, and we don’t need to find extra funding for that.

Now, I’m just answering this issue that I think has come to the attention of the Member as well. We have had a proposal from a lady in Yellowknife who would like $30,000 to deliver this program. We e-mailed her back and...

Mr. Speaker, I’m sure the Member is as aware as anyone else here that we need to be responsible with our dollars. We should be doing as much as possible within the budget we have, which is certainly the challenge that Health has.

When he asks why we are not providing funding…. Yes, we did not agree to fund a $30,000 proposal to have these two programs in Inuvik and Yellowknife, but that doesn’t mean that this program is not being delivered. What I said is that the community health reps in all of our regions are already engaged in working with parents with infants on how to use their car seats...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 10, An Act to Amend the Pharmacy Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we would then have to add six more rooms. There are four rooms in there right now. For the YACCS dementia centre that we’re building, we’re spending $500 per unit. Second of all, in order to accommodate ten seniors, we would need at least 12 to 15 staff. That would be about $1.5 million to $2 million of O&M funding. Right now that is not what we have planned for the Great Elders Facility, but I am looking at all possibilities to see that that facility is used as an elders centre and that programming is increased there. We have already introduced two more programs in that area. I...

Mr. Speaker, even the proposal that’s being put forward about this person who was to provide the training…. There is no unanimity, no agreement, on what exactly an adequate program is.

The department has reviewed the proposal, and we feel that the proposal is not the one that we need to accept at this time. If the Member wishes, I would be happy to look into seeing how we deliver these safety programs in our communities, and I would be happy to get back to the Member on the details of the programs that our CHRs provide. Thank you.

My understanding is that the building was built by the NWT Housing Corporation to be sort of the gathering centre and to support independent units surrounding the Great Elders Facility. Historically there has been no programming determined or O&M funding provided for that facility.

Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I have been working closely with the Member to increase the services there for seniors. Recently we had an initiative to provide $22,000 to run a day program there; we have a contract with the seniors society there. As well, we have confirmed funding from Aboriginal Diabetes programming...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that these community health representatives distribute car seats. They know how these car seats are used; they work with parents on how to use car seats safely. We are already doing that work. It’s part of what they do with parents and young moms. I would be happy to look into the further details of the program, but that’s the information I have now.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Being healthy begins with having a healthy start as a baby. It is now proven beyond any doubt that babies who are breastfed have a head start on maintaining good health throughout their lives.

In the Northwest Territories we are making exceptional progress at promoting breastfeeding as a better way to nourish infants. Annually we join other countries in recognizing World Breastfeeding Week from October 1 to 7 as a way to promote a sense of well-being and to keep breastfeeding a traditional practice and socially accepted norm when it comes to feeding babies.

This year on...