Steve Norn

Thank you, Madam Chair. No. That's good to hear, that they meet on a regular basis. In speaking with some of the leadership, they said there are still some gaps here that could be addressed. There was something mentioned from the federal side of things, as well, because anytime there are announcements made from Indigenous Services Canada in terms of health coverage, the effects cascade down to us, ultimately. Do these discussions take place at the FTP table? That's for the Minister. Thank you.

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I was just listening to some of the comments from my colleagues. One of the things I am hearing is the Non-Insured Health Benefits, NIHB. Just from my experience living in a small community, especially when it comes to dental care, it's very tough to really have good dental care in our communities. I've spoken with some people, some of my constituents. It seems like this policy, when you put it in place, they might just rather pull your teeth and be done with it. It's really, really sad to hear. Where I'm going with this is: with the NIHB dental side of things, has the...

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Like I said, I am going to keep pressing for this, like I said, a very glaring service gap. I am going to keep on pressing, make sure that we get some real responses. That is something so undignified, so maybe I will leave it at that. Marsi cho.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for that very thorough response. This training is so important. I spoke with one of my constituents who works with the volunteer fire department for Fort Resolution, and she said it runs out. It's very important that we keep our training updated. Even through times of COVID, life still has to go on, so I just thought I would speak to that. I commend all of the volunteer fire fighters and first responders in our communities. It's a tough job and very, very necessary, very needed. My next question for the Minister: does MACA track the number of people...

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am going to talk about the Liwe camp, which is a fish camp that is hosted on Mackenzie Island, on the shores of Great Slave Lake, for the last two weeks and is hosted by the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. This is the second time that Dechinta has hosted a public fish camp. I had the opportunity to visit the camp this past weekend. I had a great time being out there. Camp Liwe provides a great opportunity for community members to engage in culture, language, and other traditional ways of being on the land during the winter.

Mr. Speaker, Dechinta is an...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Noting the time, I ask that you rise and report progress.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table this article from the International Journal of Indigenous Health entitled "Urban Land-Based Healing: A Northern Intervention Strategy." Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you very much for that. I'd like to take a look at that document. I think it's important that we have open lines communications with our small communities and our service on how we deal with these calls. Like I said, I want to make sure that our residents get as much as we can out of our government departments. That leads to my next question: how do we increase community opportunities for first aid training or for first responder training in the NWT?

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about a serious procedural loophole within the Department of Health and Social Services that I believe is endangering many Northerners in our small communities. That, Mr. Speaker, is that many medical nursing staff in our communities are prohibited from responding to emergency medical calls. This is a serious concern.

Mr. Speaker, this procedural gap ultimately showed its shortfalls in the last year alone in my riding. In June of 2020, we lost an elder in Deninu Kue who was in medical distress, and the local nursing staff were bound by policy or procedure...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for that response. I'll just finish up with a short comment. I think we need to start collaborating more, working with our Indigenous governments and working at the community level. Yes, I support my colleague from Inuvik Twin Lakes on having kind of those buffers to help bridge those cultural gaps, and I'm hoping we see some more work done in that area. Mahsi cho, Mr. Chair.