Tom Beaulieu

Certainly putting social workers in RCMP cars is not going to prevent the violence in the city. However, we have looked at the idea of having social workers ride along with RCMP. We’re trying to identify some of the challenges that surround that. One of the main challenges surrounding that issue is we don’t have the staff to do it. Social workers are very busy. They have a social worker on call that the RCMP can call upon in a child and family service issue. If it’s a child protection issue, then a social worker is on call to do that, but to have social workers riding around with the RCMP to...

Mr. Speaker, in January of this coming year, 2014, we are planning to have a train the trainer workshop targeted at suicide intervention and mental health first aid to try to train up some individuals that can go into all of the regions and work with people. Then the trainers will then train individuals in the community, trying to identify the potential suicides in the communities and also work on developing some forms of protocol when there are alarm bells going off on potential for individuals that may be contemplating, or ideology of suicide. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services works with the various health and social services authorities across the North. Specifically, right now we are in touch with the Sahtu, Beaufort-Delta and the Yellowknife Health and Social Services in delivering some programs. One is the applied suicide intervention skill training, which we are running in the various programs in the various communities within those regions. We deliver those and we have some funding targeted to that right now. We are spending about $260,000 in that specific program to deliver those programs to help...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The example the Member uses, the Joe Greenland facility, is an NWT Housing Corporation facility. The Member is correct that at one point Health and Social Services had more involvement in supporting the seniors and the facility such as this. We are currently working with the Housing Corporation on providing that level of service again to the individuals at both the Joe Greenland Centre, eight units that added on to the seniors citizens home in Aklavik, and a new facility that is planned for Fort McPherson of approximately eight or nine units that’s an assisted living...

Yes, Mr. Chairman. To my left I have Derek Elkin, ADM corporate services. To my right is Perry Heath, director of infrastructure planning, Department of Health and Social Services.

I thought there was 12 months in the year, not six. Thank you.

---Interjection

On October 15th at 9:23 a.m. I sent an e-mail to Mr. Hawkins explaining the problem. So if he hasn’t heard about it to this day, it’s because he hasn’t read his e-mail. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, the Health file is not too big for me.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the applied suicide program workshop which has that budget, our plan is to go into three communities in the Beaufort-Delta, hold a couple of workshops here in the city, Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope. But in addition to that, we are going to be delivering the Mental Health First Aid Program, which also works in conjunction with this. We want to deliver that program with about $125,000 to deliver that program in Inuvik, McPherson, Norman Wells, Tulita, and then throughout the year we will also be delivering three more of those programs here in the city of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has three helplines for an individual. One is specifically kids help line and then two general helplines. Two of them are 1-800 numbers and one is a helpline for the city of Yellowknife. Thank you.