Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Chair, the plan was to continue to work with the CEO, then the CEO continues to work with the health centres that may be impacted. Based on the actual impact on the health centres in as far as the number of health concerns or health issues that are brought to the health centres, or a number of social services type of issues that come to the forefront in her dealing with social workers within the communities and within her region, we will have that discussion with her again to ensure that, although we are having discussions with her, I think we were waiting for her to come with a case to...

The information I have is that it does address the recommendations and that we are working with the Coalition on Family Violence to address the recommendations in the original plan.

Mr. Chairman, the timeline for us responding to the forum’s report is we’re going to try to do a roll-up of their recommendations in April, and then during the May-June sitting of this Legislative Assembly, we are hoping to be able to present, and that’s again targeted to do it at that time to present the recommendations and how we see those recommendations fitting into our Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan and moving forward to address those issues that are identified by that forum.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right is Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Health and Social Services. To my left is director of finance, Jeannie Mathison, Health and Social Services.

We are on track to submitting a legislative proposal to amend the act in this fiscal year as a result of that 2011 review. One of the key amendments in the act is to remove some of the barriers that the communities had encountered in the development of child and family services committees.

The department has provided training to the workers but we’re looking for the specifics of that training, or we can also provide, I suppose we can provide that. We can continue to look for it and then provide the information further on down or provide it in writing, one way or the other. But the department has done some training with the social workers.

That committee will be looking at bariatric surgery. Why currently the physicians are refusing to assist individuals that have bariatric surgery, I don’t know, but it’s on the agenda for that committee to look at, at specifically the whole area of bariatric surgery, the whole area of obesity and how it impacts and how it has a direct correlation on chronic disease such as diabetes. Thank you.

Yes, that is correct.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The breakdown is NWT Midwives Association, $8,000; NWT Seniors’ Society, $188,000; Canadian Institute for the Blind, $100,000; NWT Council for the Disabled, $183,000; Hay River Committee of Persons with Disabilities, $35,000; in-house respite contributions, $225,000.

We are underfunded for the medical travel of about $5 million.