Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Krutko, Mr. Roland, and Mr. Robert C. McLeod are not in the House and would have recognized the Languages Commissioner, Sarah Jerome. I’d like to recognize the Languages Commissioner.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

It’s very unfortunate that money can’t go directly to the communities. I think that the communities would have a better idea. I know that in speaking to the elders in the community -- I know I’m out of time, Mr. Chairman, I’ll be short -- the elders in the community indicate to me that their idea of trying to work with the emotional and social aspects around suicide prevention would be to be bringing people. I had asked the Minister on this on another matter, to bring people in that will work with the communities, like healers and so on that will work with the communities. I think that’s...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

That’s good, actually. That sounds good, the money from the federal government. What is the plan to roll out the budget? Is it just filling budgets that are already at the community level or is this a little bit of new money? If so, what’s the communication strategy of the department to the small communities for this particular line item?

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We talked a little bit about community health programs yesterday. I didn’t have an opportunity to get into one of the subject matters that I consider to be very important in Tu Nedhe. That is the whole area of the issue with suicide in the small communities. I’d like to ask the Minister if there is anything significantly different in the sense of an increase of attention or programs or anything on suicide prevention in this budget compared to what was in the previous budget.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 36)

Mr. Speaker, my last question is the area of time frames. There is a possibility inside the devolution agreement that these sites could be just left as is for extended periods of time. Also, in the economic measures in the AIP, they indicate that economic measures could be accrued to Aboriginal governments. This is an opportunity for Aboriginal governments to clean up with the GNWT at the federal government cost to clean up those sites. Why isn’t the government insisting that the federal government take responsibility in a kindly fashion for cleaning up industrial sites established under their...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an area that is of great interest to me in the health field; the whole area of treatment and counselling and so on and so forth. Speaking to local health workers, the cost of other health, the cost of people being sick and hospitalized and whatnot, a lot of that is attributed to, I guess, not necessarily all addictions but attributed to alcohol. The health workers seem to think that alcohol is a big, huge contributing factor in small communities for the health of the folks. The communities also seem to have a solution. I’d like to see the department working...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question for the Minister on medical travel. I just wanted to give a little bit of a background on some of the stuff that you’re dealing with at the community level. I’m trying to see if the Minister would look at putting some sort of flexibility into the Medical Travel Policy or the medical travel benefit, I guess it is.

What’s happening is people are facing some hardships. We have experienced in the past and we continue to experience situations where people are sick or injured and have to remain in hospital, whether it be in Yellowknife or Edmonton. Medical...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what the plan is to strike more child and family services committees at the community level? Thank you.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 35)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Health on the follow-up to the child and family services response.

Mr. Speaker, there is in excess of $12 million in the area of children’s services. Will the Minister direct her staff to look at a program in the area of early intervention and prevention in as far as child apprehensions go? Thank you.