Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Speaker, a question to the Minister of Human Resources. Today I spoke about counselling services in Lutselk’e and made reference to the front-line staff.

With Lutselk’e having over 95 per cent — and Fort Resolution having over 90 per cent — of its population aboriginal, can the Minister tell me if the front-line professionals with Health and Social Services who work in these aboriginal communities are mandated to have cross-cultural training?

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister tell me what role the Lutselk’e Indian Band has had in the delivery of counselling services at the community level?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Today I spoke about counselling services in Lutselk’e and the serious concern for the community. Unfortunately, the community has had to endure the untimely passing of three community youth because of suicides within the last 24 months. Can the Minister tell me what the current situation is with respect to providing counselling services in Lutselk’e?

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

Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure if this budget is worse for anybody else in the House than it is for the Tu Nedhe residents. Nothing was really taken away from the Tu Nedhe residents, because there is nothing really there to take. The budget didn’t provide anything additional.

So I, too, will stand up today and say that I will support this budget to a point where I will get it into the House to get it through second reading. Again, I’m hoping that Cabinet is listening. I know that to this point they haven’t listened to me at all. I had a whole bunch of initiatives on the table, lots of capital...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I shifted gears just slightly there. My question was more about the service being provided to boards and agencies from the Department of Human Resources, just strictly on hiring versus the services provided to the departments. I just wanted to know if there was a difference in the Department of HR’s role when hiring for boards and agencies versus hiring for departments.

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister commit to reviewing the situation to ensure that frontline staff such as Health and Social Services workers are properly trained and culturally sensitive to their respective working environments?

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to working with myself and the community, specifically the Lutselk’e Indian Band, to explore options for actively engaging the community for delivery of effective community-based counselling services in Lutselk’e?

I thank the Minister for that answer. The higher-than-usual frequency of suicides in a small community: what has the department done to specifically address that issue?

Recently a constituent told me that there are many other young people in the community that are in desperate need of proper counselling. This is a very serious concern for the community of Lutselk’e. I can understand the challenges our government is facing, working in these times of fiscal restraint, but when you have three suicides in the span of 24 months in a community of under 400, we need to review the programs and services that are being delivered, in areas such as effective cross-cultural training for our front-line staff in these communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.