Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that. Is there any kind of a plan to expand veterinary medicine in the Northwest Territories? Currently we only have four vets, I believe, working and only two doing small animal medicine. Does the department have any programs or supports available that would ease in the recruitment and retention of veterinarians in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I recently learned that it's the Minister of Health and Social Services's responsibility to regulate veterinarians in the Northwest Territories through the Veterinarian Medical Act. One of the issues that's come up recently with a closure of a clinic here in Yellowknife is vet records do not move with the vet if they open their own clinic. This is a concern for patients. They want to ensure that their pet care continues to follow their vet. Can the Minister let us know how she can help make that possible because currently our Act does not allow for that...

Mr. Speaker, as I said, earlier when these changes were made, the Minister was able to provide some details on how many more people were being seen. It seemed like an improvement. Does she have any updated numbers for the House today? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I'll get on the Mark Heyck train as well. I'd like to recognize former Yellowknife mayor and current Arctic Energy Alliance executive director Mark Heyck. It's good to see you here today. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Yellowknife is, of course, my primary concern because that's where I represent, but if the Minister that has the numbers territory-wide or by community, I'd take those as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to try again with the Minister of Health and Social Services.

How have the changes to Yellowknife Primary Care reduced wait times for appointments in the capital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the somewhat -- not absurd but unfamiliar territory we're in because this is veterinary medicine. But our Act it's six pages long. It's 12 clauses long. It hasn't been looked at since, I think -- beyond minor changes -- 1988. Is this something the Minister can put on the legislative agenda for the future? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, presumptive coverage for firefighters and first responders for PTSD and ten forms of cancer and event specific coverage, such as catastrophic disasters like the Fort McMurray wildfire or the wildfires we experienced here, are not currently covered by WSCC legislation. This means firefighters have to go through a lengthy approval process and, in some cases, they're dealing with terminal cancers and had to spend all this time fighting with insurance rather than enjoying the time they have left. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister...

Thank you. And, yes, it is -- it's great if you're a Franco-Ténois, you absolutely can access one-stop shop. There's some issues there as well, but it does exist. So there's funding out there, clearly, because that's how a lot of the Francophone services we do provide are through federal government funding specifically for Francophones and, of course, the funding for other language minorities is much more limited because they're not official languages of Canada. But I wonder if there -- Indigenous Services Canada has client officers and things like that, so there's a lot of client facing...

Yeah, thank you. And I mean, it's hard to -- because it is a political role, it's hard to assess it as you would with GRI or one of those tools that we've been trying to use for evidence-based decision-making. But I just -- I fear that we're not going to get the best result possible from an expensive singular role when we could spread it out across contracts and, you know, have those people who are working in those circles and get more awareness of what's happening on the ground and more influence for our government on the ground as well. So I don't need a response from the Premier, but those...