Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently the Northwest Territories has 35 registered veterinarians, Mr. Speaker -- registered veterinarians which include those who visit the Northwest Territories to provide locum service when needed. I know that of 33 communities, our smaller communities are overrun, I hear from my colleague to the next of me, in her communities the dogs are, you know -- and so these services that are coming into our region are not just for our sick dogs but our dogs that are here that need just basic vaccines, neutering and spaying. You know, we have a lot of partners...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has stated, the Veterinary Profession Act does fall under one of the -- under my portfolio; however, it does not speak to records. It doesn't -- and so what happens usually individuals in southern jurisdictions for the owner of a veterinary clinic to be practicing, the veterinarian -- and they usually are the ones that have control over all the records. So in the circumstances that the Member -- you know, unfortunately, we've all seen in the news and everything with the Great Slave clinic shutting down, you know, there is some uncertainty of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have that level of detail for that specific area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we are rolling out primary care reform and we only are piloting it in certain regional centres, but those ones that we are, I will see if they have the stats available as thisb is within this last year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am unsure right now what those wait times are. That's not something that I have here with me in the House. So if the Member, you know, wants to bring this questioning up again another day, then I would be more than willing to try and get those answers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think a lot of our legislation is old and, you know, as we prioritize getting through some of the legislation that we have, I will make sure that this is added to the list and to triage it as we do all the other legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So for switching the line of questioning with how accessing the primary care clinic, there is a process that there -- that each clinic runs throughout the whole of the Northwest Territories. How it is in Yellowknife, you know, the process of the accessing the walk-in clinic or creating a same-day appointment downtown, if it's primary care clinic you have to go through the primary care receptionist. If there's more detail or if there's a certain concern, I would have -- gladly have the Member bring that to my office and so we can figure out what the issue is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the first time that this has been brought to my attention, so I don't have any answers for the Member at this time on wait times for ultrasound. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I talk, my spectacles get fogged up because of the mask, so. So just with extended health benefits, if somebody else has other coverage they may be qualified, you know, through work or some other benefit. The extended health benefit is the payer of last resort. That is the policy. Therefore, residents have to claim through their first -- the first plan, and then if it's not all covered, then Alberta Blue Cross will pick up the difference up to the eligible amount. And if this is not happening, then we need to discuss this with Alberta Blue Cross because the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I'm going to highlight -- and I'm going to continue to highlight the community wellness and addiction recovery fund as well as the suicide prevention fund that each community regional government can apply on up to $72,000 a year. I think the regional wellness and addiction recovery is up to $300,000 plus a year. Those dollars could be used to -- if it's part of their wellness in their community to enhance -- to hire somebody to work with youth, to do recreational programming, that is -- that's the flexibility of these two pots of funding, is to be...