R.J. Simpson

I like all the commitments to follow up. As soon as I hear any information, I will be sharing what I can share with the public so that they know what is going on as well, because this is an issue that a lot of people are dealing with.

My final question is, we have the Mental Health Strategic Framework, the Mental Health Action Plan. There are lots of action plans. There are lots of strategic frameworks in the government. I want to know: how is this going to affect people on the ground in Hay River? How are these action plans and frameworks going to affect people in Hay River accessing mental...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about some of the issues with accessing mental health services in Hay River, so I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. We can't seem to keep counsellors in Hay River. They come. They're good. People like them, and then they go. We have issues with referrals. They're not being done in time. The policy doesn't seem to be followed all the time.

I do not want to malign any members of the public service. I am always careful about that, but if this is an issue with management, what is being done to rectify that issue? Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one out of every five Canadians is facing mental health problems or illnesses today. Nearly half of the population will experience such issues at some point in their life. These numbers are even higher in the NWT. There are countless more statistics about mental health that I could quote, but I’m not going to. Mental health is about people, not numbers, and I feel confident saying that most people have either battled or are battling mental health issues, or know the struggles of someone close to them who is. I don’t think I need to convince anyone of the...

I will now rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm looking at Tabled Document 25-18(2), tabled on March 3, 2016, Quality Mental Health Care and Action Plan. Is there another action plan? Is this one of the actions in this action plan? When are we going to stop putting out plans and start putting boots on the ground and making some changes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is good to hear that they're being worked on. I'll be following up with this. As I mentioned earlier as well, to see a psychiatrist when you get a referral, you have to come up to Yellowknife. Basically, you fly up. You wait your four or five or six hours. You go to the psychiatrist, and you go back to the airport, or maybe your appointment is in the morning. Either way, you are in there for an hour, hour and a half. It is an emotional session. A lot of people come out of there upset. They are crying. They need some time to calm down. What happens is, they leave the psychiatrist's office...

Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to malign any of our healthcare professionals, but I’ve heard again too many times that patients do not feel that their issues are validated by the psychiatrists in Yellowknife, and patients often leave not only feeling more helpless, but also insulted.

Mr. Speaker, I haven’t even touched on the legwork that those seeking treatment are required to do just to access mental health services. There are countless phone calls to make and forms to fill out, with no one person they can look to to show them what needs to be done...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So is the Minister content with inadequate signage at this point and the bare minimum signage at some point in the future as he's committed to installing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When can the people of Hay River expect to see their new signage installed?

Mr. Speaker, Hay River was waiting a long time to get a Minister so we could get the kind of perks that Fort Smith and Inuvik have been getting.

Laughter

So we are all waiting for that Minister to step up and make that happen. Related, like I mentioned, to get to the health centre you have to walk down a road with no sidewalks, not even any shoulders. When can we expect some other improvements in terms of sidewalks and controlled rail crossings at the health centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.