Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services a question on the proposal by Fort Good Hope in terms of the proposal that they put forward on a prevention and health promotion worker in Fort Good Hope. The Minister and I had a visit to Fort Good Hope. The proposal was drafted and given to her and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I want to ask the Minister what is the status in terms of that proposal.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question. As he stated, we did visit the community. We had a good discussion with the chief and we also met in my office as a follow-up visit.
Mr. Speaker, we have responded to Chief Arthur Tobac on his proposal. We are interested in discussing with the community his proposal. Our staff has been directed to engage in a dialogue. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform the House as to when the position will be recruited and hired for Fort Good Hope?
Mr. Speaker, I don’t have that information right now, but the position is vacant, as the Member is aware. The community has different ideas on how to address community wellness issues. I am open to that proposal. We have written to the chief that we would like to take it to the next level and work with the local leadership along with Sahtu Health Authority. I am very interested in seeing this through. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform the House, inform the people in Fort Good Hope -- we have about eight months left in this government -- what does she mean by seeing it through? When are we going to have an actual person hired in the community rather than having a discussion? I think the people clearly know what they want. When can the government come up and support the community?
Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows, the chief has given us a proposal. They have very different ideas, not different ideas but a new idea of making this position work for them. He has asked us to work together jointly in rewriting the job description and hiring. Those are the ideas that I am interested in working with the chief. We also met with a gentleman who is very interested in taking on this work for the community, who is from the community and who lives there.
Mr. Speaker, the timeline is the spring. I would like to, I don’t know... What is spring in the Northwest Territories? March or April? I would like to work through this in March and in April. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister in terms of the timelines. It is usually about springtime, I guess, and hoping that by then can I get a commitment from this Minister that we would have a person in Fort Good Hope that is hired and working in the community to help with the youth on their issues and work with the families.
Mr. Speaker, we do have a set process on hiring and job description and such that is actually within the mandate of HR. For me, for now, what I want to indicate to the Member and the local leadership in Fort Good Hope is that I like the idea that they are proposing. I would like to see how we can work together to make that happen, because we need to agree on the proposal, agree on the sort of job description and what it is that we are expecting this new position to do. It is about doing things differently within the resources we have. But, so far, I am very interested in pursuing that proposal. I am afraid I can’t give you an exact timeline, because that is a different process. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
