Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is being directed to the Premier because I think we’re going to have to have a political decision or political involvement especially from the Executive Council to resolve the outstanding issue in Tsiigehtchic of not having a health provider. I think we’re going on seven years now, yet this has been raised by previous Ministers, it’s been raised by Gwich’in assemblies, it’s been raised at the Beaufort Leaders’ Meeting, motions have been passed. I think, Mr. Speaker, there is a time and place to end the discussion and find a solution to the problem.
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s the fundamental basic rights with regard to services for people regardless of whether it’s justice programs, health care programs or housing. We have to ensure that we have basic services being provided. Could the Premier personally intervene for promising a nurse for Tsiigehtchic? I was promised, prior to this House, that there was one going to be there February 1st. I told the chief in Tsiigehtchic that. I told the community at the previous Beaufort Leaders’ Meeting. The Minister stated she’s still working on it. So I’d like to ask the Premier if he would personally intervene with his Cabinet colleagues to find a solution to this problem, so we can see a nurse in Tsiigehtchic February 1st.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the concern for the Member. It’s been raised, whether it is in this forum here in the Assembly or to provide services, necessary services in the community of Tsiigehtchic. Thank you.
Thank you. I believe we spend some $300 million on health care in the Northwest Territories. We give those dollars to health authorities to manage on behalf of this government to provide programs and services for people. If they are not doing that, this government has to find a mechanism. If health care services are not being provided to those communities, that those dollars earmarked for those communities be clawed back by the Executive Council and directly administered through the Executive Council to those communities and bypass the health board, because they are not doing their job in regard to the residents of Tsiigehtchic.
Thank you. There definitely is opportunity. The Member himself has raised earlier in his line of questions the meetings that are held with the Beaufort-Delta leaders and the Gwich’in leaders around the services. The Department of Health and Social Services is in attendance along with representatives of the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority and we would work with that leadership to see what can be done. The area board authority is one that this government has tried to address through an initiative of board reform. That met with significant resistance of members in the public. So we pulled that back. We know the area of health services authorities, for example, there needs to be a newly established relationship with the authorities across the Northwest Territories.
The Minister of Health and Social Services has come forward to the standing committee and the Assembly and I believe during her opportunity with the budget talking about the Foundation for Change and looking at how we will try to reinvigorate our relationship with boards across the Northwest Territories. If we feel there is and if the Minister feels there is enough that has occurred that we can move to remove a board and put in a representative of the department to run the operations in that region, that is something that can also be taken into consideration, but that decision is not taken lightly. Thank you.
I request the Premier to do an audit on the Inuvik health board dealing with the community of Tsiigehtchic from the information that was provided by the Minister in which in one year they made 20 visits and they were there for 120 hours. For me, that’s unacceptable. I’d like to know from the Premier if he can tell me exactly how many dollars are being expended on the health operations in the community of Tsiigehtchic out of that $300 million that we’ve spent on behalf of this government, how much is really being spent in communities and not operating a health board, which goes in a deficit every year, year after year after year and using dollars that should be expended in our communities for health care services and not being expended where it shouldn’t? Thank you.
Thank you. I will speak to the Minister of Health and Social Services. With that request, of course that requires us to work with the authority in place as they would have that type of information when it comes to the dollars that are allocated, what was spent and how it was done, but I do know that the hours that the Member talked about was doctor visits in the community. There were, during the breakup seasons of the winter road and community visits by nurses, in the neighbourhood of almost 100 days of nurse time in the community. But I’ll get the appropriate information and see what we can do on that basis. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe this does demand a political resolution. It has to be resolved by this Cabinet. I’d like to ask the Premier to maybe have this on his Cabinet agenda for tomorrow morning’s Cabinet meeting. Hopefully he can look deeper into this, because I believe this is not the only community that’s under this type of threat by way of not having services being provided. There are other communities throughout the Territories that find themselves in similar situations. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to hearing the Premier’s response with his Cabinet colleagues and hopefully find a resolution to this. Thank you.
Thank you. One of the things we do on a daily basis while we’re in session is talk about the issues that have arisen from question period and look at what is required to either get information or deal with the issue. This, the request for the type of information the Member has asked, is not going to be dealt with in a matter of days. It’s going to take some time to get all of that information. As well, the Member has raised there needs to be a comparison done to communities of similar size remote communities as to how we’ve delivered that service. We know, Mr. Speaker, the issue of health care, justice, education, all of those services in our smaller communities are a matter of concern that is raised and that is why we’ve put together in working with Members on the Rural Remote Communities Initiative. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
