Debates of March 4, 2005 (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t want to offend the Minister of Justice today, but I have no questions for him at this time.

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My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in my Member’s statement about FASD. I think that the Minister is probably aware that we have some fairly major issues with FASD on a fairly broad-ranging scale of severity and of disability. I don’t believe though we have really quantified the problems sufficiently in the Northwest Territories and I do think that a lot of the people who are having difficulty with our education system and with our justice system are people who are undiagnosed as having FASD. I’d like to ask the Minister what is available right now in the Northwest Territories in terms of a screening tool and team with the qualifications necessary to identify this very pervasive condition. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member has raised a very key issue as we talk about FASD. If you accept, as we do, the Health Canada statistics that nine out of every 1,000 children born is affected with FASD and if you extrapolate that back a number of decades, then it is very clear to see that FASD is not a child’s disease. It’s a lifelong issue and that the population in the society we have, there are, by those statistical estimates, hundreds if not thousands of undiagnosed people in our society. Not only here, but in every jurisdiction.

We are members of the Canada Northwest Partnership. We’re setting up a new research centre out of UBC with a satellite office in Calgary. There are screening capacities available, but screening is just a very preliminary first step. The actual assessment needs very specialized skills like a pediatric dysmorphologist, a psychiatric neurologist or neuro psychiatrist; sorry, or is it neuro psychologist? …it’s a neuro psychologist, I believe, among other things. So it is a team effort, as the Member said. It requires a family assessment and not just an individual assessment. We have some capacity on the screening side for any kind of assessments that are basically done on a case-by-case basis at this point, and I agree with the Member that the whole area of the diagnosis and service to adults is, as of yet, an unaddressed area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know it’s difficult to diagnose, but if it can be shown that an adult does suffer from FASD, are there any specific supports or is it recognized as a disability for the accompanying supports in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at present we have services for adults the same as we have a characterization on it. It is a special need that is not clearly defined, but, once again, if an adult is diagnosed or assessed with FASD, then it’s a case-by-case basis at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a listing of supports available to persons with disabilities, is FASD listed as a disability for those purposes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Mr. Speaker, I’d have to check, but I don’t think so.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think so either and I think there are a lot of adults out there that are in need of special support related to FASD. I’d like to ask the Minister what he’s going to do to address that deficiency. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 541-15(3): Availability Of Screening Tools For FASD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are doing a lot of things with the homeless, with services to adults, with the services we buy, our contract for facilities such as the Salvation Army for people that are having difficulty. At this point we know that there’s a significant number of the population that require those services. So there are already some services there. The specific diagnosis of the individuals needing those services has yet to be clearly done in a more specific way so that it is clear what the individuals may be personally dealing with. So we’re going to continue to work on trying to do diagnosis. We’re going to continue to work at services for homeless services to adults, and over time hopefully we’ll come up with an easier and more efficient and effective way to do assessments. So then we can get a clear understanding of why the people that are there requiring those services do require those services. Thank you.