Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for three years there has not been a resident social worker in Tulita. How can that be? Don’t you think or feel that people should have help and support when they need it? Don’t you think or feel that all communities should have a solid social safety net? Don’t you think that three years is just too long, far too long to not have a social worker?
People in my home town of Tulita deserve better. Every community in the Northwest Territories deserves better. Right now people are thinking when this government or our board follow through on their commitment to get a social worker in Tulita, or better yet, how about giving the responsibility to the communities to get their own social workers, because all we get are excuses as to why we don’t have a social worker there today. People are having to deal with tough issues over the phone or having to wait a long time until the social worker comes to the community.
How can anybody have trust in such a system? It’s a system this government has put in place. We created this dependency and now we abandoned them. I believe we must allow the community to take control of this position, because here’s what a representative of the Sahtu Health and Social Services Board told me or implied to me: We can’t put a social worker in Tulita because they’ll get culture shock, there’s no housing available, you have to maybe even fly a worker in and out of the community of Norman Wells. He also implied that if we had a social worker that went into Tulita, the spouse got a job in Norman Wells, so we can’t split the family up. Well, how about helping the people of Tulita being front and centre? Shouldn’t that be the most important consideration, Mr. Speaker?
We need a resident social worker in Tulita right now. Mr. Speaker, don’t you think communities like Tulita should be treated equally and fairly by this government when it comes to the health of our people? Or don’t you think 1,995 days without a resident social worker is long enough? Would you accept any more excuses, Mr. Speaker? Please help us.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
