Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It gets back to my Member’s statement, where I was speaking of children and children being our greatest resource.
We need to ensure, as a government, that we give parents the tools that are necessary to select and install car seats properly. As I mentioned in my statement, the number one cause of death among children in this country is car accidents. The safety of our children in this territory should be the priority of the government.
I would like to begin by asking the Minister: why is there not one site in the entire Northwest Territories where parents can go to ensure that they select and install a child’s car seat properly?
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Mr. Speaker, the government and the Department of Health and Social Services take safety issues very seriously. We do public promotion, and we distribute vests, injury prevention measures. In cooperation with MACA and Transportation we distribute helmets for safety. In fact, we have distributed about 125 car seats. We have community health reps at the community level who work with parents to show them and teach them how to use their children’s car seats safely.
The way these are made…. It’s a modern machine and a lot more user-friendly than they used to be. I understand that there is a person in Yellowknife who would like to have more opportunities to have the training. I’m looking to see if we could deliver this program in house, where anybody in Yellowknife who’s interested could come and learn.
Mr. Speaker, if it’s such a priority of the Minister’s department, I’m wondering why they keep putting off the funding to get the training. It’s not just in Yellowknife. The training would take place in Yellowknife and Inuvik with community based individuals so they could go back to the community and spread that knowledge to communities across the Northwest Territories. Trainers are hard to find, and that’s been identified. They have a trainer who’s set and ready to go to provide these courses: two in Yellowknife and one in Inuvik.
I’d like to ask the Minister if she will assure this House and the people of the Northwest Territories that she’ll come up with some funding to ensure that these training programs take place. Because a trainer is hard to find.
Mr. Speaker, I’m sure the Member is as aware as anyone else here that we need to be responsible with our dollars. We should be doing as much as possible within the budget we have, which is certainly the challenge that Health has.
When he asks why we are not providing funding…. Yes, we did not agree to fund a $30,000 proposal to have these two programs in Inuvik and Yellowknife, but that doesn’t mean that this program is not being delivered. What I said is that the community health reps in all of our regions are already engaged in working with parents with infants on how to use their car seats. In fact, the government distributes car seats.
Now, I appreciate that there is one lady in Yellowknife who is looking all over the place to get a trainer on how to use a car seat. I can see there’s some need in Yellowknife to accommodate that. Being fiscally responsible in the environment that we live in, I am looking at seeing how we can deliver this in house. That’s certainly part of the mandate of the department, and we are engaged in health promotion and safe practices and healthy living throughout the year. This will be part of the program.
Mr. Speaker, I can probably think of a number of things in the past year where the department has wasted $30,000 at the drop of a hat. I’ve discussed some of those issues with the Minister previously. What I’d like to get a better understanding of is, if we leave this up to the department…. We all know how slow government moves. The program might not ever happen. This is something that can happen, and it can have positive results for parents across the territory.
I want to ask the Minister — this has been in place for a year: why haven’t they funded a program like this to ensure the safe transport of our children in our territory?
Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if I’m making my point clearly here. The fact is I don’t think it’s prudent or responsible for the government to be funding a third party proposal at $30,000 to bring somebody in to do two training programs on how to use car seats if we can find resources from within.
What I’m telling the Member is that we have the entire health promotion section that works on injury prevention and how to use helmets safely. We rent out vests so as to prevent boating accidents, we distribute helmets for safe practices, and we do distribute car seats.
I think it’s not correct to say: why aren’t you funding this money? What I’m saying is that it is part of the mandate of the department. We work on safety throughout the year. I am working with the department to see, if there’s a need for this, how we can do this within. I believe we can do that without spending $30,000, which, I’m sure the Member would appreciate, is better fiscal management.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, by the time the department’s done with this in house thing, I’m sure it’s going to be more than $30,000, and that’s the issue that I take.
Yes, I’d like to see it done. I think they can do it with $30,000; I don’t think the department can do it with $30,000. Once they spend a year studying it and they hire two staff to look at it, it’s going to be much more than $30,000.
The big difference with this is that these people who are trained are going to go back into the communities. I’m wondering how the Minister can say that her in house solution is going to train people to go back out into the communities. They’re going to be trained to deliver this back home in their own communities. How is the department going to deliver on that?
Mr. Speaker, let me say it again. We have CHRs that we pay for every day. They work for us. They’re all over the communities. Part of their job is to distribute car seats, and we have distributed 125 car seats. They teach the parents how to use them. All I’m saying is that we are already doing that. We will continue to do that, and we don’t need to find extra funding for that.
Now, I’m just answering this issue that I think has come to the attention of the Member as well. We have had a proposal from a lady in Yellowknife who would like $30,000 to deliver this program. We e-mailed her back and said that we’re going to look into that and get back to you. She e-mailed me on September 26. I have not had a chance to get back with all this information. I don’t think it’s prudent for us to look at outside sources when we can do it within. We’re already doing it. We’re already protecting the safety of our babies and children.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services with respect to my Member’s statement. The provision of consistent, dependable health care to all our communities is a goal of ours and the territorial government’s.
The issue is about Wrigley and its lack of a community nurse, which has been requested ever since the last time they had that service there, whatever the circumstances were that led to the departure of the nurse at that time. To return a nurse, the case has always been that there has to be safety in place; there has to be community policing.
Over time I have worked hard and got the agreement of the House, and the government agreed to restore community policing to Wrigley. Consequently, that was a very huge step. That was a big win, because that meant Wrigley would get a nurse.
Upon getting that, we went to the Department of Health and Social Services and said: okay; when are we going to put the job out and word out that there’s going to be a community nurse position open for Wrigley? The reply was that there isn’t one.
I’d like to know what possible reason there is for not following through with the provision of this essential service for the community of Wrigley. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the opportunity to visit the community of Wrigley in May with the Member. We had a very productive meeting with the local leadership wherein one of the things that the chief and council asked for was to have a permanent nurse there.
I have had discussions with the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority. We do have a fully functioning board and administration there, and their advice at this time is that Wrigley, for a community of its size and needs, has adequate services. They are recommending that we do not have a nurse placed there. Having said that that is their position, I would like to make a commitment to the Member that I will have further discussion with the board and see what is possible.
Absolutely, I’m glad that the Minister wants to follow through this commitment of restoring nursing services to Wrigley. Just with respect to Dehcho Health and Social Services, they are a very efficient and effective board for our region. I, too, commend them for that.
I also know Wrigley’s got a facility. The nursing position is within their budget, and all they’ve got to do now is allocate that person year and move them to Wrigley. I’m not too sure what the difficulty there is now that there’s going to be some safety there.
I still do not know what the possible reason is for not following through with the commitment to restore nursing services. I would like the Minister to address that once again.
There aren’t any reasons that I haven’t said already. I would like to just state that again that Wrigley is under the administrative oversight of the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority. They allocate how their money and their PYs are divided among all of their eight communities, I believe, that they serve — or maybe even more. They feel that the services they are providing right now to Wrigley are actually more than what they provide for another community within their region of similar size, so there are no plans to put permanent nurses there at the moment.
I understand in the past that one of the concerns was that there was no RCMP protection in Wrigley. I understand that there will be RCMP protection going in there as of 2011. We have some time from now until then to look at how we could improve the services not only in Wrigley but in the surrounding communities. I would like to make the commitment again to the Member that I will continue to work with the authority and the Member to see how we can address this.
The provision of any type of services for Wrigley is essential. I believe the recent Statistics Canada figures state that Wrigley is one of the ones with a declining population. That’s exactly because there is a lack of services. There is still that lack of services today, and I believe they are essential.
I would be happy to look into the possibility of increasing the time that the nurse visits the community of Wrigley, especially at the time of freeze-up and breakup. I know that the community was very happy to have a nurse there during the time we were there. I understand that the people feel more comfortable when they have a resident nurse. I will review the hours of other services that are provided in Wrigley and see how we could improve that. We have a continuing discussion with the authority, and I will continue to do that.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Minister put her finger on it exactly: having that dependable, reliable service in the community makes people more relaxed and, I believe, more healthy.
Once again, I would like the Minister to comment on working towards having full time nursing. If it is working towards 2011, I would be very happy to work with her, along with the community, toward more frequent, consistent visits. Thank you.
I thought I stated earlier in the answer to the first question that the authorities who look after the staffing, the PYs and the service levels in Deh Cho, have told me — and I have talked to them following my meeting and my visits to Wrigley and other communities in Deh Cho — about the issues that were raised in the community, one of them being having more nursing services in Wrigley.
They told me then and they have told me lately that they believe that the nursing services in Wrigley are at or above the level they should be — for the size of the community, that is. Now, I understand that the community would still like to see more of that, and we have other communities in the Territories that would like to have their nursing services increased.
I am in the process of reviewing the human resource makeup of especially our small communities. I have already stated in this House that I am willing to work with the strategic investment committee, or joint committee, or whatever that makeup will be of the committee for rural and small communities. I think that this is something that we need to look at not only for Health and Social Services and Human Resources but in other areas as well, to see how we build capacity in small communities. That’s another area that I am willing to work on.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Some time ago a family received a letter. My request was to find out some details about medical coverage for a drug called Rituxan. This drug actually helps people with MS. It has been showing significant promise for people who have been suffering with this.
In the letter it basically says that you need to go through your physician to get approval for this. Well, this family went to go get this type of approval, and they’ve been refused approval for a drug that actually will help bring back quality of life. Mr. Speaker, what more does the Minister need to make sure that the system works for people who need this coverage? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We get this kind of request often. There are disputes between patients who feel that they need medication and a doctor who may feel that they need the medication, but there is an independent committee that reviews the list of pharmaceutical products or drugs that we should approve. It is the committee that makes a decision on whether a drug should be approved for insurance or not. That is the process that’s in place, and I don’t know what else to say to that.
It is really nice that there’s a committee in place, but that doesn’t do much for the family that has a family member who is suffering from MS. This drug is a well known drug that demonstrates progress and promise when you have this disease. As I’m sure most people know, this is quite a debilitating disease. There is only one direction it goes. When we have a drug that shows promise, I think we should be latching on to it.
I guess my real question really comes down to how we get access to this. I have a letter here from the Minister. My original question was: is this covered? The Minister’s letter comes back saying all you have to do is ask for it to get it approved. What more do we need to do?
I am guessing — maybe I shouldn’t guess, but I am assuming — that this patient is under…. Assuming there is some medication for the person’s condition, he would not be without treatment. The dispute is on a specific grant, or there are some experimental drugs that the patient may want to take, and governments across the country have not always approved and agreed to fund some of the medications that are on the market.
I don’t know that. I haven’t had communication from the Member on the latest one, as he was rejected on that. I do have to look to see and make sure that we are providing the patient with as much care as possible.
Thank you, Minister Lee. Time for question period has expired, but I’ll allow a supplementary question. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister saying she will go back and review this file? What is the Minister saying? I just want to be clear on the record that I want to find out what the Minister is willing to do in regard to this family, which feels very strongly that this drug is useful and considered mainstream and normal in other places and shows promise. What is the Minister willing to commit to do on this potential project or on this file? Thank you.
I am willing, if the Member provides me with the name of the family and the drug brand again, to review the file. I’m not saying that I can override the committee’s decision, but at least I can look into making sure that if this medication is not suitable or they’re not willing to approve it, what other options are there. I just want to make sure that his constituent is taken care of as much as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you. Just for clarification, the Minister said she doesn’t have the ability to override the committee. I’m not suggesting by any means that we override the committee on one specific case. That turns into a slippery slope regardless of the issue.
What authority does the Minister have to put this drug on the extended health benefits list? If it shows promise, why aren’t we investigating this to make sure we have access to it? Thank you.
As of now I don’t have enough information on the person or the condition or the nature of this drug or why it should not be approved. I just don’t have enough information. So I’m making the commitment to the Member that if he wishes to provide me with that information, I’d like to get more of the facts and see what the options are. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues, for your indulgence this afternoon. I just had a couple of other questions I need to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services.
I know she spoke earlier of the CHRs providing this necessary service at the community level. I want to ask the Minister what level of training and expertise the CHRs have in inspecting the installation of car seats for children. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that these community health representatives distribute car seats. They know how these car seats are used; they work with parents on how to use car seats safely. We are already doing that work. It’s part of what they do with parents and young moms. I would be happy to look into the further details of the program, but that’s the information I have now.
Do these CHRs at the community level have any training to look at the safe installation of car seats for children?
The CHRs have been distributing car seats to families. They have distributed 125 car seats all across the Territories. My information is that they know how those car seats work, and they teach the parents how they work. They are qualified to provide this. If there’s a need for Yellowknife, I am willing to look at helping Yellowknife social services authorities see if we could have similar programming.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s one thing to be handing out car seats to people; it’s another thing to make sure that they’re installed properly and functioning properly and that the children are being transported in a safe fashion.
I don’t think the Minister answered, and I’ll ask it again. Have the CHRs themselves received training in the safe installation of car seats for children in the Territories?
Mr. Speaker, even the proposal that’s being put forward about this person who was to provide the training…. There is no unanimity, no agreement, on what exactly an adequate program is.
The department has reviewed the proposal, and we feel that the proposal is not the one that we need to accept at this time. If the Member wishes, I would be happy to look into seeing how we deliver these safety programs in our communities, and I would be happy to get back to the Member on the details of the programs that our CHRs provide. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Premier if he could list for us again what information we’ve been working off of as Members with respect to the strategic initiative committees, Cabinet committees, Ministerial committees that were formed. Thank you.
