Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have a few questions for the Minister of Health. As I mentioned earlier, we need more on-the-land treatment programs, and I am very happy that the department is moving forward.
I would like to ask the Minister, when will the department have a schedule that people can actually fill out for these programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re not actually the ones who are delivering the programs. The programs are being delivered by the different Aboriginal governments and organizations throughout the Northwest Territories, but we are working collaboratively with them.
What I’ll commit to do here is actually talk to the individual groups that are providing these online programs and get the schedule so that we can share that information, understanding that they’ll be sharing the information as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m glad the department is working closely with the Aboriginal groups, but these on-the-land programs I believe need to be taken on by the department.
Moving forward, will the Minister ensure that they have some sort of schedule on a yearly basis that our constituents can apply to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I do hear the Member, but that actually does contradict what we heard from the Aboriginal governments, which is they wanted to have the ownership of these programs; they wanted to be the leaders of these programs. We’re partners. We’re participants in helping ensure they have the resources they need.
We do recognize that there’s a real demand for these programs, and more so, which is why we’re working with the Aboriginal governments to pursue other funding partners so that we can hopefully expand the number of programs in the Northwest Territories. But given that these are community-led initiatives, I will again commit to getting the information from the different groups who are delivering online programs so that we have a good timeline that I can share with Members and, assuming that the different groups agree, we can make that information available to the public at large. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to ask the Minister, are we providing any specific programs here, any specialities that will be needed? I don’t believe a lot of the Aboriginal groups have the expertise, whether it’s mental health or other issues like this. Are we providing any assistance to those Aboriginal groups? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member is right; I mean, the different Aboriginal governments and organizations have the expertise, clearly, for the on-the-land portions, but if they are looking for more of the clinical stuff, they may not have that expertise.
Every program is actually quite different and some of them may actually want some of that support, and we’re absolutely willing and we have been partnering with those different groups, depending on how they design their programs and the goal they’re trying to accomplish for that program. They’re different in every case. But when they want us, we’re there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
