Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department's mandate and duties are outlined clearly in the Health and Social Services Establishment Policy very broadly. The department plays a coordinating and policy role, which includes setting standards and policies, providing subject-matter expertise, flowing funding, setting reporting requirements, and monitoring for compliance. The department has some direct program areas that their responsible for as well, the vital stats, as well as health insurance. Authorities are the delivery agents of the Health and Social Services System and their role is primarily operational. The Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act provides the framework for the authority operation and their accountability. The act also provides for the establishment of boards of management and outlines their duties as well. The Minister appoints the board of management. Generally, boards are responsible for overseeing all aspects of operations, ensuring the authority works within legislation standards, policy and any other requirements that may be set by the Minister. Another key role is to engage with communities and hear their issues and concerns at a regional and community level. The act provides the Minister with the authority to remove a board of management for a number of different reasons and appoint a public administrator. When a public administrator is appointed, that public administrator actually has the authority of the board.
I thank the Minister for his answer. As I said in my Member's statement here today, a number of issues have been brought to me regarding the service we have in the Nahendeh riding. Can the Minister please explain the process that the residents of the NWT have available to them to address their concerns with the medical services?
Quality assurance is a critical component of the healthcare system to ensure that we have feedback to actually ensure that the system is meeting its needs. Every health and social services authority has a patient representative who can work to address these concerns quickly and efficiently at the regional level. Concerns can also be raised with the CEO, board chair, or public administrator in the case of the Deh Cho. The department also has as system navigator who can be contacted by phone or email and helps to resolve complaints and concerns. A formal written complaint can also be sent to the complaint officer appointed under each of the professions licensing legislation when the complaint is with a particular practitioner.
A constituent may also choose to seek the support and intervention of the Member of the Legislative Assembly and/or come directly to the Minister when dealing with their concerns. The department has prepared specific binders which outline all of this information for each of the Members in the House specific to their individual ridings and regions. I'm hoping to have a sit-down with each of the Members to go through that binder, but bottom line is: We want to refer our clients to the quality assurance staff within the authority so that they can actually do internal reviews of the processes to make sure that we're learning from mistakes and that we are continuing the make a system that works and meets the needs of our residents.
I again thank the Minister for his answer. Can the Minister please explain how the hours of operations and process to get appointments were changed without consulting the residents in leadership in Fort Simpson?
The CEOs are always trying to balance off staff resources with community needs to deliver the best services possible to all the residents of the Northwest Territories at a community level. The walk-in process in Fort Simpson was not found to be effective. With low volumes of patients coming into the clinic in the morning and high volumes of patients showing up in late afternoon, this actually led to long wait times for patients, and then limited the amount of time with each patient, and mostly they were only able to address specific issues when an individual came in given the limited time.
The new approach that was put in by the CEO is an effort to ensure that staff have adequate time to review charts and spend time with patients and actually provide them quality care. The change was made in response to a number of complaints from residents about the wait times and the walk-in appointments. The CEO and the public administrator are very happy to add this item to the agenda for the next public meeting they'll have in Fort Simpson to get more and additional information from the residents of Fort Simpson.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I thank the Minister for his response. With all the challenges and the issues that I've been addressing with the Health and Social Services Minister in the system, including staffing, since being elected, I'd like to ask the Minister to commit to doing an external review of the health and social services system so we can build on what is working and what needs to be improved within the system.
Quality assurance and constant monitoring of our systems and the programs that are being delivered is critical, and to that end, I once again encourage the Member, and all Members, to encourage your staff to engage with the quality assurance staff in each of the authorities when they have a constituent who has an issue. This will allow them to do a review of the incident and try to determine what happened and what can be improved. Having said that, the department does occasionally conduct quality reviews and other audits of the regional authorities. I'm certainly happy to sit down and share the results of the most recent review that was done about two years ago with the Member to go through in detail what we learned.
The department also conducts system-wide reviews on a regular basis. For example, recent consultation on the Medical Travel Program, which is intended to lead program improvements, we did significant public consultation on that. As part of the system transformation process, I visited personally every community and listened to what residents had to say about what's working and what needs to be improved within the system. This is one of the reasons that we're moving to one territorial health and social services authority, which gives a huge opportunity to improve service standards across the Northwest Territories. I'm not prepared at this time to do an external review of the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Authority. It might make more sense to wait until we have a single authority when we're actually able to start making some of these territorial program improvements within the system. But once again, I'm happy to sit down with the Member with the department and go through the audit that was done about two years ago to address some of the concerns that the Member may have.
Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. On my statement today on alcohol addictions, I would like to ask the Minister what the Minister sees as the best treatment alternative if you were not to consider residential treatment in the south. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member, when he was actually the Minister of Health and Social Services, conducted the Minister's Forum on Mental Health and Addictions, which I think was a very important process. The forum went out and talked to residents across the Northwest Territories and got their feedback on what they wanted to see when it came to mental health and addiction treatment here in the Northwest Territories, so I do applaud the Member for his leadership in that area. The number one, best solution? There isn't one. What we heard clearly from the forum is that different people have different needs at different times, and we need to be able to address those needs and have a variety of programs and services available to our residents in the Northwest Territories.
We heard about on-the-land programming. We heard about more local, community-based programs. We heard about mobile options. Treatment centres are an option, and they have to be available. We are providing a much broader range of services than we have previously, with the Matrix Program, which is out-patient, community-based programming. We have community counsellors. We do have access to more treatment facilities with better services than we have ever had before. Just recently in Fort Resolution, as a matter of fact, we ran for the first time our mobile treatment option pilot, which is the first delivery of a mobile treatment option. We are doing a number of things so that we can provide our residents with the options they want and need when it comes to addressing their individual mental health and addiction challenges. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would ask the Minister: what does the Department of Health and Social Services have in place in the communities for individuals that have gone to treatment, whether it's through a program on the land or residential treatment down south? What is available to the individuals once they return home?
If we are talking specifically about individuals that are coming back from a treatment program, whether it's in the South or whether it's one of the on-the-land programs, one of the requirements to participate or to utilize one of our treatment facilities in the south is that the individual actually has appointments set up with community counsellors when they return to the Northwest Territories. We have community counsellors in 19 of the 33 communities in the Northwest Territories, and where we don't have counsellors, we have access by phone or other sources. Everybody is required to have a follow-up treatment program or follow-up appointments booked. But we also have, as I've already indicated, on-the-land programs throughout the Northwest Territories. A number of these on-the-land programs, some of them are after-care programs, some of them are prevention programs, and some of them are actually individual treatment programs.
There is a variety of different things that we do. Some individuals want to access things like Alcoholics Anonymous. We've made our facilities available after hours so that individuals can go and participate in an AA program. If there aren't enough people in their communities, they can actually hook up with individuals in other communities. We are trying to provide lots of options. We know we need to continually learn and we know that we need to continually explore new opportunities to provide treatment on return. We are open to that, and we want to have those discussions with committee and others across the Northwest Territories.
I would like to ask the Minister what the plan is to expand counselling to the other 14 communities that don't have counselling services.
Community counselling is a key community-level component of the continuum of mental health and addictions treatment. We have, as I’ve indicated, community counsellors in 19 of the communities in all the regions of the Northwest Territories, and where we don't have them in individual communities, we do have telephone counselling and fly-in services that are available. We want to continue to provide these services. We have actually developed new guidelines that our community counsellors can use when assessing and providing treatment, and when individuals are in immediate or crisis situations, we are able to get immediate access or connections to community counsellors. This is an area that we are always looking at. We want to make sure that, across the Northwest Territories, our residents have access. In total, we have 64 community counsellor positions providing these incredibly valuable services to the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if there is some ongoing work between the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Justice. Yesterday, I made a Member's statement on correction facilities and services that may be available. I am asking the Minister if there is any work between the two departments on returning offenders, so individuals that are committed to incarceration for crimes they may have committed while suffering from addictions. I would like to know if there is anything in place between the two departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Department of Justice is leading some work on collaborative services across the Northwest Territories where all the departments can work together. As an example, with Wellness Courts, our staff are available to do individual case planning with individuals who are going through the Wellness Courts. As well, individuals who are leaving the corrections facilities, also have access to probation officers who have a pretty decent relationship in most cases with some of the social services programs that exist. A lot of it is on a one-off basis, but on a bigger scale, the departments are working together to try to find ways to enhance collaborative services for the people and the clients of the Northwest Territories.
At this time, I would just like to remind Ministers and Regular Members that we've gone over 15 minutes with only two questions, so I would like for Ministers and Members to be clear and concise and to the point. Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Earlier, I was referring to the issue on the Sahtu region decentralization. Recognizing our physical situation for this territorial government, the current decision, as it stands now, is being made elsewhere to govern certain different departments in the Sahtu. As I mentioned earlier, I have two questions, so I'll just make it two long ones. The best approach here to make it short is: I am asking the Premier on the view of restructuring the current model. I'm not taking him to account and requesting additional funding and so on, but the restructuring approach on making decisions more decentralized to the current government structure in the Sahtu.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our government had decentralization as a priority for a number of years. As a matter of fact, we are now in the third phase of decentralization. Over the three phases to date, we have decentralized 170 positions to the regions and communities outside Yellowknife, and I'm pleased to say that we've decentralized nine of those positions to the Sahtu region.
My next question is the second and last one. I would like to ask the Premier if I can propose and identify the positions that are governing the Sahtu region elsewhere, would the Premier move those, and when, back to the Sahtu?
We have had quite a number of iterations in the regional structures in the Northwest Territories. Before division, we had five regions. After division, I think we had three regions and two districts. As programs were devolved, we eventually now have five regions. We used to have five regional directors, as well, and the previous government saw fit to bring that back to two regional directors.
The way it's been working is the government allows the government departments to structure themselves in a way that is more effective and efficient, and certainly if the Member is prepared to provide his proposals, and it's not going to cost money, we would certainly consider it.
My next question is: after submission of this decentralization restructuring proposal, is the Premier willing to have a meeting with the Sahtu leadership?
We're always prepared to meet with the Sahtu leadership. As a matter of fact, we have an MOU on a government-to -government basis. We are committed to meeting on a regular basis with the Sahtu leadership. I think we meet every six months. If they want to meet more often, we're prepared to do so.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I mentioned in my statement earlier, access to post-secondary education is crucial for many people to move forward with careers of their choice. That's challenging in our territory, where many people come from small isolated communities. The success of individuals and families as well as the economic growth of our communities and territory rely on access to education. Can the Minister describe the options that are available to Northerners to gain a post-secondary education in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do agree that education is very important, especially post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories. There's many options that we have. Obviously, going to one of our Aurora College campuses. We currently have three campuses in the Northwest Territories. We also have 23 community learning centres, so when the Member brings up that in our small communities it is tough, we do try to accommodate. There's also private institutions such as the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. As the Member mentioned in his Member’s statement, the College nordique francophone as well as the Sub-Arctic Leadership Training, and there's also various distance learning training that we do support. We also have a good funding model through Student Financial Assistance, where students can actually apply on that. That's all the options available to Northerners that are wanting to seek a post-secondary education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The one accredited northern post-second institution, Aurora College, provides a variety of programs for Northerners. Understanding that some people may want to pursue a career outside the programs that Aurora College can offer, what are the choices for post-secondary in the NWT outside of Aurora College, if the Minister could elaborate.
I did mention three earlier in my previous answer: Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, College nordique francophone, the Sub-Arctic Leadership Training Program for religious instruction. We also have the Stanton Eye Clinic, every few years one program is offered to become a technician, as well as, I mentioned earlier, many distance learning opportunities for students that want to pursue further post-secondary education.
For my final question, and I thank the Minister for his reply, Northern students are supported by the government Student Financial Assistance program. I've mentioned Aurora College that provides an essential service. Other institutions such as Dechinta and College nordique, as the Minister also alluded to, are developing programs with other specialties. Can the Minister please describe how post-secondary institutions receive funding to provide their range of courses in the NWT?
Our main post-secondary institution, Aurora College, does receive the majority of its funding from the GNWT. They also receive third-party funding from the Government of Canada, as well as other education and training partners, and also through student tuition. Other private institutions like College nordique and Dechinta, they're able to get funding from the GNWT through funding proposals. Also, I understand that there is federal funding that some of these private organizations can access funding from.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. I'd like to ask the Minister: can the Minister confirm the number of crushers available in the Northwest Territories through his department at this time?
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot commit to how many crushers we have available for community access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it's actually two --
---Laughter
From what I understand. I'm not sure if it's divided between the north and south, that's what I wanted to ask. How does the department choose which community will use the crushers, and how does it establish the priority?
Masi. Member's done his homework. Minister of Transportation.
I don't know how we pick communities, who's on the priority list or anything, but I'm sure there's a schedule, and based on priorities and needs. I can commit to looking into that for the Member.
That’s what I wanted to get at. Will the Minister be willing to work with the community of Aklavik to start the process, and to ship the unit to Aklavik hopefully over the summer, not too late because the water usually drops quite a bit by the second barge, from what I understand, and start preparations for the next year, next budget, so the community could build up the roads, as I mentioned earlier. A lot of challenges with the roads in our community.
I would encourage the community of Aklavik to work with businesses in the Beaufort-Delta region in the private sector to fulfill its crushing needs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
