Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about mental health in Nunakput. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. My first question, Mr. Speaker, is: can the Minister provide an update on the activities supporting mental health that will take place in our small communities across the NWT, including the Nunakput region? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member in his statement actually identified a significant amount of the work that’s actually taking place in the communities. We do have the NWT Help Line which is available free of charge to all NWT residents, and, as the Member said, it is confidential and anonymous and is available 24/7. The department continues to support health and social services authorities to offer different courses and different services in the community such as the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training which is often referred to as ASIST, and the Mental Health First Aid courses. Those are delivered in every region twice per year, and I know that in Nunakput we’re just finalizing some contracts to make sure that those programs can be delivered this fiscal year. Mr. Speaker, We also have the Community Counselling Program that offers free counselling for mental health and addictions to all residents of the NWT. In Nunakput we have those in three communities. We don’t have a position in Sachs Harbour, but those services are provided either out of Ulukhaktok or Inuvik depending on staffing levels. Mr. Speaker, we can’t do all these on our own. Health and Social Services is one part of the solution but we do need assistance. The Department of Health and Social Services has been working very closely with Education, Culture and Employment to offer “Talking about Mental Illness,” which is often referred to as TAMI, which is a program for grade eight students. I think we’re happy to say that we should be able to bring those to the schools in Nunakput this year, to their schools. We also work closely with Aboriginal governments to deliver on-the-land healing programs. We have $1.23 million in the budget. We make $125,000 available to every region so that they can deliver tailor-made on-the-land programs in their communities. I know that in Nunakput the IRC is delivering Project Jewel, which is a phenomenal program. We will continue to work with communities to develop their wellness plan. Every Aboriginal community in the Northwest Territories has a wellness plan tailored to meet their needs, delivered by each community, and we flow $5 million to the communities to support their individual wellness plans. It’s a partnership, Mr. Speaker. There’s multiple things happening. We’re working on an updated framework on mental health and addictions that will help us expand in those areas as well. There’s lots happening, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my second question is: earlier this year the Minister spoke about Nunakput women’s group to set up to address mental health and stressors within the relationships. Can the Minister update the House on the status of the work of this group?
Mr. Speaker, I’ve made a number of announcements in the House so I’m not exactly sure which one the Member is referring to. The Member could be referring to a camp that was held as part of the IRC’s land program, Project Jewel which I mentioned in my previous statement. If so, two of those camps were offered for women in February 2016. In August 2016, the IRC is expanding this program and intending to provide follow-up to the women and their families. In addition, the IRC is determined that this women’s camp will actually be a permanent part of their programming. However, the Member could also be referring to a women’s group in Tuktoyaktuk that is in partnership with the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Community Counselling Program, the local women’s shelter, and victim services. The group was set to start in June 2016, but has unfortunately experienced some delays so they’re looking for an executive director. Once they hire an executive director they’ll be able to move forward with that pilot as well. The focus of this group will be on building knowledge and support for women; the importance of strong connection to culture and resources and relationships within the community. That one has been delayed; they’re looking for an executive director. Should they get hired, they will be able to move forward, and the IRC is moving forward with their Project Jewel Program.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the response from the Minister and getting back to what IRC is doing. They have some programs for women out on the land and those are very effective programs, and I hope that we can continue to work with the GNWT to promote these programs and encourage participation by women across the NWT and in Nunakput. Mr. Speaker, my final question: how do the department’s mental health activities and programming work and respond with communities’ cultural needs?
Mr. Speaker, one of the ways that we obviously engage in this way is through communities and regional governments with the on-the-land programming and things like that. Specifically in-house, the Community Counselling Program is a community-based service that is made up of counsellors as well as wellness workers. Having counsellors based in the communities means that they have the opportunity to engage and become more immersed in the culture of the communities where they happen to be living. In the Department of Health and Social Services we are also working on cultural competencies that all staff will be required to take at the front line so that they are aware of the different cultures in the Northwest Territories and they’re aware of the cultures and differences in the communities they live. Wellness workers, Mr. Speaker, are often local individuals from the communities who already know the people and the culture and they’re a great resource for professionals who do have to come in from other communities or other locations in Canada. Our work with Aboriginal governments around the delivery of the on-the-land healing programs, I think, is another great example of how we’re trying to incorporate culture. With those on-the-land healing programs, Mr. Speaker, we don’t dictate how they will be run. We accept and recognize without question that the best people to design and deliver these programs are the people who are living in the communities, the people who have on the land experience. There’s a number of different things that we’re doing. When we roll into one single authority, we’re looking at putting together an Indigenous committee to help us identify traditional healing practices that we can incorporate across the whole system, including places like Stanton. This is an area that we take very seriously and we’re going to continue to move forward to make improvements.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
