Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about post-traumatic stress disorder. My questions are for the Minister of WSCC. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister how our workers' compensation legislation currently deals with PTSD and other mental disorders that develop as a result of an individual's work, as for firefighters and other first responders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission does recognize post-traumatic stress disorder as a psychological disorder if it is diagnosed by a medical professional. Both are covered within the act, and, if it is diagnosed, they will be provided the support that's provided to anyone, similar to as if it was a physical accident.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my second question is: can the Minister commit to exploring the Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario models for recognizing PTSD and other disorders as presumptive conditions for firefighters and other first responders, as in the Firefighters' Presumption Regulations?
Certainly, we can. The Workers' Safety and Compensation Board, just like other departments of the Government of the Northwest Territories, tries to work in partnership with all of the provinces and territories across Canada. We are always looking for best practices. We are always taking from each other, sharing workshops and sharing information. We will continue doing that process. It doesn't make sense to work in isolation. The best practice is working cross-jurisdictionally, looking at what is working and what is not working, and adapting our services based on that; so, yes, we will.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, how does the Minister plan for 911 rollout, including planning for workers' from across the territory, including paramedics and dispatchers, exposure to traumatic situations?
It is actually one of the benefits that we're going to be co-sharing the space with the Medicalert. We will be looking at sharing some of the training that they receive as well. That will give us a little bit of a heads up on some of the situations that we may be encountering when people accept 911 calls.
Of course, everyone that does work in that station will be Government of the Northwest Territories employees, and so they do qualify for the employee assistance program, where people can access services, counselling services, as needed, and then, of course, we will be looking at specialized training to assist them. We are doing as best as we can to make sure that we support our workers when they implement 911, because we recognize that some of those calls are going to be heartbreaking, and we need to take care of our employees.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
