Thank you, Mr. Speaker. March is National Social Work Month. Social workers play a vital role in our communities by supporting children and families. The inspiration this profession brings to our families is always and will always be recognized. Therefore, my first question to the Minister of Health is: what recognition to commemorate his staff is the department doing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is providing some funding support to celebrate Social Work Month to all the different health and social services authorities and regional offices here in the Northwest Territories. There are a number of different things that we are doing, and I will just list a couple of the activities rather than going through the comprehensive list. There is a public screening of the National Film Board's film, "We Can't Make the Same Mistakes Twice." It is a very thought-provoking and inspirational film that follows a story of one extraordinary social worker. A health and social services system is asking people to share their personal stories of positive impacts social workers are having on their lives and their communities. Going along with the national theme, and this year the national theme is "real people, real, real impact," a post on the GNWT Bear Net and the Department of Health and Social Services' website, the Northwest Territories' Health and Social Services Authority are highlighting the important work of social workers. There are a bunch of media things happening in that way through our existing websites, and those are to name just a few. There are a number of other things being done, and not just by the GNWT but by other bodies as well, like the social work association, and those types of things.
Thanks to the Minister for paying that respect to that profession and the staff, more importantly in the smaller communities. Would the Minister also commit to sharing at the regional level or the community level the days set aside within the remaining period of this month to recognize the social workers in the smaller communities?
The recognition that we are providing is not just for Yellowknife or the larger centres, but we are recognizing and attempting to recognize the important work that all the social workers do here in the Northwest Territories. Just as a note, not all social workers work for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Some work for the Department of Health, some work for Education, some work for Housing. A lot of social workers are employed by NGOs. I really thank the Member for bringing this up, but it is really important for all of us in this Assembly to thank social workers, and I encourage everybody out there to thank a social worker today for all the important work that they do for residents of the Northwest Territories.
Thanks to the Minister for that statement. It is very comforting to know that the endless hours and the challenges this workforce and this staff are doing would be recognized. My next question, then, Mr. Speaker: what advertising for this profession is being done, at the high school level or at the workforce level, to attract that profession?
I am a firm believer that we need to recruit and retain local people for local work. To that end, with respect to the promotion of social workers as a career or a profession, we do have a staffing initiative underway, focusing on the retention and recruitment of social workers in the North, activities to encourage youth to choose a career in a health and social services profession, and include things like promotion of health and social services careers during our community living fairs. It is a great opportunity to get into the communities and talk to people about health, wellness, social services, and careers, so we are using that opportunity. We are providing exposure to a number of school-aged children through Take Our Kids To Work, another opportunity to bring young people in to show them what these jobs are and how valuable they are and the type of difference these individuals can make in the lives of people throughout their communities and territories. We are also supporting our returning social work students with summer employment opportunities in their field of study, and this has been a way of encouraging recruitment and positive experiences in the profession. So we are doing a number of things to encourage people to pursue their profession, and, once they pursue the profession, we are doing things to help them come back and practice in the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
